The Final Blow (1994)

Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns

Go back up to the P-Funk Spinoff album list.


Track Listing:

Bells {Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Rick Gardner, Richard Griffith}  11:07
Fallen Off The Edge {G Clinton, Eddie Hazel}  8:56
The Cookie Monster {F Wesley, M Parker, R Gardner, R Griffith}  7:29
West Ward Ho {F Wesley, M Parker, R Gardner, R Griffith}  5:44
Oh I Don't Think Sew {G Clinton, Rodney Curtis}  10:25
Lickity Split {F Wesley}  9:15
Discositdown {G Clinton, Clark, E Hazel}  6:01

Personnel:

Producer: George Clinton
Horny Horns:
 Trombone: Fred Wesley
 Tenor & Alto Saxophone: Maceo Parker 
 Trumpet: Rick Gardner, Richard "Kush" Griffith 
Drums: Jerome Brailey, Frankie "Kash" Waddy, Bootsy Collins, Gary Cooper,
 Tyrone Lampkin, Jesse Williams
Guitars: Phelps Collins, Garry Shider, Mike Hampton, Bootsy Collins,
 Glen Goins, Rodney Crutcher
Bass: Bootsy Collins, Donnie Sterling, Billy Nelson, Cordell Mosson,
 Rodney Curtis
Synthesizer and Keyboards: Bernie Worrell, Joel Johnson, Jerome Rogers,
 Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley
Percussion: Carl "Butch" Small, Larry Fratangelo
Also on Horns: Brecker Brothers (Randy & Michael)

Rating:  RC: ***

Comments:

TK: For some reason, Fred Wesley himself said that the tracks for this album should have been left in the can.

RC: As a companion to the rerelease of the Horny Horns' two studio albums, a third album of unreleased material was also offered. Not all of the tracks are real songs, with some being pieced-together samples and remixes. Also, the song "Lickety Split" already appeared on Volume III of the George Clinton Family Series, and is reviewed there. Still and all, it was a good idea and I'm thankful that George is putting out material like this that hardcore Funkateers are dying to get. I would probably only recommend this for big fans, though. Casual fans should be sure to get the first two Horny Horns albums first. "Bells" sounds a lot like a mirror version of "Peace Fugue", except the figures descend instead of ascend. An excellent, jazzy track with nice percussion.

MT: "Fallen Off The Edge", is actually "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On" played as an instrumental (the horns play the melody). "The Cookie Monster" is next. If you've got either of the Sample Discs you'll recognize a lot of the lines. A lot of this song was used on the Sample Discs. "West Ward Ho" is kind of disappointing, because it's not an old Horny Horns track, but rather a new song, made using samples from a Horny Horns song. There's a track on Sample Disc Volume 2 called "Wild Westley" that has really cool horn lines. I was hoping that we would get the full take of that, but instead they gave us this, which is sampled lines from the song over a looped beat with some keyboards that sound modern. "Oh I Don't Think Sew" is an instrumental version of the song "Oh, I" from the Electric Spanking album. It's cool because it's nearly the whole take (just over 10 minutes) but I miss the vocals. Michael Brecker gets THREE solos! "Discositdown" would be best described as the Horny Horns' "Big Pump" except that they probably didn't have a thang to do with it. This is "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On" remixed into an industrial song. I was a bit disappointed in the songs that were altered with modern technology, particularly "Discositdown", but all in all I think we're lucky to have this album at all.