The Wailers
Formed 1958 in Tacoma, Washington, USA, the Wailers were a tough rock ‘n’ roll band which became extremely popular in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA in the late '50s and early '60s. The Wailers were contemporaries of the Kingsmen, Paul Revere And The Raiders and the Sonics, all of whom also specialized in ‘garage-rock’. The Wailers consisted of John Greek (guitar) and Richard Dangel (guitar), Mark Marush (saxophone), Mike Burk (drums) and Kent Morrill (piano/vocals). Signed to Golden Crest Records, their first single, Tall Cool One, made the US Top 40; the follow-up single, Mau-Mau, was not as successful, although Tall Cool One enjoyed a second chart run in 1964. The group formed its own Etiquette Records in 1960 and, with Rockin’ Robin Roberts on vocals, recorded a version of Louie, Louie—the group claims it was the first from that region to record the song, although, due to lack of national distribution, both the Kingsmen and Raiders versions enjoyed the hits. The Wailers continued to record until 1968 when they disbanded.