As I can Recall The Ties Between Prince & Rick James, Wasn't Prince An Opening act for Rick In The Begining thier careers? Also Wasn't VANITY one of Rick's Girlfriends? Any Thoughts, and Fill In's?

Thank You
PeAcE

R.I.P Rick James

Oh yeah, I have read in an interview somewhere that Prince was an opening act for Rick James,like back in 1980 or 81..no wait, or was it Rinck James opening for prince?!

Yes Prince was the opening act for Rick James in 1980. The strange thing is, on another tour Teena Marie was the opening act for Prince. Another strange thing is The Time was the opening act for Rick James this year.

He once said (allegedly?) :

He (Prince) is a mentally disturbed young man. He's out to lunch. You can't take his music seriously. He sings songs about oral sex and incest. It's my job to keep reality over this science fiction creep.
- Rick James, on Prince

so they're linked in that way too...

Rick James was badmouthing prince as late as "betcha by golly wow" which he said was a horrible remake.

ufoclub said:

Actually, up until the end.

yeah...up until the end...I saw Rick James in concert a couple of years ago and when the audience was't responding the way he liked...he said "This ain't no fucking Prince concert, get on your feet," and the audience booed him for the comment.

I think Rick was drunk...he talked through the entire set about his life and divorce.

Rhondab said:

Oh thats bad Prince prob wont go to his funeral so .... was he jealous of Princes success?

Maybe PRINCE on one of the shows stayed on too long one time to many! Probably stoled the show, thus a lot of hate. I remember seeing Rick in concert I believe 1979, and Teena Marie Opened. Rick played for a couple of hours, and even had an intermission! That was a first for me.

Thanks for all the Replys & Insight!

PeAcE

According to legend, or at least as I remember it....During one of the shows that Prince opened for Rick James,, Prince had Big Chick (his bodyguard at the time) carry him across the front of the stage during Rick's performance.

I always thought if this was true..that I could see Rick being pissed... but it was funny.

and Rick should have gotten over it after 20-something years.

Apparently, it all started when one of Rick's groupies jumped ship and landed over at Prince's camp. I guess it was one he missed. Sent him straight over the edge it did. That was the dish I got from behind the scenes, but I'm sure there were some other things involved.

LQ

ufoclub said:

Well. It is.

With all due respect, I think Rick was jealous that Prince became more successful than him. When Prince opened up for Rick in '80, he was the new guy but the press gave raves to his performance and concentrated more on him in their reviews than Rick. Also, Vanity 6 came out before the Mary Jane Girls, but Rick accused Prince of stealing the idea of a girl group from him. Then he said "that's ok because my girls can really sing." I'll admit The Mary Jane Girls did have better voices, but let's face it: Nasty Girl was a much better song and is more remembered that ANYTHING the MJ Girls did.

TheDeacon said:

Nobody can realistically deny that. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, because Rick specifically admitted it.

And on the same side of the coin, in recent interviews he ranted about other recording artists that were very successful too. Rick laid down some great jams during his prime, but his envious streak was becoming legendary.

Supernova said:

Yep, the very end.



Taken from EURWEB.com

Last June, James accepted the honor at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in Beverly Hills, where he capped his acceptance speech with the infamous phrase from the Dave Chappelle Show, “I’m Rick James bitch!” to thunderous applause from the crowd. At the ceremony, EUR’s Lee Bailey spoke to him for what would become the last time.

“This is probably the greatest accolade I’ve ever won,” James said. “This is icing on the cake. It’s not only from my peers, but these are the people who really know and appreciate the song, whether it’s for the Mary Jane Girls, Temptations, myself, or Smokey Robinson, they know.”

At the time of his death, James (born James Ambrose Johnson Jr.) was preparing to release a double-album of almost 30 songs to coincide with his 25th anniversary as a successful artist. The project, which he said would come through his own Ma Records label, was also part of the singer’s newfound peace after years of battling drug and alcohol addiction. He credits his 1998 stroke as God’s way of slowing him down.

“When that stroke happened to me in Denver, I wasn’t doing drugs,” he said. “I wasn’t doing anything. I might’ve had half a glass of champagne, but I wasn’t doing anything because I was on parole; I was being [drug] tested, too. So when it happened, it was so bizarre. I broke two blood vessels on the back of my neck.

“I was laid up in the hospital for six and a half months, I went to a three- or four- month rehab, then I was in the bed for a year and a half. I just was depressed. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to perform again. But God sent this angel, and she came and did some bodywork on me. I couldn’t walk backwards, I couldn’t walk sideways, I couldn’t write my name, and next thing I know, I was running across my room. I believe He just sat me down for a minute to pay attention.”

The upcoming double-album was also supposed to promote the return of “real music,” which James felt was lost on today’s young artists. James said:

“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.”

Plans are still underway for James’ life to be told on the big screen. Comedian Dave Chappelle, whose skits of the singer on his Comedy Central series “The Chappelle Show” have contributed to James’ recent popularity surge, will reportedly play the funkateer in a motion picture drama about “basically sex, drugs, funk and roll,” Rick said.

As for Chappelle’s Rick James parodies, he insisted that the skits, which feature interview clips of him providing commentary, were a collaborative effort. He said:

“People always say, ‘What do you think about David clowning you?’ I say, clowning me? We created that! I thought they were funny as hell because it made people laugh. I laughed.”

A Rick James book was also said to be in the works at the time of his death – a full account of his childhood in Buffalo, New York; his Catholic school upbringing; the talent show at age 15 that turned him onto performing; his descent into cocaine; the infamous crack pipe assault, the penitentiary; his stroke; and his struggle to put his life back on track.

“I feel God has got me here for a reason,” he said. “I give myself another year, and then I’m gonna retire from the music business and do something else I have in mind that’s more spiritual. God has saved me from so much, - overdoses and [the wrong] people - now He’s lining me up with just the right people. I gotta do what I gotta do, then I gotta do His will.

“I look around and we’re all getting older, and it just brings a tear to my eye, because you know what? We’re still here, you know? Ain’t nobody saying how long this is gonna last. But right now, today, I’m enjoying it. This is all I ask, you know. Tomorrow’s not promised.”

TheDeacon said:

Almost, but "All Night Long" is a a MJ Girl classic that I'm thinking more people would remember just based on the number of current artists who've sampled/looped it. More people remember Vanity 6 the group, but I think the song "All Night Long" is more well known amongst casual music listeners who could recognize its melody w/o knowing the song title.

Not to dispute who's the main man around here. Rick did steal his side project concepts from Prince for not only the Mary Jane Girls, but also James' own clones of The Time -- Process and the Doo Rags. Anyone remember them?




















I thought not.

ok...i'll give him the benefit of the height factor but...appearance? i shant go there

As for the Mary Jane Girls, I think Prince stole that idea from Rick and beat him to the punch with Vanity 6. Rick had his backup singers that were originally called The Colored Girls and bragged for the longest about turning them into a group.

I remember Process and the Doo Rags from Rick's 1984 greatest hits album called "Reflections". They were featured on some of the new tracks on that album. You could be right about Rick stealing that from Prince's The Time strictly from their hair. Did they have an album of their own, I don't remember one. I remember Rick talking about doing an album for them but I never heard anything else about it. They did not sound that hot either. Rick was starting to fall then.

They where both fathered by Larry Graham, but by the time Prince was born, Larry stopped spanking his children.

"What's the Matter, Prince? Daddy's little girl upset?"

Another link between Prince and Rick James:

- Miko Weaver used to play with Rick james before joining Sheila E. and Prince.
- Jill Jones' mother was Teena Marie's manager in the 80s. Prince met Jill on the Rick James tour (1980)

TheKid said:

Cool, I didn't know that! Thanks.

vainandy said:

While I think they had an album, I could be wrong. However, I do know that they had a video that I saw on BET's Video Soul back in the day. I barely remember what they sounded like, but I think it was kinda goofy -- and all of them had the process finger wave hairstyles and it was just sooooo obvious that the group was a knock-off of The Time.