Musicians - Rick James

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	Musicians - Rick James

Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr; February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American funk and soul musician, who worked as a singer, keyboardist, bassist, record producer, arranger, and composer during his long career. One of the most popular artists on the Motown label during the late 1970s and early 1980s, James was famous for his wild brand of funk music and his trademark cornrow braids, sporting them well before the style was widely popularized. As time went on, James was given the unofficial title The King of Funk.

Biography

Early life

Born in Buffalo, New York, James was the third of eight children; his father was an autoworker and his mother a former dancer. His uncle was Melvin Franklin, the bass vocalist of The Temptations.

At age 17, James joined the U.S. Naval Reserve after dropping out from Bennett High School. He began missing weekend training because it interfered with his musical career and was reported AWOL. Fleeing north to Toronto, Canada in the summer of 1964, James continued his musical career. His first band was called The Sailor Boys, which also featured future Steppenwolf member Nick St. Nicholas. By the end of 1964, the group had evolved into The Mynah Birds, and recorded a single for the Canadian arm of Columbia Records. In early 1965, St. Nicholas left the band and was replaced by Bruce Palmer.

Shortly afterwards, James and Palmer formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and John Taylor, and drummer Rickman Mason. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit, Michigan. Morgan was unhappy with the label's attitude towards the musicians and left, with Neil Young taking his place. With Young on board, the Mynah Birds returned to Motown to record an album, but their manager pocketed the advance money the label had given the band. The band fired their manager, who in turn told the label that James was AWOL. Motown told him to give himself up to the FBI, and the Mynah Birds' album was shelved.

James' career continues

James spent a year in the Brooklyn Brig, after which he briefly returned to Toronto. He soon returned to Motown and became a songwriter and producer at Motown, working with Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers and The Spinners.

In the summer of 1969, he moved to Los Angeles, California and formed a band called Salt 'N' Pepper with Canadians Ed Roth (keyboards), Dave Burt (guitar), and Coffi Hall (drums). Former Buffalo Springfield roadie Chris Sarns played bass for a while, before Ron Johnson from Kaleidoscope stepped in the following year. The group recorded a demo for Atlantic Records, and played at the Fillmore West with Jethro Tull.

In 1971, James and Roth recorded two singles in Toronto for RCA Records with Heaven and Earth, a band that also featured guitarist Stan Endersby, bass player Denny Gerrard, and drummer Pat Little. James left Heaven and Earth later that year; he, Roth, and Gerrard formed a new group called Great White Cane with horn players Bob Doughty and Ian Kojima, drummer Norman Wellbanks, guitarist Nick Balkou, and keyboard player John Cleveland Hughes. The group recorded an album for Lion Records in Los Angeles in March 1972, but by that summer they had disbanded.

At the end of 1972, James and Roth formed the first version of the Stone City Band with Peter Hodgson (bass), Danny Marks (guitar) and Malcolm Tomlinson (drums/vocals). An album's worth of material was recorded in mid-1973 but was never released. James signed to A&M Records the following year and issued a single entitled "My Mama".

Return to Motown and stardom

In 1977, he returned to Motown as a songwriter/producer. He soon began recording for Motown's Gordy label, first with the Hot Lips and then with a new version of the Stone City Band. James' breakthrough single was "You And I", an eight-minute magnum opus from his 1978 debut album Come Get It. The album also featured his ode to marijuana, "Mary Jane".

1979 saw James release two albums: Bustin' Out of L Seven, in January, and Fire It Up that fall. The latter included hits such as the title track and "Spacey Love" a ballad dedicated to singer Patti Labelle. After 1980's lackluster Garden of Love album, he then recorded a concept album entitled Street Songs. The 1981 release included "Super Freak", James' biggest hit. "Super Freak", which features guest vocals from The Temptations, was sampled for MC Hammer's 1990 Grammy award-winning song "U Can't Touch This". Other hits from Street Songs included "Give it to Me Baby", "Fire & Desire" with protege Teena Marie and "Ghetto Life".

The stream of hits continued into the mid-1980s with "Teardrops", "Cold Blooded", "17", "You Turn Me On" and "Glow." His last R&B hit was "Loosey's Rap" in 1989, featuring a rap by Roxanne Shante. During this period, he also helped launch the careers of R&B singer Teena Marie and the Mary Jane Girls as well as producing actor Eddie Murphy's one-hit wonder "Party All The Time."

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Musicians - Rick James

Biography

Early life

James' career continues

Return to Motown and stardom

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