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 Posted by Bobby :: Mar 28, 2008 - 11:44:34 AM |  31 CommentsLast updated Mar 31, 2008 - 8:43 AM by Bobby 
Gene Puerling
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Gene Puerling passed away March 25, 2008, just days before his 79th birthday. This is indeed very sad news, not just for fans of The Hi-Lo's or The Singers Unlimited, but for all fans of vocal music. Gene was perhaps the greatest vocal arranger of all time and he did it all without the aid of "official" instruction. His style has inspired such groups as the Beach Boys, Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, and countless others.
I haven't heard anything yet about services, but if I do, I'll post updates here.
Here is an e-mail from Clark Burroughs: My old friend, most admired mentor and lifelong near-brother passed into the next existence night before last.
I wish with all my being that I could stand next to him one more time. There were times when we were one voice, somehow larger than our two voices. His genius informed my entire life. His harmonies are embedded in my bones, and his humor followed me through more than six decades. I'll always love him.
Clark Burroughs
◊ · · · ◊ · · · ◊ Comments
Posted: March 29, 2008 :: 11:42 AM
I just heard this through the grapevine came here to see if it was true. I'm very sad right now.
Posted: March 29, 2008 :: 1:15 PM
Think about how much this man accomplished! I'll listen with sadness but an even greater appreciation for all he gave us.
Posted: March 29, 2008 :: 2:30 PM
I am truly stunned right now. He was truly the most amazing vocal arranger who ever lived. Beyond that, I am without words...
Posted: March 29, 2008 :: 9:06 PM
We are deeply saddened by the death of our beloved Gene Puerling. As is true of everybody on this board, we will miss him profoundly.
Carol and Ray Gurley
Posted: March 29, 2008 :: 9:53 PM
I have loved the Hi-Lo's since I was 6 or 7 years old (am now 56).
The Hi-Lo's were the swingingest, cleverest, most musical vocal group ever (forget the Four Freshmen).
On behalf of my Mum (now deceased), Doris Dale, and myself ... GOD BLESS YOU GENE and may others have the courage to take the more exciting, challenging musical paths you've shown us.
Kent Anderzohn / SwedeSingers
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 3:25 AM
I´m very very sad about M:r Puerling, he was my mentor in vocal arranging for my group Swede Singers.
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 2:14 PM
I believe Gene passed away on Tuesday the 25th, not the 26th.
We lived on the same street for probably 30 years. I helped him with his Macintosh when he had issues or made upgrades. We both had an affinity for cars, iPods, Macs, electronic toys and Steven Colbert, so our conversations tended to gravitate to those areas of mutual interest. (Alas, I cannot sing on key. I embarrass my 8-year-old son who has much better pitch.)
He was a sweet man. I knew a little of his history from my mother but had no idea until I started to Google him this week. Now I've got "Mambo Italiano" stuck in my head.
I saw Helen yesterday and she says she's doing okay.
There was no mention of services or obituaries and I didn't want to pry.
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 5:01 PM
This was very sad news indeed. He has been the most important music teacher for me and the greatest source of inspiration in my work as a choral conductor. Thanks for everything!
Leif Åkesson
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 5:30 PM
He was an inspiration and he genius touched us all. Thanks for the music...
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 7:45 PM
How very sad to hear the news. His extensive body of work will be studied and emulated (to a certain degree) for decades to come.
So much of his work always brought a smile to my face; not to mention the looks of wonder that passed between my best friend and I as we eagerly devoured each newly released CD, finally hearing each song without the pops and static hisses of old vinyl.
The Freshmen made me want to really listen, but the Hi-Lo's made me want to really SING and enjoy it, just as they did, to the fullest.
Posted: March 30, 2008 :: 10:14 PM
I know what you mean, Mike. I still sit in amazement and wonder whenever I hear certain songs. I think I'll have a Puerling Party tomorrow.
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 8:46 AM
Originally posted by Martin Mitchell:
I believe Gene passed away on Tuesday the 25th, not the 26th.
You are indeed correct about that. The date I had initially received was from Donna Fischer. It has been corrected in the post.
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 9:17 AM
I stumbled upon this article this morning, probably one of many to come as the news is heard all around the world. Most of the article pertains to things we already know, but the personal story at the end is nice:
http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?p=736263
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 6:58 PM
Bev and I are shocked and saddened by the news that Gene had passed away.
I know how this must weigh heavily in households of singers around the world, and how personally we all will feel this loss. When we know more, we will try to express to our 'family' of singers, and Gene's also, the wonderful memories and personal benefits that have accrued to so many folks we know (especially our own kids) that Gene and his close musical associates created over the years.
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 6:59 PM
We'll have to do some listening (we probably have everything he ever arranged) and send him off with the kind of music he understood so well. He was so kind to our family when we participated in Jamie's "Chicago Singers Parties" in the 70s. What a loss.
Right now, "Magic Voices" is playing on the stereo (the album is never more than 2 feet from the player -- we don't even store it with our other CDs) and we are thinking of you all . . .
God Bless, and love from "Share" ~ Bev, Rol, Ric, Dave and Denise
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 11:02 PM
I was lucky enough to have met Gene and Helen at my 21st birthday. I had been listening to the Hi Lo's and Singers Unlimited since I was a kid, (I'm now 53) and it was such an honor to be friends with both of them all these years. Being part of a singing family, Gene would help us out with "rehearsals" at his house around Christmas time every year, which included lots of laughs and memories. Thank you, Gene for all you have shared with all of us. You are in our hearts.
Posted: March 31, 2008 :: 11:06 PM
"I saw Helen yesterday and she says she's doing okay.
There was no mention of services or obituaries and I didn't want to pry."
There will be not services
Posted: April 1, 2008 :: 2:35 PM
Talk about an inspiration in your career! Gene Purling
was the ultimate in mine. I have tried so many times
to be as inventive and tasty in my vocal arranging as he was,
that it has taken me to places I never dreamed I could get to with my limited talent. I had the great pleasure of working with the Hi Lo's back in the early 60's and will always be grateful and enriched for the experience.
Gene will be missed by millions
Posted: April 2, 2008 :: 3:48 PM
So much has already been said .......all beautiful
regarding Gene. After 50 years of our Musical and
Personal togetherness ,I can't quite grasp all that has
transpired recently. Certainly Gene's taste in music
was far and above almost anyone I have ever known!
His instincts were so perfectly aligned with good
musical sense. But he was always open to a suggestion here and there . I guess I am just so very
appreciative of having being a part of The Hi-Lo's! and The Singers Unlimited that the word Blessed comes to mind. For making fantastic vocal music with Gene, Clark, Bob, Bonnie and Len has to be a true highlight of my musical life. Never to be forgotten! There was only one Gene Puerling, and as Darmon Meader said , " the harmonies just got a little richer up in Heaven". May Gene rest in peace knowing just how much he was admired and loved..........God Bless You Gene.......
Don Shelton
Posted: April 2, 2008 :: 5:51 PM
Ive read Clark Burroughs and DonSheltons wonderful remarks about knowing Gene Puerling and want to add that I had a touch of that experience, too. Gene had me up to his San Anselmo home to see if i could fill in after Don Shelton left, hey had a few more "commercials" to do. Remember "Let Hertz, put youin the drivers
seat" well i was able to work with them for a bout a year and a half. That was 1965. i had been a rabid fan for ten years since first seeing them at Facks One on Market Street in San Francisco and every other place I could get to see them. That Gene Puerling asked me to be with them for awhile was the thrill of my life. Milton Chapman
Posted: April 2, 2008 :: 8:05 PM
I was truly inspired as a young singer and arranger, hearing Gene's arrangments. I was lucky enough to see the Hi-Lo's once, in 1989 in Seattle. His legacy will definitely be heard for years to come.
Posted: April 2, 2008 :: 11:23 PM
A loss to music lovers everywhere
Posted: April 3, 2008 :: 4:58 AM
Perhaps the news services finally caught up with the death of Gene Puerling last week because some obits are beginning to appear. The LA Times was the first yesterday, and is notable for including the wonderful comment Bing Crosby made about The Hi-Lo's,
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-puerling2apr02,1,1634219.story
but this morning's column in the San Francisco Chronicle is even better, as Jon Hendricks is quoted. I left a comment online there, because of course Don Shelton didn't come in for Clark Burroughs.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/c/a/2008/04/02/BAUGVUHDD.DTL
Posted: April 4, 2008 :: 2:54 PM
Gene Puerling was a great musician. I had the pleasure of singing some of his arrangements in the Jazz Singers of North Texas State University (under the direction of Paris Rutherford) in 1980-81. The Singers Unlimited made some of the most beautiful vocal music. Especially notable is the "Christmas" album. Thank you Gene for your gifts.
My sincere sympathies to Helen and his family and closest friends and associates, Don Shelton, Len Dresslar, Bonnie Herman, Clark Burroughs, et.al.
With prayers. Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis. Eternal rest, grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Posted: April 4, 2008 :: 3:31 PM
Please accept my apologies, I did not know that Len Dresslar was no longer with us.
Posted: April 5, 2008 :: 3:49 AM
Len's been gone for a little while now. For my part, I know I commented earlier but it was very slight as I was truly stunned. Though I'm still somewhat shell-shocked by the whole thing, I'm much less so.
It's funny, really. The best thing I can possibly say about his sublime vocal arrangements is that, for all of Gene's technical prowess, his arrangements always "felt good". It really is that simple. He'd do something with a bass note or a second-tenor note would slide into place in just the right way and it'd just make me smile. That is perhaps the best thing one can say. He could technically "wow" the musicians and please the ears of everyone else. Not an easy feat.
I'm going to go back to smiling now...
Posted: April 6, 2008 :: 5:50 PM
In interviews, I cite Chuck Jones and Gene Puerling as the biggest influences on my improvisation performances in the Christopher Guest films. Puerling showed me how to pack very short time spans with unusual detail, story interest and forward momentum (not to mention humor), to hold a card back for the 3/4 point and to end so well you almost didn't need the beginning. Only Chopin could do as much in two and a half minutes.
We've clearly lost a completely original mind. We will hear him in his many imitators, and forever in his models (Robert Farnon, and surely Ravel), but this profound source of creativity and expression will no longer generate here and now.
An outrageous loss. A lonely feeling, finally.
Posted: April 8, 2008 :: 9:38 PM
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette finally put Gene's obituary in yesterday's paper. They used the Los Angeles Times notice which was fairly accurate but which, strangely enough, failed to mention the Singers Unlimited. It did, however, say a lot about The Hi-Lo's.
Posted: April 9, 2008 :: 6:35 PM
In 1950's high school and college, our group's cheerful determination to emulate the the HiLos may not have been musically endearing to our audience, but we did display the up and down variety in height!
We four marvelled at those inner parts of Mr Puerling's arrangements , which were a challenge as well as a happy inspiration.
I heard a story that Johnny Mandel would refer inquiries about chord changes in "Emily", explaining that only one guy really understood that stuff, and that was Gene!
Posted: April 9, 2008 :: 10:33 PM
I've been listening & admiring the amazing talent of Gene Puerling for 50 years. And, I'm thrilled now to be able to play his music for the whole world to hear on my internet radio station. I had the honor of meeting him as he was an occasional customer at a CD store I ran in San Rafael, CA. He was always gentle and unpretentious...and he was always humble when I questioned him about his work. He may never write another one of those amazing arrangements...but his voice will NEVER be silenced. Celebrate him!
Posted: June 21, 2008 :: 6:44 PM
The world of music lost one of its real geniuses.
This is sad news indeed.
I grew up here in Brazil, and ever since I was a little boy I've been a die-hard Hi-Lo's fan. I regret immensely not having had the chance of ever listening to these guys live. As an adult, I lived in NYC for several years, but unfortunately much too late to catch them in a live performance.
Gene Puerling is, in my humble opinion, the best vocal arranger of all time. A real giant. We will sorely miss him.
Sincerely,
Edson de Faria,
A mathematician from the University of Sao Paulo.
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