The group consisted of:
Gene Puerling, bass-baritone, arranger and leader
Bob Strasen, baritone
Bob Morse, baritone and occasional soloist
Clark Burroughs, tenor
The Hi-Lo's tower among the most innovative and influential close harmony quartets of the postwar era, expanding the parameters of traditional pop via sophisticated, jazz-inspired arrangements that profoundly shaped the rock & roll generation who followed in the group's wake. So named for their expansive vocal range, the Hi-Lo's formed in Hollywood in early 1953 -- bass baritone Gene Puerling and baritone Bob Strasen first teamed in the Milwaukee-based Four Shades, while baritone Bob Morse and tenor Clark Burroughs previously collaborated as members of the Encores, a short-lived ensemble led by session vocal legend Randy Van Horne. After bandleader (and future film composing icon) Jerry Fielding recommended the Hi-Lo's to the fledgling L.A. label Trend, the group cut its debut EP in April 1953, scoring a minor local hit with "Georgia." "Love Me or Leave Me," recorded in support of singer Herb Jeffries, soon followed on Olympic.
While Burroughs' astounding lead vocals enabled Puerling the flexibility to create daring, stunningly complex arrangements some distance removed from the current chart fare, Trend resisted the Hi-Lo's more radical impulses, and in mid-1954 the quartet exited the label in frustration. They soon signed with Starlite, teaming with orchestral arranger and conductor Frank Comstock at the now-legendary Gold Star Studios, a facility famed for its singularly rich acoustics -- their debut album Listen! followed by year's end, trailed in 1955 by The Hi-Lo's, I Presume.
Although commercial success continued to elude the Hi-Lo's, the quartet emerged as a critical favorite, and successive LPs including Under Glass and On Hand further expanded their palette, with Puerling's increasingly challenging and beautiful arrangements over time incorporating elements of contemporary pop, barbershop, calypso and musical theater. In late 1956, the Hi-Lo's signed to Columbia, where their label debut Suddenly It's the Hi-Lo's sold in excess of 100,000 copies thanks to promotion via television's Nat King Cole Show; -- Rosemary Clooney then invited the group to join the cast of her syndicated variety show, and together they cut an album, Ring Around Rosie. A third Columbia date, Now Hear This, followed in 1957, the same year the Hi-Lo's made their feature film debut in Calypso Heat Wave.
Despite their growing media profile, the quartet's albums remained cult favorites at best, however, and Columbia A&R chief Mitch Miller consistently pressured Puerling to simplify his approach in favor of a more radio-friendly formula. The Hi-Lo's resisted, and while 1958's Marty Paich-produced And All That Jazz was their most consistent and rewarding release to date, sales were disappointing, and a year later Bob Strasen announced his resignation.
With the addition of tenor Don Shelton, the Hi-Lo's cut Broadway Playbill in 1960. It too failed to chart, and when the same fate met its follow-up This Time It's Love, Columbia cut its losses and let the group go. Avowed fan Frank Sinatra telegrammed the Hi-Lo's in 1962, inviting them to join his fledgling Reprise label; their two Reprise albums, The Hi-Lo's Happen to Folk Songs and The Hi-Lo's Happen to Bossa Nova, both aimed squarely at commercial trends and fell wide of the mark, and their tenure with the company proved brief. Don Shelton left the lineup in 1964 to join the Chicago vocal group the J's with Jamie, and the Hi-Lo's soldiered on, briefly adding singers Frank Howren and Milt Chapman before the commercial onslaught of rock & roll's British Invasion finally spelled their demise in 1965. While Bob Morse opened an antiques store, Clark Burroughs teamed with wife Marilyn in a folk-rock duo, and Gene Puerling assembled a new group, Singers Unlimited, recruiting Shelton as well as newcomers Len Dresslar and Bonnie Herman.
As the Hi-Lo's were celebrated as a seminal influence on West Coast harmony pop acts including the Beach Boys and the Mamas & the Papas, Singers Unlimited went on to cut a series of LPs for the German label MPS, which in 1977 suggested Puerling organize a Hi-Lo's reunion: Back Again hit retail a year later, its release announced with an appearance at the 1978 Monterey Jazz Festival. Now followed in 1980, and the group continued touring throughout the decade to come, finally calling it quits in 1994. Bob Morse died in 2001.
~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Afterward, Puerling, Shelton and Burroughs still appeared very occasionally as the Hi-Lo's in and around Southern California. An accomplished reed player, Shelton has been a member of Clare Fischer's bands. Clark Burroughs is semi-retired and can sometimes be heard on film soundtracks.
On March 25, 2008, Gene Puerling died just shy of his 79th birthday.
Surrey With the Fringe on Top
The Hi-Lo's Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Honey, here's the way it's goin' to be:
You will set behind a team of snow white horses,
In the slickest gig you ever see!
Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
Nosey pokes'll peek thru' their shutters and their eyes will pop!
The wheels are yeller, the upholstery's brown,
The dashboard's genuine leather,
With isinglass curtains y' can roll right down,
In case there's a change in the weather.
Two bright sidelight's winkin' and blinkin',
Ain't no finer rig I'm a-thinkin'
You c'n keep your rig if you're thinkin' 'at I'd keer to swap
Fer that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top! Did you say
the fringe was made of silk
Wouldn't have no other kind but silk
Does it really have a team of snow white horses
One's like snow, the other's more like milk
All the world'll fly in a flurry
When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
When we hit that road, hell fer leather,
Cats and dogs'll dance in the heather,
Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!
The wind'll whistle as we rattle along,
The cows'll moo in the clover,
The river will ripple out a whispered song,
And whisper it over and over:
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever and ud never stop
In that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!
I can see the stars gettin' blurry,
When we drive back home in the surrey,
Drivin' slowly home in the surrey with the fringe on top!
I can feel the day gettin' older,
Feel a sleepy head on my shoulder,
Noddin', droopin' close to my shoulder, till it falls kerplop!
The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill;
The moon is takin' a header,
And jist as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still,
A lark'll wake up in the medder.
Hush, you bird, my baby's a-sleepin'!
Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin'
Whoa! you team, and jist keep a-creepin' at a slow clip clop.
Don't you hurry with the surrey with the fringe on the top!
The lyrics of "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" by The Hi-Lo's paint a vivid picture of a romantic evening, complete with a fancy carriage and horses. It speaks of young love and the beauty of nature, and the desire to make a lasting and memorable impression. The singer describes the carriage, with its yellow wheels and brown upholstery, as well as the curtains that can be rolled down in case of inclement weather. The fringe on top of the carriage is made of silk, and the horses are described as being white as snow.
The singer imagines the reaction of those who see him and his love driving in the carriage, with onlookers peeking through their windows in amazement. The lyrics describe the sound of the carriage rattling along, with the wind whistling and the cows mooing in the fields. As the day draws to a close, the couple returns home in the carriage, with the singer feeling a sense of contentment and joy at having shared such a special experience with his love.
Overall, the lyrics of "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" evoke a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era, where love was expressed with grand gestures and romance was alive in everyday life.
Line by Line Meaning
When I take you out, tonight, with me,
When we go out tonight, I want it to be special.
Honey, here's the way it's goin' to be:
This is how our night is going to play out.
You will set behind a team of snow white horses,
We will ride in a carriage pulled by two beautiful white horses.
In the slickest gig you ever see!
This carriage will be the nicest one you've ever seen.
Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
As we ride by, smaller animals will hurry out of our way.
When I take you out in the surrey,
When we go for a ride in the carriage,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
this particular carriage has a fringe on top that sets it apart.
Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
The fringe on top of the carriage will blow in the wind.
When I drive them high steppin' strutters.
The horses that pull the carriage will be well-trained and high-stepping.
Nosey pokes'll peek thru' their shutters and their eyes will pop!
People who see us pass by will be surprised and curious.
The wheels are yeller, the upholstery's brown,
The wheels of the carriage are yellow and the seats are brown.
The dashboard's genuine leather,
The dashboard of the carriage is made of real leather.
With isinglass curtains y' can roll right down,
There are clear curtains on the sides that can be rolled down if it gets too windy.
In case there's a change in the weather.
This will come in handy if the weather changes unexpectedly.
Two bright sidelight's winkin' and blinkin',
There are two bright sidelights on the carriage that blink on and off.
Ain't no finer rig I'm a-thinkin',
I don't think there's a nicer carriage in existence.
You c'n keep your rig if you're thinkin' 'at I'd keer to swap
I don't want to trade this carriage for anything else.
Fer that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!
It's too special and unique to me.
Did you say the fringe was made of silk
Is the fringe really made of silk?
Wouldn't have no other kind but silk
I would only want it if the fringe was made of silk.
Does it really have a team of snow white horses
Are the horses really white as snow?
One's like snow, the other's more like milk
One horse is pure white and the other is a little more creamy in color.
All the world'll fly in a flurry
Everyone will be amazed and surprised when they see us ride by.
When I take you out in the surrey,
As we ride around town in the carriage,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
everyone will take notice of our special carriage.
When we hit that road, hell fer leather,
When we start moving, we'll go as fast as we can.
Cats and dogs'll dance in the heather,
The animals around us will be so happy they'll act almost human.
Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!
The natural world will respond joyfully to our ride.
The wind'll whistle as we rattle along,
As the carriage moves, it will make a whistling sound in the wind.
The cows'll moo in the clover,
The cows will moo from the fields as we pass by.
The river will ripple out a whispered song,
The river will create a soothing background noise that we can hear.
And whisper it over and over:
It will continue to make this sound as we ride by.
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wish we could ride in this carriage forever?
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wish we could ride like this forever?
Don't you wisht y'd go on forever and ud never stop
Don't you wish we could keep going without ever having to stop?
In that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!
In this special carriage that we love so much.
I can see the stars gettin' blurry,
As we ride back home, I feel like we're seeing the stars start to blur.
When we drive back home in the surrey,
As we head back to our starting point in the carriage,
Drivin' slowly home in the surrey with the fringe on top!
we'll take it easy and enjoy the experience of the ride itself.
I can feel the day gettin' older,
As time passes, it feels like the day is winding down.
Feel a sleepy head on my shoulder,
I feel your head start to droop a little on my shoulder.
Noddin', droopin' close to my shoulder, till it falls kerplop!
You eventually fall asleep and your head falls against my shoulder with a little thump.
The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill;
As we head back, the sun is starting to set behind the hills.
The moon is takin' a header,
The moon is starting to rise in the sky.
And jist as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still,
Everything around us feels quiet and peaceful.
A lark'll wake up in the medder.
Suddenly, we hear a lark singing in the meadow nearby.
Hush, you bird, my baby's a-sleepin'!
We don't want the bird to wake you up from your nap.
Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin';
Maybe you're having a good dream that you'll want to remember.
Whoa! you team, and jist keep a-creepin' at a slow clip clop.
We slow down so as not to disturb your sleep as the horses keep moving.
Don't you hurry with the surrey with the fringe on the top!
We want to savor these peaceful moments as we head back home in our special carriage.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind