Customer Reviews

The Original Golden Crest Masters

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There are probably four or five albums from the first wave of great Northwest rock & roll (1958 - 63) that are both must haves and highly collectible and "The Fabulous Wailers" is at the top of the list. This new import release is like manna from heaven - alternate takes, unissued tracks, and the complete first album - all taken from "newly discovered" masters that sound INCREDIBLE!!! Clean, no hiss, no compression, some of these tracks are even in true stereo for the first time in print!!! Hallelujah!!! My life is now complete (until they put out The Viceroys' "At Granny's Pad" on CD).

This is a classic group...The music of The Wailers bring back instant memories of "Drag-Races" and "Hot Rods" and "Surfing"...This ACE cd is a classic. The liner notes tell the whole story of the group that began the beat before the BEACH BOYS and JAN & DEAN...Listen and you can detect where some of the later classics got their inspiration. This is a must buy!!!!

Wailers - Wailers - Everywhere! Mid to Late 1960's, growing up in Tacoma and Fircrst WA - The Tacoma Armory - Spanaway Lake Dance Hall - Evergreen Ballroom (long-live the Ballroom!) - The Spanish Castle! The Wailers were (and are!) THE MOST INFLUENTIAL GROUP EVER ON NORTHWEST ROCK! I went to Junior High, High School and College (yes COLLEGE!) with several of the band members and those were GOOD TIMES! Pre-New Age rock? They pre-dated them all! And they are STILL packing them in!

As a native Tacoman, a Stadium High '65 graduate, and bassplayer who stood watcing John "Buck" Ormsbey for more hours than was probably good for me, I found the CD both nostalgic and a reminder of how badly The Wailers were treated by the local rock power-brokers located in Seattle during their hayday. The CD also reminds listeners that the fifth Wailer was John Greek playing a rythum guitar, the group having no bass at that point. Every northwest musican owes a debt to The Wailers for putting us on the music map once and for all.

Of all the records I had in my old collection, this album was always my favorite. It contains some very original and unique Northwest music and sounds. The band still gets together from time to time for live performances. The music their fans want to hear live is usually from this album.

Simply my favorite sounds of all time. I was a regular at all the teen dances in the Pacific Northwest and the Wailers were the best and always sold out. When you walked down Greek Row at the UW the original Wailers album was always blaring out the windows of the fraternity houses.

If you like instrumental surf music this is a must have. I have quite a few rare and greats, this is now one of the top albums though in that collection. Don't stop and think just buy!

A fabulous album for sure! When it came out, all of us young wannabe rockers listened to every note and drum beat and tried to copy every bit of it. As others have said, forget the Kingsmen, this is the real deal.

The music on this album is tremendous Rhythm & Blues / Rock'n Roll - - it takes me back to the late 1950's and early 1960's in Tacoma and Lacey, Washington. Keith Richards has said this music influenced the early Rolling Stones; George Harrison said he listened to it, and the Beatles were fans of The Fabulous Wailers. Van Morrison said that the first tune he learned to play was the Wailers first hit, "Tall Cool One." Jimmy Hendrix used to watch and listen to them play.

Kent Morrill, keyboard player and lead singer with The Fabulous Wailers, was a senior at St. Martin's College when I was a freshman in high school there. He was definitely the coolest guy I'd ever seen back then (1959 - 1960 school year). He sang in the college Glee Club, and his rendition of Ave Maria on Mother's Day was heavenly.

The same voice that did such a beautiful job on Ave Maria also gives me chills every time I hear his rendition of "Dirty Robber" - - one of the great all-time wailing rock numbers. That man has one of the greatest rock'n'roll voices of all time. And his keyboard work on tunes like Tall Cool One is tremendous.

Here's to The Fabulous Wailers - may their music live forever!