The Wailers

THE WAILERS
 
 
The Wailers,  often credited as The Fabulous Wailers, were an American rock band from Tacoma, Washington.  They became popular around the United States Pacific Northwest around the late 1950s and the start of the 1960s, performing saxophone-driven R&B and Chuck Berry rock and roll.  Their biggest hit was "Tall Cool One", first released in 1959, and they have been credited as being "one of the very first, if not the first, of the American garage bands."  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
A lesser known version of "Louie Louie" was released in 1960 by Rockin' Robin Roberts backed by the Wailers, a rock band from Tacoma, Washington that is often cited as being the first garage rock band in history. It was in this recording that the famous call was introduced: "Let's give it to 'em, right now!" Neither of these recordings made the charts though.
 
From Wikipedia: "The Kingsmen transformed [Richard] Berry's easy-going ballad into a raucous romp, complete with a twangy guitar, occasional background chatter, and nearly unintelligible lyrics by [Jack] Ely. A guitar break is triggered by the shout, ‘Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!’, which first appeared in the Wailers‘ version, as did the entire guitar break (although, in the Wailersversion, a few notes differ, and the entire band played the break)."
 
(June 2016)
* * *
The Sonics are often cited as being among the earliest garage rock bands, having formed in 1960 in Tacoma, Washington with a raw, energetic sound from the get-go. They were a key part of the Pacific Northwest scene that also included the Wailers (not Bob Marley’s band) and Paul Revere and the Raiders; in later years, this part of the country was renowned for the grunge scene of Nirvana and others and the riot grrrl scene of Sleater-Kinney and others.
 
(December 2016)
Last edited: March 22, 2021