I still remember that day in 1978,when I went to the record store with my mother.We were looking for "You And I",a hot new jam that was all over the radio.That song was my introduction to Rick James,but it was only the beginning.Not too long after,the song "Mary Jane" came out and once again,I was hooked.Rick came out with these jams effortlessly it seemed.Every few months,you would hear another funky Rick James track on the radio..."Love Gun"...."High On Your Love (suite)"...."Bustin Out"...."Big Time".And then,in 1981,Rick released 'Street Songs' and it was official: this guy was no joke! Rick is one of the last true "funk masters" and I will miss him dearly.His music was a huge part of my teenage years.I never cared about his feud with Prince,his drug problems or any other controversies that surrounded him.For me,it was all about the funk,and Rick gave us the funk,over and over and over and over.



Rest in Peace,Rick James!!

First of all, I owe watchthemfall an apology. When I typed this, it was very late Saturday night/Sunday morning. I had friends over earlier and we all had been sitting around drinking and listening to Rick James. We had been drinking for a while and had a long discussion about casual Rick James fans. We were predicting the future and talking about how phony people that could care less about Rick when he was alive are now going to praise him now that he's dead. When I saw your post about "Glow", I immediately perceived you as one of those people (which is wrong on my part).

I know we all have different tastes and opinions and we are all entitled to them. I always try to respect that and still give my opinion also. I don't apologize for going into detail and pointing out the similarities of the previous albums before Rick's decline. That is just trying to prove my case for my opinion. I do apologize for the manner in which I did and I truly apologize for making the statement "I know my Rick James stuff.....do you". That was totally out of line. I guess Rick's death has hit me harder than I realize and alcohol just increased it. Just like you should never drive under the influence, you also should never type under the influence.

Please accept my most sincere apology.

PS: By the way, I STILL say you need to check out Rick's previous work before "Glow".

I know he didn't lead the life of a minister but this news really made me want to cry. He made some incredible music and his mark on or lives will not be forgotten.

It going to be like a Prince thing, that’s what f**ked Prince up; he was getting too white. There is a middle ground there, cause I think me, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, The Commodores got that middle ground, unlike Lenny Kravitz. He wants to do a black thing but he is successful with his white thing, but he doesn’t feel comfortable because it’s a white thing and there are no black people in the crowd. If you have 20,000 white people out there paying 100.00 a ticket, and all are girls, be happy! People come over to my house, musicians, and Lenny won’t touch an instrument, because he feels inferior. Think about it, its like Hootie & the Blowfish trying to come up on stage and jam with me.

Too bad he died a racist. I wonder what color he is now?

Very sad news, RIP Rick James

I've never considered Rick James a racist. Teena Marie was white, he had white people in the Stone City Band, and there are white Mary Jane Girls. What you are reading in your quote is a Rick James rant against Prince. He was going to down anyone similar to Prince to make his point.

Supernova said:

I SAID THE SAME THING TO A FRIEND OF MINE.....I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD BE SO SAD ABOUT HIS PASSING. I SPENT AN HOUR LISTENING TO HIS MUSIC, THE GUY WAS A GREAT TALENT.

ELBOOGY said:

This is so true. I am grateful for Prince and Rick. Prince's second album was the first album I bought when I was 8 and Rick was not far behind. I remember when they came to town together in a battle to see who would be the new king of punk funk. I Prince in the '80s. The one Rick James show I went to in the '80s I missed because he was extremely late. I am very grateful I saw Rick and Teena together in February. Rick dying is a piece of my youth dying. People like Prince and Rick have been inspiring me all my life. I know he tore himself down and this is why he left so soon. But it doesn't change the pain of the loss.


I will educate anyone I come into contact about Rick. I don't want people to focus on his problems and miss the point; Great music.


I love you Rick Rest In Peace.

Snap said:

You do realize that Rick James was once married to a White woman? And in the past,he was romantically involved with White ladies such as Teena Marie and Linda Blair.Hell,he began his career by playing in a rock band with Neil Young! Admittedly,some of his recent comments are absurd and sometimes misunderstood,but he was not a racist.

I actually found one of Rick James' last interviews. He was complimentary to Prince. He did get a dig in, but I think it was all in fun and not meant to be malicious.

(I don't know if this was posted yet, so please don't scream on me if it was.

http://www.eurweb.com/art...092004.cfm


"Me and Quincy [Jones] had this discussion, and it's a really sad thing, in actuality - music is dead. There will be no other Earth Wind and Fires, there'll be no more Billie Holidays, Sly and the Family Stones or Parliament Funkadelics. People get together now and they don't know anything about music. And I look at the artform of rap, the way they spit it, and some of them are brilliant, and they're poets, but some of it is just verbal diarrhea."

James cited recent shows with the Ohio Players and Parliament Funkadelic, and even the new "Musicology" material from his longtime rival Prince as examples of funk's staying-power despite today's unhealthy R&B diet.

"Never in my dearest life did I think I would ever like Prince," James said, before cracking up. "But I'm just so grateful for all the brothers out there in funk because it's a resurgence, a revolution, a reincarnation - it's a total blooming of something that people thought had died."

And speaking of Prince, James was still a little cheeky about the artist formerly known as The Artist, who reportedly sparked the rivalry when he kept upstaging the braided singer while opening for him on tour.

"I don't have any grudges," James said of the Purple One. "He's a great musician. I'm just not into songs like, If I Was Your Girlfriend' or me and my sister used to do this all night. But no, he's changed. He doesn't have a sign anymore. I guess there's a little bit of jealousy still there, but I know I'm better looking - and I'm taller."

Rest in peace - best of all frisages

DavidEye said:

Set 'em up right David. Rick was always advocatin' brothas gettin' white girls!!

Rick's clearly a controlling type of person around whom the universe should resolve. Unlike Prince he, had real street touhgness and served in the army. (He was suspected of going AWOL). That's his beef with Princey-poo. Purple funk often seems fake and contrived, but Prince still gets some for being a masterful musician.

Rick's musical downfall was probably his penchant for oversinging on ballads. Unlike Prince' falsetto and croon, Rick's gospellish oversinging had very little crossover appeal. Blacks liked it, but it never gave him any pop hits. He tried entire albums of the stuff and they flopped miserably.THE GARDEN.

STREET SONGS is a bonafide masterpiece of funk. That thang bangs thru nonstop (ok there a long pause for the duet with Teena Marie). COME GET IT had "You & I" ( a pumpin funk single best hear in the xtended version) and "Mary Jane" (a unabashed ode to marijauna).

BUSTIN OUT OF LSEVEN, FIRE IT UP and COLD BLODDOED also had good funk on 'em.

I don't know much about Lenny. I can neither disparage nor praise him. Seems like he modeled himself in Rick James fashion with Prince's kind of crossover appeal.

I'm making it out to the public memorial tomorrow. Up front around 420 for Hennesy & hemp. Look for me if you got some, want some or need some.

*****

Rick James Public Memorial Service Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Public Memorial Service: A public memorial service and viewing will be held from 5-8 PM on Wednesday, August 11, 2004, at Forest Lawn Mortuary, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068. Fans and friends are invited to pay their final respects to Rick James. Please note that no cameras/cell phone cameras/video cameras/or any type of recording device will be allowed at this ceremony. Out of respect to the family, please leave these items at home.

from RicKJames.com

PFunkjazz said:

Speaking of this, a certain someone that once posted here is making a complete ass of himself on another site (Okay *cough* player *cough* .com) about Rick/Prince/R. Kelly... It's... just... pitiful.

Supernova said:

I wonder who



R.Kelly just gives it all away...
[This message was edited Tue Aug 10 21:55:53 2004 by psykosoul]

psykosoul said:

Supernova said:

You guys crack me up...

Oh, and I didn't see anything...

I cried when Rick James' video "Ebony Eyes" came on BET last night. I was very crushed when that one video came on. I never saw the video, but the song itself is very beautiful.


RICK JAMES... MY TALENTED IDOL
REST IN PEACE R.I.P
[This message was edited Wed Aug 11 2:26:09 2004 by silverchild]

silverchild said:

"Ebony Eyes" is a beautiful song and the video is just incredible.

DavidEye said:

This song was written because Rick was catching so much flack from sistas for dating white women. The duet with Smokey is not incidental. Smokey's romanced more sistas than any other singer.

PFunkjazz said:

That was my first time seeing the video last night as well. I haven't seen many of his videos anyway, so it was a treat. Like an idiot I decided to take a potty break and came back only to catch the end of the BET performance of "Fire and Desire" with Teena. I keep thinking about her and can only imagine how devasted she is. Oddly enough Smokey was in the Bay Area this week making appearances at Albertson's promoting his own line of sauce, gumbo, or something. I should have played sick and gone to the one in my 'hood.

Tom said:

That's what I was thinking too...the drugs weakened his system, which possibly brought on the stroke he had years ago, and now this.

Just read the articles that was posted from AllHipHop.com...too bad he didn't have anything positive to say about Prince, b/c I've always seen the both of them in the same vein...inovative, original, and just plain old funky. RIP Rick.

PS: update on viewing and funeral from the official site:

August 10, 2004
Updates on Memorial Service and Public Viewing

Public Memorial Services:

Fans and friends are invited to pay their final respects to Rick James.

Los Angeles, CA: A public viewing will be held from 5-8 PM on Wednesday, August 11, 2004, at Forest Lawn Mortuary, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

Buffalo, NY: A public viewing will be held from 11AM-12PM on Saturday, August 14, 2004, at St. John Baptist Church, 184 Goodell St, Buffalo, NY 14204, with a public memorial service starting at 12 noon.

Please note that no cameras/cell phone cameras/video cameras/or any type of recording device will be allowed at either ceremony. Out of respect to the family, please leave these items at home.

Funeral Service: The funeral for Rick James will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2004, at 11 AM. The service has now been made open to the public. The service will be held at Forest Lawn Mortuary, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068.
[This message was edited Wed Aug 11 10:35:54 2004 by LadySycamore]

Frankly, I'm glad Prince and Rick James competed and didn't really get along. Each had their time in the limelight in the post-Mothership funkworld. Each learned a lot from George Clinton and James Brown on how to keep their own funk alive, whether that required recloning by propagating new acts or some kind of hiatus from the scene.

Let's not sugarcoat it. The two never liked each other enough to complete a tour. Any admiration is only grudgingly so. Applaud them for keeping a rivalry without having to turn to some kind of ghetto street violence, as happened in rap.