The Fabulous Wailers

• Artist: The Wailers
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1959
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

As any quick perusal of old Top 40 rock & roll station playlists will attest, singles were where the shakin' action was, as rock & roll albums were scarce as hen's teeth back in those pre-Beatle days. But when the record companies decided to issue one, it was usually an artifact of high rockin' value and some major influence. Naysayers to the contrary, this debut album by the Northwest's first great rock & roll combo is just such an artifact. The Wailers dispensed crude, greasy, largely instrumental rock & roll music for those who came to shake it up and shake it down, and it's all on fine, rhythmic, open display here. This album is amazing in its own simplistic, nuthin'-special way, its crudity almost palpable. There's only one vocal aboard, Kent Morrill's "Dirty Robber," later covered and torched by the Sonics. Everything else is built on the riff-sturdy bones of their biggest hit, "Tall Cool One." With two guitars, piano, sax, and drums -- no bass player anywhere on here, another crudeness indicator of the times and locale it was recorded in -- all blasting away like they're working a VFW Hall dance, hoof shakers like "Wailin'," "Shanghaied," "Beat Guitar" (featured in the soundtrack of the misguided Jerry Lee Lewis bioflick Great Balls Of Fire), and "Gunnin' For Peter" stand loud and proud as teen hall pre-Beatle rock & roll at its finest. Even more amazing is that the tonal crudity of this recording is enhanced even further on the stereo pressings of this album! Northwest grunge in its original 1950s incarnation that can be appreciated by everyone who hears its basic message, unless you happen to have something against three chords and a lot of energy. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Tall Cool One	Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:33)
Road Runner	Jonathan Richman, Bo Diddley, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:45)
Mau Mau	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:39)
Dirty Robber	Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:35)
Wailin'	Roy Eldridge, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(1:44)
Shanghied	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(1:59)
Beat Guitar	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:35)
Lucille	Little Richard, Al Collins	The Wailers	(3:04)
Long Gone	Bryan Adams, Rick Dangel, Jim Vallance, Mike Burk, John Greek	The Wailers	(1:50)
High Wall	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:41)
Gunnin' for Peter	Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:15)
Swing Shift [#]	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:08)
Snake Pit	Charlie Spivak, Sonny Burke, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:45)
Tough Bounce	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:39)
Scotch on the Rocks [#]	Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:45)
Snake Pit [#]	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:25)
Dirty Robber [#]	Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:39)
High Wall [#]	Rick Dangel, John Greek	The Wailers	(2:25)

Credits

Mike Burk (?), Pete Ciccone (Layout Design), Kim Fowley (?), Dedette Lee Hill (?), Billy Miller (Liner Notes), John Greek (Author)