Puerling, Gene
Variant names
Americans,
English,
German,
Biographical notes:
Eugene Thomas Puerling was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 31, 1929. Puerling worked as a disc jockey in Milwaukee before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked for Les Baxter and Gordon Jenkins. He was a founding member of the innovative jazz vocal group the Hi-Lo's, which got their first break from Jerry Fielding, who signed the group with Trend Records; they later moved on to Starlite Records, and the group was also briefly associated with Mitch Miller of Columbia Records.
Puerling and the Hi-Lo's acheived stardom with appearances on numerous television shows, including those of Steve Allen, Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, Frank Sinatra, Garry Moore, and Andy Williams, but their most durable association was with the Rosemary Clooney show, where they became the house vocal group in 1956. The Hi-Lo's disbanded in 1964 as national musical tastes changed, but Puerling formed a new group, the Singers Unlimited, with Len Dresslar, Bonnie Herman, and Hi-Lo's alumnus Don Shelton. Pianist Oscar Peterson recommended the group to the MPS record label, where they recorded multiple albums.
Puerling was nominated for 14 Grammy awards, and won in 1982 for his arrangement of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" as sung by the Manhattan Transfer. Throughout his career, he collaborated with distinguished instrumental arrangers, including Patrick Williams, Frank Comstock, Marty Paich, and Rob McConnell, among others.
He continued arranging for numerous groups, including Chanticleer, and a reunited Hi-Lo's in the late 1970s. Gene Puerling died in Marin County, California, on March 25, 2008.
Links to collections
Gene Puerling Collection, 1949-2006
University of North Texas. Music Library
Bishop, Keith. Jazz composers, arrangers and performers.
California State University, Long Beach
Related names in SNAC
associatedWith
Allen, Steve, 1921-2000
associatedWith
Barker, Warren
associatedWith
Baxter, Les, 1922-1996
associatedWith
Boone, Pat
associatedWith
Bregman, Buddy
associatedWith
Clooney, Rosemary
associatedWith
Cole, Nat King, 1919-1965
associatedWith
Comstock, Frank
associatedWith
DeVol, Frank
associatedWith
Fielding, Jerry, 1922-1980
associatedWith
Fischer, Clare
associatedWith
Garland, Judy
correspondedWith
Guter, Gerhard K.
associatedWith
Haskell, Jimmie
associatedWith
Hooper, Les
associatedWith
Jenkins, Gordon
associatedWith
Kellaway, Roger
correspondedWith
Mandel, Johnny
associatedWith
Mangione, Chuck
correspondedWith
McGlohon, Loonis
associatedWith
Miller, Mitch, 1911-2010
associatedWith
Moore, Garry, 1915-1993
associatedWith
Paich, Marty
associatedWith
Peterson, Oscar, 1925-2007
associatedWith
Ronstadt, Linda
associatedWith
Sinatra, Frank
associatedWith
Tobias, Henry
associatedWith
Williams, Andy, 1927-2012
associatedWith
Williams, Patrick, 1939-....
associatedWith
Chanticleer (Musical group)
associatedWith
Manhattan Transfer (Musical group)
leaderOf
Singers Unlimited.
Collection Locations
no collection locations known
Comparison
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Information
Subjects:
- Jazz
- Jazz vocals
Occupations:
- Arrangers (Musicians)
- Vocalists
Places:
- CA, US
- CA, US
- CA, US
- WI, US
- WI, US
Variant Names
Puerling, Gene, 1929-2008
Puerling, Eugene Thomas
Puerling, Eugene Thomas, 1929-2008
Puerling, Gene, 1929-2008
Puerling, Eugene Thomas, 1929-2008