Rick James

About Rick James

The undisputed master of hard funk, Rick James embodied the sound of the genre and captured the frenzied, party-hard climate of the 70's dance scene with his swaggering singles. Rick James was Motown's flagship artist throughout the 70's and 80's. With his flamboyant style-leather cowboy clothes and rhinestones-and trademark corn-row hairstyle, he earned the title King of Punk Funk. Rick James' uncle, Melvin Franklin, sang bass in The Temptations and, while growing up in Buffalo, New York, James was always interested in music. He dropped out of college and joined the Naval Reserves but didn't have the discipline to stay in the service and frequently went AWOL. James fled to Toronto where he started his first band, The Mynah Birds, with aspiring musicians Nick St. Nicholas (later of Steppenwolf) and Neil Young. The ambitious band signed with Motown but disputes between the label and the band's manager led the manager keeping the money and reporting James to Motown as an Army deserter. Rick James surrendered to the FBI (the first of many legal troubles) and the Mynah Birds disbanded. Rick James spent a year in the military Brig, then finally made it into the studio to record for Motown. He released his first solo disc in 1978. Come and Get It was a hit, and James became well known for his drawn out jams "You and I" and "Mary Jane." Rick James is best known to DJs and clubbers for his 1981 concept album, Street Songs, and its standout singles "Super Freak" and "Give It to My Baby." Rick James also wrote Eddie Murphy's one hit wonder, "Party All the Time."