The Hi-Lo's: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Manhattan Transfer
• Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
• The Singers Unlimited
• Ames Brothers
• Mills Brothers
• The Modernaires
• The Delta Rhythm Boys

• Manhattan Transfer
• The Free Design
• The Beach Boys
• Wesla Whitfield
• The Mamas & the Papas
• Straight No Chaser

• Encores

• Hoagy Carmichael

Formed:

Jan 1, 1953 in Hollywood, CA

Disbanded:

Jan 1, 1964

Genre:

Standards & Vocal Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

High

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

The Hi-Lo's were one of the more creative and influential male vocal quartets of the 1950s, matching intricate harmonies with standards that were given big band-pop arrangements. Forming in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, they began recording in 1953, just in time for the LP era -- an important consideration since The Hi-Lo's did not have huge success in the singles market. They were all over television in the 1950s, appearing on 39 episodes of The Rosemary Clooney Show alone, as well as the shows of Steve Allen, Nat "King" Cole, Pat Boone and others. In the studio, they worked with talented arrangers like Frank Comstock and Marty Paich, and hit their commercial peak with three Top 20 albums on Columbia in 1957 (one recorded with Clooney). Their inventive shadings and the wide range (particularly in the upper register) were, as is well-known, influences on Brian Wilson, and also, as is much less well-known, John Phillips. Wilson and Phillips would apply some of that harmonic influence to recordings with their groups, The Beach Boys and The Mamas And The Papas. Recent jazz-pop groups such as The Manhattan Transfer also have a significant debt to The Hi-Lo's.

- Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide