Mary Weiss RIP

I was very saddened to hear that Mary Weiss passed away yesterday. She was 75. I wrote here about my experience seeing her sing with The Shangri-Las in 1965 when I was 14 years old and she was 17. She made an impression and was my first rock and roll crush. Within a couple of years I was seeing more women singers that would get my attention like Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny and the list would keep going on. But Mary Weiss was the first. 

The Shangri-Las were playing at Lighthouse Field down on Erie Avenue during a carnival. They shared the bill with The Ronettes. This was my first concert. I went with some friends who were more interested in the carnival sideshows rather than the girl bands playing in the parking lot. I was there to see the bands. I loved both bands back in 1965.