Rating: 
Summary: Straight Up
Review: "Hit Me, Fred" by Fred Wesley is one of the most honest and engaging autobiographies I have read. Honest in that Fred gives us uncolored insight into to the world of the music industry with all of the inflated egos, false hype, drug abuse, and intense politicizing. Also honest in his love and appreciation for his mentors, his unabiding affection for his fellow sidemen through out his career and his sense of awe when the James Brown band or Parliment or the Count Basie band were playing at their best. "Hit Me Fred" is engaging for all of the reasons above with the addition of Fred being a gifted story teller in general. This book is a must read for funk enthusiasts and aspiring musicians.
Rating:
Summary: Straight Up
Review: "Hit Me, Fred" by Fred Wesley is one of the most honest and engaging autobiographies I have read. Honest in that Fred gives us uncolored insight into to the world of the music industry with all of the inflated egos, false hype, drug abuse, and intense politicizing. Also honest in his love and appreciation for his mentors, his unabiding affection for his fellow sidemen through out his career and his sense of awe when the James Brown band or Parliment or the Count Basie band were playing at their best. "Hit Me Fred" is engaging for all of the reasons above with the addition of Fred being a gifted story teller in general. This book is a must read for funk enthusiasts and aspiring musicians.
Rating:
Summary: Straight Up
Review: "Hit Me, Fred" by Fred Wesley is one of the most honest and engaging autobiographies I have read. Honest in that Fred gives us uncolored insight into to the world of the music industry with all of the inflated egos, false hype, drug abuse, and intense politicizing. Also honest in his love and appreciation for his mentors, his unabiding affection for his fellow sidemen through out his career and his sense of awe when the James Brown band or Parliment or the Count Basie band were playing at their best. "Hit Me Fred" is engaging for all of the reasons above with the addition of Fred being a gifted story teller in general. This book is a must read for funk enthusiasts and aspiring musicians.
Rating: 
Summary: Quality memoirs from a great musician
Review: Despite being a big Fred Wesley fan, I must admit I was skeptical about any entertainer writing an autobiography with no co-author and no credited editor. In fact, I got a copy of this from the public library first because I just couldn't imagine that the book would really be worthwhile reading. I was wrong. This book won't win a Pulitzer prize but Fred writes a very readable and entertaining memoir. It's particularly enjoyable to those of us who believe Fred is one of the most important musicians of the latter 20th century, but reads well enough that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who had no idea who the author is.
Rating:
Summary: Fred's Funk
Review: Fred Wesley is "THE MAN". Here is a musical funk legend who has really paid his dues. He was the glue that kept the Funk going strong with the creativity
Rating:
Summary: Fred's Funk
Review: Fred Wesley is "THE MAN". Here is a musical funk legend who has really paid his dues. He was the glue that kept the Funk going strong despite of James legendary (and at times... annoying-as-hell) super-ego and boot-strap tyranny ways that interferred with the indivdual creative freedom of the most talented musicians the God has ever put on earth. Had James at least shown some respect, appreciation, and a little more recognition they more than deserved, he and the rest of the band (including Bootsy and Phelp) could have easily overthrown the 'Motown Dynasty'
Rating:
Summary: Fred's Funk
Review: Fred Wesley is "THE MAN". Here is a musical funk legend who has really paid his dues. He was the glue that kept the Funk going strong with the creativity
Rating:
Summary: fred wesley tells it lie it is
Review: fred wesley is a legend that's been overlooked too long and it's about time something like this dealing with black music comes out since fred has seen lots of artists come and go with james brown the man invented funky jazz with george clinton and bootsy collins he helped rewrite the book on funk and the world is stil feeling those vibes that he helped create an interesting novel fred goes into details about what mr.brown was really like why he fired vickie anderson how he abused lyn collins, and marva whitney, all into him pulling a pistol on a pilot in flight into how he met george clinton and how he made all those classic songs for jb, and p funk the man is a legend and this is for all funk and jazz fans hell this is for music lovers period.
Rating:
Summary: Hit Me, Fred!
Review: I finished reading the book yesterday. It was a VERY interesting book......one that I recommend every aspiring professional trombone player or other aspiring professional musician to read. The autobiography covers Fred's musical career from his musical beginnings learning or rather attempting to learn piano as a child to his present day professional musical career. We learn that Fred played professionally as a teenager with a jazz big band. His father was a high school choral director and profesional jazz pianist. His grandmother was a piano teacher. He covers his days playing for Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton and their bands of Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band. We learn of his playing days with the Count Basie Band. Wesley is very candid regarding what he feels are the good points AND the bad points in his playing. He talks about his failed audition for a college band scholarship because of his playing shortcomings. He also talks about the major adjustment that he made from being a member of the Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band bands to taking over the second chair that was previously vacated in the Basie band by Al Grey. Wesley is also candid about the dual temptations of women and drugs that are faced by those musicians who are world famous or who are sidemen to the world famous. In addition, he talks about the ruthlessness of the music business, not only the managers and record company owners but also some of the fellow sidemen and the superstars that employ the sidemen. The major thrust of the entire book is that Wesley managed to persevere with a combination of talent, hard work and a smattering of luck. He talks a great deal about his love/hate relationship with James Brown, The Godfather of Soul/Hardest Working Man in Show Business. It is positively hilarious to read Fred's accounts of disciphering James Brown's grunts into music that could be played by the band. Througout the entire book, you get a feel about a man who has a deep love for music, especially jazz. However, his path always seemd to work its way back to the funk genre. He tells of solos that he played and that he recorded and that he was ashamed for his musical peers to hear. Hmmm......some of the solos that he was ashamed to play were ones that I found especially entertaining to hear and play when I was in high school in the early and mid 1970's! He not only played trombone. He wrote and arranged music for several different bands. He worked as a studio musician and even scored a couple of movies. This is a frank and revealing book about a vastly talented man who worked extremely hard to make a living as a professional musician, supporting himself and his family.
Rating:
Summary: Like being backstage and onstage with Fred
Review: I had the privilege of meeting Fred Wesley just a couple of years ago. A very down to earth man and as fine a musician as you can find. I was thrilled to see that he had a book in the works and it exceeded my expectations. His recollections are detailed and straight up..... good, bad, and indifferent. The book is segmented into the various, specific phases of Wesley's career. Each is filled with insights and gems that read as though he were talking directly to the reader. I read the whole thing and then went back and cherry-picked through specific chapters a second and third time. Just great!
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