Rick James
Rick James (born February 1, 1948 as James Ambrose Johnson junior in Buffalo , New York , † August 6, 2004 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American singer , songwriter and record producer .
Life
Rick James was the third of eight children to a former dancer and worker. In the 1960s he sang in the rock band Mynah Birds , in which Neil Young played guitar. Although the formation had a contract with Motown , it fell apart because James had illegally strayed from the US armed forces.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s he was one of the most successful artists for the Motown music label . James' musical style was a wild interpretation of funk music and rhythm and blues (R&B), which he supported with his idiosyncratic appearance. In 1980 the then relatively unknown US musician Prince appeared on James' Fire-It-Up tour as the opening act with his band.
James reached # 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart in 1982 with the title Super Freak . Another hit was Party All the Time , written by James and produced for Eddie Murphy . Three years later the single Glow at number 1 on the US dance charts. In 1991, he was awarded a Grammy for Best R&B Song for co-writing MC Hammers U Can't Touch This , based on James' hit Super Freak . In 1997, James made a comeback attempt. However, during a tour in 1998 he suffered a stroke that largely ended his career as a musician.
In addition to his musical successes, James caused a sensation due to his dissolute lifestyle, in particular his excessive drug use. In the 1990s he was sentenced to a two-year prison term. The court found him guilty of kidnapping and abusing a young woman together with his then partner Tanya Hijazi. The victim was burned with the hot end of a crack pipe .
James also became known to younger audiences through Chappelle's Show . On the show, Charlie Murphy tells of various escapades that both of them had together. In between, an excerpt from an interview with James is played in which he says: "Cocaine is a hell of a drug" and then laughs.
He died on August 6, 2004 at the age of 56. While the autopsy revealed that James was under the influence of nine different drugs at the time of death, it also revealed that none of the drugs had been taken at a life-threatening dose. Rather, he succumbed to a heart attack, presumably a long-term consequence of his excessive drug use.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1976 | Come Get It! | - |
US13  (36 weeks)US |
R&B3 (47 weeks) R&B |
First published: April 20, 1976
with The Stone City Band Producers: Rick James, Art Stewart |
| 1979 | Bustin 'Out of L Seven | - |
US16 (27 weeks) US |
R&B2 (34 weeks) R&B |
First published: January 26, 1979
Producer: Rick James, Art Stewart |
| Fire It Up | - |
US34 (20 weeks) US |
R&B5 (29 weeks) R&B |
First published: October 16, 1979
Producers: Rick James, Levi Ruffin |
|
| 1980 | Garden of Love | - |
US83 (10 weeks) US |
R&B17 (15 weeks) R&B |
First published: July 16, 1980
Producer: Rick James |
| 1981 | Street songs | - |
US3  (74 weeks)US |
R&B1 (78 weeks) R&B |
First published: April 7, 1981
Producer: Rick James |
| 1982 | Throwin 'Down |
UK93 (2 weeks) UK |
US13 (23 weeks)US |
R&B2 (39 weeks) R&B |
First published: May 13, 1982
Producer: Rick James |
| 1983 | Cold Blooded | - |
US16 (29 weeks)US |
R&B1 (33 weeks) R&B |
First published: August 5, 1983
Producer: Rick James |
| 1985 | Glow | - |
US50 (26 weeks) US |
R&B7 (29 weeks) R&B |
First published: April 1985
Producer: Rick James |
| 1986 | The Flag | - |
US95 (12 weeks) US |
R&B16 (17 weeks) R&B |
First published: April 18, 1986
Producer: Rick James |
| 1988 | Wonderful | - |
US148 (8 weeks) US |
R&B12 (19 weeks) R&B |
First published: July 5th, 1988
Producer: Rick James |
| 1997 | Urban Rapsody | - |
US170 (1 week) US |
R&B31 (10 weeks) R&B |
First published: October 14, 1997
Producers: Rick James, Daniel LeMelle |
| 2007 | Deeper still | - |
US185 (1 week) US |
R&B19 (9 weeks) R&B |
First published: May 15, 2007
Producer: Rick James |
Filmography
- 1985: The A-Team (TV series, episode 4x06 Behind Bars), Rick James played himself in a supporting role.
- 1985: Music video for Eddie Murphy's party All the Time , in which he plays himself. ( Official music video on YouTube )
- 2007: Superfreak by Shine Louise Houston
Web links
- Rick James at Discogs (English)
- Rick James in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website of Rick James
swell
- ↑ a b c http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/06/rick.james/index.html
- ↑ http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2005-Fo-La/James-Rick.html
- ^ The Resurrection of Neil Young. Time, September 26, 2005, accessed July 20, 2010 (page 3).
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com//watch?v=dUb06iLjTKA ( Memento from January 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E4D61739F93BA2575AC0A9629C8B63#
- ↑ Chart sources: Singles UK US
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
- ↑ Superfreak. Retrieved August 23, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | James, Rick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Johnson, James Ambrose junior (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, songwriter, and record producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buffalo , New York , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 2004 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California , United States |