Biography
4 July 1943, Mobile, Alabama, USA. Although Wesley joined the James Brown revue in 1968, in keeping with several of the soul star’s accompanists, this accomplished trombonist has left and rejoined on several occasions. In 1970, Brown pushed Wesley to the forefront of a new, crisper JB’s, who made their recording debut the following year with ‘Hot Pants’. The ensemble also began releasing spin-off singles, the earliest of which were written, arranged and produced by their mentor. The unit was soon dubbed Fred Wesley And The JB’s. Their most successful single, ‘Doing It To Death’, topped the R&B chart and reached the US Top 30 in 1973, and several more excellent, hard-funk releases followed. However, the core of the group, including Wesley, Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker later defected to George Clinton’s rival Parliament / Funkadelic organization. A new group, Fred Wesley And The Horny Horns, maintained a funk-based...
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