Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 1, January 2003

Copyright 2002 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

Local music legend dies

Rich Dangel, a founding guitarist in the seminal 1960s Northwest rock band the Wailers, died Dec. 3 at the age of 60 of an aneurysm at his home in North Seattle's Broadview neighborhood, according to reports in the daily newspapers.

According to the Associated Press, as a high school student in Tacoma, Dangel teamed up with Wailer bandmate John Greek to co-write the hit song "Tall Cool One." The song (featured on the band's first album, "The Fabulous Wailers") earned the band an appearance on national television as guests on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" in 1959.

Dangel, who left the Wailers in 1963, went on to perform with several other groups, including a late '60s band called Floating Bridge. At the time of his death, he was leader of a blues-jazz band called the Rich Dangel Big Band.