Died On This Date (March 25, 2008) Gene Puerling / The Hi-Lo’s
themusicsover Gene Puerling
March 31, 1929 – March 25, 2008
Gene Puerling, the one-time leader and celebrated vocal arranger of the Hi-Lo’s passed away March 25, 2010 of complications from diabetes. He was 78. His group’s complex vocal arrangement were said to influence Brian Wilson, the Mamas and the Papas, the Gatlin Brothers, Take 6 and the Manhattan Transfer who earned Puerling a Grammy for his 1981 arrangement of “A Nightingale Sang In Washington Square.”
Carl Wilson was the youngest of three brothers who formed the Beach Boys. With 
Dennis Wilson was the founding drummer of the Beach Boys. It was Dennis who originally approached brother, Brian Wilson to form a band to write and perform songs about the beach life. And if any member of the group best exemplified that lifestyle, it was carefree Dennis, who in fact, was the only one who actually surfed. Although he primarily played the drums and sang back-up for the group, Dennis occasionally sang lead and would play the guitar and piano on his later solo albums. For the Beach Boys, Dennis sang “Do You Wanna Dance?” and “This Car of Mine.” In 1971, Dennis flirted with movie stardom by co-starring with Warren Oates and James Taylor in the now cult-classic film, Two-Lane Blacktop. During the late ’70s, Dennis released Pacific Ocean Blue, which although it didn’t sell terribly well, was a critical success and built itself a cult following in later years. Until it’s reissue in 2008, copies of it could fetch over $100 on eBay. Dennis suffered from personal demons most of his adult life, and with that came struggles with alcohol. On December 28, 1983, an apparently drunk Dennis drowned while diving to recover lost personal items at the marina where his old boat had once been docked. He was 39. Dennis’ father, 
