Posted by Bob Joles on October 17, 2002 at 18:31:44:
Yesterday (Wed., Oct 16) The Los Angeles chapter of ASMAC - American Society of Musical Arrangers and Composers - had a luncheon to honor Gene Puerling. If you don't know who Gene is, he is the guiding force and founder of such vocal groups as The Hi-Lo's and The Singers Unlimited and a vocal arranger supreme.
At the luncheon were many of Hollywood's finest composers and arrangers: Patrick Williams (The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore Show), Vic Mizzy (The Addams Family TV Show, Green Acres) Frank Comstock (Dragnet, Adam-12, 10 or so of the Hi-Lo's albums), George Wyle (Gilligan's Island and the Christmas tune The Most Wonderful Time of the Year) Don Shelton (LA Studio Woodwind player and original member of both The Hi-Lo's and TSU), Spud Murphy (95 years young and still goin' strong!) and many, many more. several of the younger arrangers on the Hollywood scene were there too.
After the buffet lunch a group of 18 studio singers did a special tribute to Gene that was arranged by Ian Freebarian-Smith that was simply amazing. The song celebrated Gene's long and fruitful career as a vocal arranger with the various groups he'd formed over the years and his personal style of vocal writing.
Then, Gene was introduced by his long time collaborator and friend Frank Comstock. A very funny intro by Frank and then Gene spoke for over an hour. He told great stories about how he got started and that he's had no formal musical training. Gene also played several of his favorite examples from the Hi-Lo's and TSU. If you've never had the pleasure of hearing either of these groups do yourself a favor and order them on-line or from your local CD store. You WON'T be sorry! The Singers Unlimited "Christmas" album is an acapella lovers delight.
I got to talk with Gene for a few minutes before the festivities began. A true gentleman and he couldn't have been nicer. A special treat for me was that Dick Van Dyke came to the luncheon. He told me afterwords that he's been a fan of Gene's since the early days of the Hi-Lo's back in the 1950's. Dick has his own acapella male quartet and he asked Gene (if he has the time) to write an arrangement for his group. Dick even slipped Gene a card with the ranges of his group written on it - if just in case he ever was to get around to doing the chart for him.
I know this isn't really tuba related but it was musical and a magical afternoon that I won't soon forget. Plus, I wanted to try and share the whole experience with you, my comrades here on the board. It was an amazing tribute to one of my musical heroes.
Cheers,
Bob "wish you all could have been there" Joles