''Final Exam'' is an album by the American musician

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

, released in 1978. He supported it with a North American tour. The album was re-released on

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

in 2007, coupled with his 1976 album, ''

T Shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generall ...

''. In 1995, Wainwright acknowledged that it was his least favorite of his albums.

Production

The album was produced by

John Lissauer John Lissauer is an American composer, producer, and performer. At the age of 19, he arranged the first recordings of Al Jarreau. Lissauer went on to produce and arrange a pair of Leonard Cohen albums. Lissauer produced and arranged the first r ...

. Wainwright was backed by the band Slow Train. "Pretty Little Martha" is a tribute to his daughter

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...

. "Heaven and Mud" is about an attempt at sobriety. "Golfin' Blues" is about the golfing life, in the style of a Delta blues song. "Mr. Guilty" is a parody of the tropes of country music. The title track is addressed to a high school student taking spring semester exams.

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that Wainwright "deals primarily with a quirky kind of humor that seems almost to mask emotion." ''

The Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

'' considered ''Final Exam'' to be Wainwright's best, writing that he "operates without the philosophical cleverness of Randy Newman, preferring instead to use a straightforward, crazed style to push his point across." The ''

Journal & Courier The Lafayette ''Journal & Courier'' is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett, serving Lafayette, Indiana, and the surrounding communities. It was established in 1920 through the merger of two local papers, the ''Journal and Free Press'' (establish ...

'' praised Wainwright's acoustic guitar playing. The ''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...

'' noted Wainwright's "mind like a steel trap ... a warped steel trap." The ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' opined that "the clever cynic ... has become a television sit-com writer." ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...

'' determined that Wainwright "furthers his reputation as an unconventional, witty songwriter ... but there are no real standouts." In 1983, ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' labeled the album "self-pitying and melodramatic." Reviewing the reissue, ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' deemed it an "enjoyable usionof his more traditional folk style with a harder, rockier edge."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Loudon Wainwright III #"Final Exam" #"Mr. Guilty" #"Penpal Blues" #"Golfin' Blues" #"The Heckler" #"Natural Disaster" #"Fear with Flying" #"Heaven and Mud" #"Two-song Set" #"Pretty Little Martha" #"Watch Me Rock, I'm Over Thirty"

Personnel

*Loudon Wainwright III - guitar, vocals ;Slow Train *Ron Getman - steel guitar, guitar, vocals *John Crowder - bass, vocals *Glen Mitchell - keyboards, vocals *Stephen Tubin - keyboards *Richard Crooks - drums, percussion with: *Arlen Roth - slide guitar *

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

- guitar *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliver ...

- banjo *Errol "Crusher" Bennett - percussion *

Kenny Kosek Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed to ...

- violin *

- clarinet *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

- guitar *Larry Packer - violin *

The Roches The Roches were an American vocal trio of sisters Maggie, Terre and Suzzy Roche, from Park Ridge, New Jersey. Career In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry", ...

- backing vocals ;Technical *Harvey Hoffman - recording and mixing engineer *Peter Cunningham - cover photography

Release history

*LP: Arista AB4173 (U.S.) *LP: Arista SPART1042 (UK) *LP: Poopik Productions AB4173 (Europe)

References

{{Authority control Loudon Wainwright III albums 1978 albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by John Lissauer