Born James Johnson February 1, 1948, in Buffalo, New York, as a teen he played in a sixties garage-rock band with Neil Young that signed to Motown under the name the Mynah Birds, but no recordings were released. He continued through the late sixties and mid -seventies in a rock-soul vein with several bands, including Salt ’N’ Pepper, Heaven and Earth, and White Cane, but nothing clicked with the public. When he returned to Motown with his own Stone City Band in the late seventies, it would be to become the high priest of the Temple of Funk.
James made his official Motown debut with 1978’s Come Get It, which featured “You And I,” a no. 1 R&B smash that also reached no. 13 pop, and the no. 3 R&B hit “Mary Jane.” Unleashed, Rick kept the funk flowing. Two albums were released in 1979: Bustin’ Out Of L Seven, featuring the R&B Top 10 “Bustin’ Out (On Funk)” and “High On Your Love Suite,” and Fire It Up, which boasted the rocking “Love Gun” (no. 13 R&B). A year later, Rick experimented with the uncharacteristically ballad-laden Garden Of Love, which was a sales disappointment but included “Big Time,” a Top 20 R&B hit and a highlight of his live show.
With 1981’s Street Songs, James brought his funk ’n’ roll to a set of songs that perfectly captured the ebb and flow of life in a rapidly changing urban America. He was backed by more than the usual suspects - his Stone City Band, the Punk Funk Horns and his all-girl posse of singers, The Mary Jane Band. Also appearing were the harmonica of Stevie Wonder (“Mr. Policeman”), the Temptations on “Ghetto Life” and “Super Freak,” the Tempts’ bass man Melvin Franklin (Rick’s uncle) on “Give It To Me Baby” and protégé Teena Marie on a trio of tracks including the classic slow jam “Fire And Desire.”
By the time “Give It To Me Baby” peaked at no. 1 R&B - it also hit the pop Top 40 - the album had begun an astonishing five-month stay at no. 1. Street Songs also peaked at no. 3 pop and became James’s best-selling album. The era-defining “Super Freak” reached no. 3 R&B and no. 16 pop. “Ghetto Life” the R&B Top 40. Street Songs was Favorite Soul Album at the American Music Awards and topped the Black Albums list in Billboard, and the next year would be Grammy-nominated along with “Super Freak.”
James remained a formidable funk presence with his collaboration with The Temptations on the Top 10 R&B “Standing On The Top,” the no. 3 “Dance Wit’ Me (Part 1)” from 1982’s Throwin’ Down; the no. 1 R&B “Cold Blooded,” which was also Top 40 pop, and “Ebony Eyes,” a duet with Smokey Robinson that became another classic slow jam, from the gold album Cold Blooded (1983); Top 10 R&B/Top 40 pop “17” from his 1984 greatest hits album Reflections; Top 10 R&B “Can’t Stop,” from the blockbuster film Beverly Hills Cop; and the #5 R&B title track from Glow (1985). In addition, James wrote and produced for the Mary Jane Girls—most notably the hits “In My House” and the funk jam “All Night Long”—and Eddie Murphy (the hit “Party All The Time”).
James exited Motown in 1988 and joined Warner Bros., where that year’s Wonderful album included what would be his last major hit, the no. 1 R&B “Loosey’s Rap” featuring Roxanne Shante. But drug abuse, nationally exposed scandals and criminal incarceration would haunt him for years after and his music suffered.
In 1990, however, he put his indelible stamp on the then-emerging hip-hop culture when MC Hammer rapped over the instrumental track of “Super Freak” and landed a megahit with “U Can’t Touch This.” The court case which won James co-writing credit on the song established a legal precedent that revolutionized the use of “sampling.” The hip-hop community, from Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Tha Eastsidaz and Redman to Rappin’ 4-Tay, LL Cool J and Will Smith, have kept his grooves in the street mix ever since.
In 1997, James returned to the scene with the aptly titled album Urban Rapsody on Private I. In 2002, a concert tour brought out the funkateers to celebrate one of the true innovators of modern music. But his fast life finally caught up to him and on August 6, 2004 he passed away from various health problems. On his tombstone is an image of James from the Street Songs album. The James estate released posthumously an album Rick completed before his death, Deeper Still, proving the man was forever on his game.
When it came to funk, then and now, no one could touch Rick James.
