RICK JAMES: Memoirs Of A Super Freak
pickwick33
8,946 Posts
Just found this book last week and it is riveting reading. Have we hashed this book out on the Strut before? I had no earthly idea this was out.
This didn't come out with much fanfare, unless I missed something - I was just killing time at a bookstore when it just showed up out of nowhere. He evidently wrote this pretty close to the end of his life, and it has a 2007 copyright, but I didn't even know it existed before last Monday. Of course, it's poorly edited and looks like it came from some wacky "private press" company. Look at the font on that cheesy cover - looks like something that should be sold in the National Enquirer's back pages. And you'd think he'd have known better than to refer to Teena Marie as "Teena Maria." But if you can get past this, there are some choice tales here. Even though James supposedly found peace in his life towards the end, he doesn't hesitate to call a bastard a bastard in the bluntest language possible. Even decades later, his hatred of (and rivalry with) Prince jumps off the page as it were 1983 all over again. He just couldn't stand the brother. (Can you blame him?)Interesting sidenote: more than once he'll go into minute detail about some casual fling he had somewhere down the line, but he almost makes a point of capping it off with "and I haven't seen her since."Anybody seen this?
This didn't come out with much fanfare, unless I missed something - I was just killing time at a bookstore when it just showed up out of nowhere. He evidently wrote this pretty close to the end of his life, and it has a 2007 copyright, but I didn't even know it existed before last Monday. Of course, it's poorly edited and looks like it came from some wacky "private press" company. Look at the font on that cheesy cover - looks like something that should be sold in the National Enquirer's back pages. And you'd think he'd have known better than to refer to Teena Marie as "Teena Maria." But if you can get past this, there are some choice tales here. Even though James supposedly found peace in his life towards the end, he doesn't hesitate to call a bastard a bastard in the bluntest language possible. Even decades later, his hatred of (and rivalry with) Prince jumps off the page as it were 1983 all over again. He just couldn't stand the brother. (Can you blame him?)Interesting sidenote: more than once he'll go into minute detail about some casual fling he had somewhere down the line, but he almost makes a point of capping it off with "and I haven't seen her since."Anybody seen this?
Comments
I dont wanna turn this into Superfreak Vs. Diamonds And Pearls but im curious to what James' grip was?
Yes, early on - I think this would have been around '79 or '80. And even then Rick said that Prince was a bit of a snob.
See my response above. Prince and his band were standoffish and pointedly refused to associate with Rick James' Stone City Band in any way. Even since then, Rick had it in for him and wanted to see Prince go down, some kind of way.
And then there's the fact that both men were working roughly the same territory - soul/funk that flirted with white rock, risque lyrics, etc. - and you had a rivalry right up there with the Beatles/Stones. James was bitter than MTV didn't play his videos, but accepted Prince without question.
Prince's Movie deal was the knockout punch.
Plus Warner Bros vs Motown(circa 80s) was the writing on the wall.
Musically James vs Prince in terms of Punk Funk...Prince was slick enuff to paint himself as a 'mixed dude'...(i grew up w/ this) vs James's Motown Crazy Black Dude steez....
if u know what im sayin...
I do know. Prince and RJ basically matched each other step by step, but the Purple Rain movie tilted the seesaw towards Prince.
PLUS the fact that for a man who used to hang out with Stephen Stills and Neil Young and had such a wild & crazy image, Rick's music was actually quite conservative and standard for the time. He always talked up his first hit, "You & I," like it was this raw blast of funk that caught the world by surprise, but in reality it sounds no different than most disco-funk of 1978.
Prince, by comparison, was taking the lunatic fringe of rock, plus anything else that entered his mind, and incorporating them into his sound. And even if you don't like him, you can hear the difference.
Lookin at their Discographies it seems like James was on the way out when Prince was peakin.
1999 - 1982
Cold Blooded - 1983
Purple Rain - 1984
Glow - 1985 - no one was checkin for dude in '85.
Around The World In A Day - 1985
Parade - 1986
they sure as hell weren't. he was still around, and was still selling records, but generally being a Rick James fan in '86 was like being an Elvis Presley fan in '66...both acts were basically million-selling has-beens during those years. they didn't rule the world like they once did. but unlike Elvis, Rick never really got a chance to make a full-on comeback.
rick knew it, too. after his greatest-hits album (Reflections) dropped in 1984, he basically wasted his days by getting high and not being too productive (by his own admission).
in short, amazing.
viva rick 4ever. a must read.
Your gonna hear James bangers more than Prince joints.
Prince's Slow Jams get Quiet Storm run, but your more likely to hear Superfreak, Mary Jane, and Give It To Me Baby more than Prince's Lets Get Crazy,Little Red Corvette,Controversy,D.M.S.R,Raspberry Beret,etc.