Eugene Thomas Puerling (March 31, 1929 – March 25, 2008) was an American vocal performer and arranger. Puerling created and led two prominent vocal quartets, The Hi-Lo's and The Singers Unlimited. He was nominated for 14 Grammys and awarded the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices in 1982.

Early life, musical education and influences

Born in Milwaukee in 1929 to a family of musicians, Puerling had piano lessons but was a largely self-taught musician. A fan of vocal groups like Mel Torme's The Mel-Tones, the Modernaires and the Four Freshmen, Puerling formed a vocal of his own during this time (The Shades), featuring baritone Bob Strasen who would become one of the original Hi-Lo's. After high school Puerling worked as a disc jockey in Milwaukee WI.

Move to Los Angeles, The Hi-Lo's

Moving to Los Angeles in 1950, Puerling got his start by singing on recordings of Les Baxter and Gordon Jenkins. Bandleader and film composer Jerry Fielding encouraged Puerling to arrange for voices and start his own group. Formed in 1952, Puerling's male vocal quartet (The Hi-Lo's) began recording for the small Starlite label in 1953 (became Trend Records and then Trend/Discovery). Fielding's orchestra backed the Hi-Lo's on the first singles Peg O' My Heart and They Didn't Believe Me. The combination of Puerling's vocal quartet arrangements combined with Fielding instrumentals were innovative, a departure from earlier "block", pop style writing and arranging done for groups like the Andrews Sisters or the Moderniares.

Television and Rosemary Clooney

Gene Puerling's biggest break came as a writer and arranger in 1956; The Hi-Lo's were featured for one season on a new weekly, half-hour syndicated television musical-variety production The Rosemary Clooney Show. Puerling collaborated with Nelson Riddle who was hired as the musical director and orchestra conductor for the T.V. show. The show only lasted a year which featured The Hi-Lo's singing group and Nelson Riddle's orchestra before moving to NBC as The Lux Show with Frank DeVol and the Modernaires supplying the music. Due to their new national notoriety, during 1956/57 the vocal group was also signed to Columbia Records. During late 1950's and early 1960's, the Hi-Lo's appeared on television with Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman and other stars and toured with Judy Garland. Puerling wrote and arranged for the Hi-Los releasing numerous singles and several albums for the Columbia label 1956 thru 1961; his collaboration with Les Brown's staff arranger Frank Comstock are most notable. Columbia discontinued the contract with the group and in 1962 the Hi-Lo's were signed to Sinatra's new Reprise record label. Puerling's vocal arrangements are featured on two Reprise releases of American folk songs and bossa nova music. His vocal arrangements can also be heard on commercial television advertisements during this time for Hertz Rent a Car, Muriel Cigars and other companies. The popularity and advent of rock 'n' roll hastened the Hi-Lo's split in late 1964; like other older, traditional vocal groups they had fallen out of vogue as a commercial entity. By that time, groups like The Beach Boys and The Beatles with much simpler vocal harmonies appealed to a younger generation of pop listeners.

Chicago, The Singers Unlimited

After the break up of the Hi-Los in 1964, Puerling moved to Chicago writing music for major advertisement firms. Puerling formed The Singers Unlimited in 1967 as a vocal group to sing and record his commercial writing for advertisement soundtracks. From this period on, Puerling would rarely perform live, focusing his attention on innovative studio arranging for voices and vocal groups; namely The Singers Unlimited. Other than Puerling singing himself, three other singers are heard on the vast majority of his vocal writing: Bonnie Herman, Don Shelton and Len Dressler. Shelton had been brought over from the Hi-Lo's. Herman had established herself as a first-call female, Chicago studio vocalist and can be heard on the State Farm Insurance jingle "Like a good Neighbor..." (composed by Barry Manilow). Dressler was another Chicago studio vocalist most known for his deep bass voice and heard on the Green Giant "Ho, ho, ho..." advertising campaign. By 1968 recording engineer and jazz enthusiast Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer founded MPS Records in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He had signed pianist Oscar Peterson to the label and eventually Peterson was Puerling's/The Singers Unlimited referral to Brunner-Schwer. Starting with the album a Capella in 1971, Puerling and the Singers Unlimited recorded 15 albums at MPS up through the early 1980's. Puerling would go onto earn 18 Grammy nominations for writing and arranging, primarily driven by his work with Singers Unlimited. His vocal arrangement for the Manhattan Transfer Mecca for Moderns album of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square won the 1982 Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices.

Multi-tracked vocals, recording innovation

With the advent of stereo recording and high level solid state technology, Puerling developed a whole new style of writing and arranging for multi voices. Much like experimentation happening with the Beach Boys or the Beatles and other pop groups of the time, he utilized new, multiple tracking methods to double/triple up the Singers Unlimited four voices creating a unique, homogeneous sound. His vocal arrangements and chord structures are instantly recognizable due to the experimentation he undertook over a 10 year period (through the 1970s). Collaborations with instrumental arrangers/groups were done separately. All Singers Unlimited vocal tracks were recorded in Germany by Brunner-Schwer while instrumental tracks are recorded in Los Angeles or Toronto; Puerling and the group are only known to have performed live once.

Later life

Eventually Puerling moved to San Anselmo in Northern California. In the late 1970s, Puerling reunited the Hi-Lo's, with whom he recorded with and also performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival other jazz venues around the country. He taught workshops at the Marin County-based Harmony Sweepstakes. Gene Puerling passed away on March 25, 2008 due to complications from diabetes at 78 years of age near his home in Marin County, California. He was survived by his wife, Helen.

Legacy

In addition to the Hi-Lo's and The Singers Unlimited, Puerling has been directly influential on many singers and groups, including Jacob Collier and Take 6. John Neal of Harmony Sweepstakes said after Puerling's death: "As a craftsman of the art of blending and harmonizing the human voice in song, Gene has no equal." Other groups heavily influenced by Puerling include The King's Singers, First Call, Chanticleer, Glad (band), The Free Design, and Brian Wilson. In fall 2014, The University of North Texas College of Music and Music Library acquired the library of arrangements from Gene Puerling's estate.

Works (partial list)

Discography (as arranger)