The Wailers, often credited as The Fabulous Wailers, were an American rock band from Tacoma, Washington. The group was formed – originally as # The Nitecaps – in 1958, by five high school friends: John Greek (27 October 1940 – 6 October 2006) – rhythm guitar, trumpet Richard Dangel (1 December 1942 – 2 December 2002) – lead guitar Kent Morrill (2 April 1941 – 15 April 2011) – keyboards, vocals Mark Marush (15 August 1940 – 9 August 2007) – tenor sax