The Hi-Lo's were a vocal quartet formed in 1953, who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1950s and 1960s. The group's name is a reference to both their extreme vocal and physical ranges (Bob Strasen and Bob Morse were tall;

Gene Puerling 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 ...

and Clark Burroughs were short).

History

The group consisted of

(bass-baritone or fourth voice, arranger, leader, and occasional soloist), Bob Strasen (baritone or third voice), Bob Morse (baritone or second voice and frequent soloist) and Clark Burroughs (tenor or first voice/lead). In 1959, Strasen left the group after he began losing his voice to unknown causes. After Strasen's departure, Morse switched to the baritone or third part and tenor Don Shelton sang the second part. They were occasionally supported by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorat ...

was their pianist for years and occasionally wrote arrangements for the group. The Hi-Lo's recorded the theme song to the 1956 television series ''Noah's Ark''. They were also featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture ''Everything's Ducky'' (1961), contributing three songs: "Everything's Ducky," "Moonlight Music," and "The Scuttlebutt Walk." They made numerous appearances on television and had many live performances. The first group which had the Hi-Lo's name was a barbershop quartet from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

; that group won an award in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

in 1945. None of those original members were in Puerling's group which started some years later,

The Singers Unlimited The Singers Unlimited was a four-part jazz vocal group formed by Gene Puerling in 1971. The group included Len Dresslar (better known as the Jolly Green Giant in General Mills commercials), Bonnie Herman, and Don Shelton. History Gene Puerl ...

Individual group members

In 1966, Gene Puerling and Don Shelton along with Bonnie Herman and Len Dressler, formed another vocal group,

. The group provided a wide range for Puerling's arrangements, the four singers multi-tracked as many as 16 voices. For that reason The Singers Unlimited were almost exclusively a recording group. Bob Strasen died February 28, 1994 and Bob Morse on April 27, 2001. Afterward, Puerling, Shelton, and Clark Burroughs still appeared as the Hi-Los's however only occasionally in various cities in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Shelton is an accomplished reed player and has played in Clare Fischer's bands. Burroughs is semi-retired and can sometimes be heard on film soundtracks. On March 25, 2008, Puerling died just before his 79th birthday.

Legacy

The Hi-Lo's and especially their innovative use of vocal harmony, were an influence on the groups and musicians

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as D ...

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, Chanticleer,

The Free Design The Free Design was a Delevan, New York–based vocal group, whose music can be described as sunshine pop and baroque pop. Though they did not achieve much commercial recognition during their main recording career, their work later influenced ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

,West, Michael J
"Herbie Hancock Remembers Clare Fischer"
''Jazz Times'', 04-05-2013. Retrieved October 21, 2015.

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...

First Call First Call was an American contemporary Christian music (CCM) group, consisting of Mel Tunney, Marty McCall, and Bonnie Keen. During their career spanning more than 30 years, the group worked with many noted producers and arrangers including D ...

, and

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

Discography

* ''Listen!'' (

Starlite Starlite is an intumescent material that is claimed to be able to withstand and thermal insulation, insulate from extreme heat. It was invented by British hairdresser and amateur chemist Maurice Ward (1933–2011) during the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, 1954) * ''I Presume'' (Starlite, 1955) * ''On Hand'' (Starlite, 1956) * ''Under Glass'' (Starlite, 1956) * ''The Hi-Lo's and the Jerry Fielding Orchestra'' ( Kapp, 1956) * ''

Ring Around Rosie ''Ring Around Rosie'' is a 1957 studio album by Rosemary Clooney and the vocal group The Hi-Lo's. Track listing # "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" (Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Mundy, Al Stillman) – 2:09 # " Moonlight Becomes You" ( Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van ...

'' with Rosemary Clooney ( Columbia, 1957) * ''Suddenly It's the Hi-Lo's'' (Columbia, 1957) * '' Now Hear This'' (Columbia, 1957) * ''Love Nest'' (Columbia, 1958) * ''And All That Jazz'' (Columbia, 1958) with The

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

Dek-Tette; the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 * ''Reflections in Rhythm with the Hi-Lo's!'' (Tiara Spotlight, 1958) * ''The Hi-Lo's in Stereo'' (Omega Disk, 1959) * ''All Over the Place'' (Columbia, 1960) * ''

Broadway Playbill ''Broadway Playbill'' was a 1960 LP album by American vocal group The Hi-Lo's containing songs from three Broadway musicals: ''Gypsy'' ''The Sound of Music'', and '' Fiorello!''. The album was released by Columbia Records, as catalog number CL-1 ...

'' (Columbia, 1960) * '' This Time It's Love'' (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, 1961) * ''Happen to Folk Songs with Billy May'' (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

, 1962) * ''The Hi-Lo's Happen to Bossa Nova'' (Reprise, 1963) * ''Back Again'' ( MPS, 1979) * ''Now'' (

Pausa In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pâusis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in ...

, 1981) * ''Cherries and Other Delights'' (

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were. After an event has occurred, people often believe ...

, 1993) * ''Together Wherever We Go'' (Sony, 1994)

References

External links

The Hi-Lo's at Singers.comAll About Jazz
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hi-Lo's American jazz ensembles American vocal groups Columbia Records artists Musical groups established in 1953 Professional a cappella groups Reprise Records artists Vocal jazz ensembles

History

Individual group members

Legacy

Discography

References

Further reading

Articles

Books

External links