The Wailers: Fabulous or Wailin'

WailingThe US Northwest has as rich a musical history as any other portion of the world. And no, it’s not all tied to Nirvana, although those dudes ruled. But before that downer take on heavy sludge got sleek and had a turn on the air waves, there was Hendrix, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones. In the rock medium, though, that part of the country gave us the Sonics, without who, we might not have arrived at punk as quickly. And informing those folks was a group from the pretty bland satellite city of Tacoma called the Wailers.

If you Google ‘em, you’ll probably end up with a laundry list of sites devoted to the band that worked with Bob Marely. And while Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer are both deserving of their fair share of attention, it would be out of place here. But if you sift through those search results, some stuff about Rockin’ Robin and his band should be there. If not, keep looking. Beginning as an RnB revue of sorts, the group eventually evolved to write a good many of its own songs while even recording some singles in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s that would hit the charts. And even if their originals didn’t wind up at the top of the pops, some one’s cover would.

Being credited for kick starting whatever the Northwest sound was, the Wailers were equally adept at crashing through a primitive rock track as they were comfortably slowly waltzing through a ballad when fronted by any number of associated singers. Of course, Rockin’ Robin would pretty much be the face of the band as his “Louie, Louie,” which would be covered even by Black Flag, can be seen as the beginning of American garage. Of course some may argue – and they’d probably have some valid point, but coming around during the latter portion of ‘50s gave this sometimes heavy band a head start of at least four years on the competition.

Not everything would be weighted down by fuzzy guitars – “It’s You Alone,” with its timeless topic is ample proof of that. But on songs like the classic “Out of Our Tree,” which DMZ reworked twenty years later, and “Hang Up” the future of rock can be foretold. The howling that opens up that latter track would put to shame just about anything Iggy Pop would be able to summon a decade latter even if the lyrical ground that it tread was pretty sedate compared to what was to come.

The band’s discography is kinda hazy due to the fact that at its inception, ‘the album’ didn’t really exist the way that it would in a few years. But there are ample collections that seek to solve the problem. LiveWire!!! is one of ‘em. But there are a few actual long playing discs that saw release and subsequent reissue. The classic At the Castle is another. And with it featuring each affiliated singer across the 16 tracks, it might be one of the better introductions to the group as well as a decent representation of what these Wailers were capable of.