Remembering the Fabulous Wailers

by Abigail Sayles

1957

 The Fabulous Wailers started off in 1957 as just a few teenage high school boys getting together to make some music on the McChord Air Force Base, with no expectation of getting recognized. The group consisted of John Greek who played guitar, Rich Dangel who played lead guitar, Kent Morrill who played piano and sang vocals, Mark Marush who played tenor saxophone and lastly Mike Burk who played the drums. 

What was special and unique about their sound was the use of the saxophone played by Mark Marush. This sound gave the band a rock ‘n’ roll feel but also consisted of a jazz feeling which brought in more listeners and overall, more people to view their music. 

1958

1958 is the year that The Fabulous Wailers took off. The band had decided to record a demo at the Commercial Production Studio.  Little did they know it was a large production center for a big band leader named Atillio “Art” Mineo. With Mineo recognizing their work, he brought the band to Clark Galehouse of New York based Golden Crest Records. Golden Crest Records decided to sign John Greek to the record deal being that he was the only person in the band of age to do so. The band now having a studio to record, they were given the opportunity to re-record their demo here in Lakewood, Washington at the Knights of Columbus Hall. This demo was then re-named as “Tall Cool One.” 

1959

In 1959, The Fabulous Wailers released “Tall Cool One” as their first single. This song managed to reach No.36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It had also reached No.24 on the Billboards R&B chart. With the band getting recognized, they decided to leave the Pacific Northwest, hitting the road to tour the East Coast. This gave the band the opportunity to be interviewed by Dick Clark on American Bandstand (listen below) and have many opportunities to perform small sets in front of audiences. The record label Golden Crest Records had furthered their music production by helping the band produce another song called “Mau- Mau” which as well made No.68 on the Billboard pop chart. 

As fame started to pick up for the Fabulous Wailers, the record label was ready for the band to move to the east coast. When the band heard this idea, they did not seem ready for the big change and decided to stay in the Northwest, a decision which cost the band further interest of record labels promoting their music. Tension started to rise once returning back home, as a new member had joined the group: Rockin’ Robin Roberts. 

1960 

1960 is when the group began to change; John Greek had left the group due to tension between him and Roberts. With John Greek leaving, the band had added Buck Ormsby who was originally in the Bluenotes. In this year, Roberts, Ormsby and Morrill had this fantastic idea to start their own record company. With this in mind, they were able to book out Joe Boles’s home studio and recorded a song called “Louie Louie.”

1961 

After a year of trying to figure out how to create their own record company, it finally happened. Roberts, Ormsby and Morrill succeeded in producing Etiquette Records. With Etiquette Records now formed they have had more opportunities than before especially with radio stations. “Louie Louie” finally had its big break by being playing on the radio station KJR, this recognition on the air making it the biggest local hit in that time. In the same year they had the opportunity to produce an album titled “The Fabulous Wailers at the Castle” that was recorded in 1961. With this album release, Etiquette Records was officially a successful label.

1962- 1969 

In these next seven years, the Fabulous Wailers had many decisions to make regarding their next steps and it all came very quickly. Within these years the band was able to produce and release four new albums along with numerous singles, but also changed their band members within this time. 

In 1962 Mark Marush left the Fabulous Wailers, and was replaced by Ron Gardner as the band’s new lead vocalist. In 1963, Roberts left the group to continue school in Oregon to further study biology and chemistry. When Roberts left, he sold his share of Etiquette Records to Morrill and Ormsby. By 1964, both Dangel and Burke had then left the group and were then replaced with Neil Anderson and Dave Roland.

In 1964, Ormsby and Morrill discovered a new band, The Sonics, which would go on to change everything, influencing a generation of northwest bands to come. With a little help from the Fabulous Wailers and Etiquette Records, The Sonics single “The Witch” became a hit on KJR radio. 

At the end of 1964, “Tall Cool One” was again re-promoted by Golden Crest Records which gave the Fabulous Wailers a slight bump of fame until 1966. In 1966, they recorded a new hit called “It’s You Alone” which had caught attention from United Artists label, but this was once of the last big breaks they had. By 1967, Neil Anderson was replaced by a man named Denny Weaver and by the year 1969 the band had sadly split up. 

1970’s – 2000s 

Although the band officially split, this didn’t mean the end of all Wailers performances. The group got together numerous times to perform their hit songs. In 1979, some members from the band joined together to play a few shows. Then, in 2011, surviving band members performed “Tall Cool Ones” at the Snoqualmie Casino and then once again for the remembrance of performer Buck Ormsby in 2017.

The Fabulous Wailers had many years of success, from humble beginnings as a high school band, to getting recognized and promoted on a record deal, starting Etiquette Records, and inspiring so many others. Thanks to the Fabulous Wailers we have The Sonics, The Galaxies, and many other bands produced by Etiquette Records. 

In Memoriam

I want to take this moment to remember and value the members of the band. Rockin Roberts, singer, passed away in 1967 from an automobile crash. Jon Gardner, lead vocals, passed away in a fire in 1992. Richard Dangel, lead guitarist, passed away in 2002 due to an aneurysm. John Greek, who played trumpet and flugelhorn, had passed away in 2006. Mark Marush, played tenor saxophone, passed away in 2007. Kent Morrill, lead singer, passed away in 2011 at age 70 battling cancer. Buck Ormsby, bassist, passed away in 2016 after battling lung cancer. This band started in the 50’s and is still not forgotten; they produced the earliest Rock n Roll music here in Tacoma and supported the rise of many other bands. 

About the Author

Abigail Sayles prepared this article as her final project for TARTS 225: Musical History of Tacoma, at the University of Washington, Tacoma. At the time she took the class in Spring Quartet 2023, she was a junior majoring in Psychology.