blackguitaristz said:

Yeah, Rick had rock elements in his funk that just made it sound stronger. I've always thought of Rick's type funk the same way I think of The Isley Brothers funk.....extremely hard funk. I'm all for mixing rock with funk because they are the two hardest and strongest types of music in music history. Like The Barkays used to say, funk is simply "Black Rock". My problem is when funk or R&B artists use weaker things in their music to appeal to broad audiences. Do whatever it takes to make it stronger but don't ever make it weaker. Rick never did that but I can think of a certain little goodie two shoes female that comes to mind.
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[Edited 4/24/07 14:39pm]

Don't mean to get too deep with this, but fuck it. Here's my thought on Rick's decline. Like I posted earlier, Rick was the shit in 81. His Streetsongs album was really, really big. Rick was already set and sitting pretty with the black audience. but with Steetsongs, Rick really crossed over into the pop market and had a lot of white folks that dug rock as well. "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak" were monster smashes and they were all over the radio. To say Rick got caught up is an under statement. I believe he thought that nobody in music could fuck with him. He knew that Parliament was over. He knew Michael was always going to be there but Mike had his own thing that didn't get in the way with Rick's thang. But man, when P hit with his 1999 album and also he was getting massive black airplay with The Time and Vanity6, on a creative level, I think Prince at that time, on a creative level, kinda scared Rick. I think what P showcased on the 1999 album really set him apart from everybody else in the biz. Plus, P had the support of MTV, which never supported Rick. Rick always had that black rock star thing. He had the women. And with Streetsongs, he had crossed over. But now, here comes Prince, coming on hard like he got some kind of magical force working for him all of a sudden. Prince was hitting all of the marks, basically doing a lot of what Rick HAD been doing, BUT Ptook it to another level. It was obvious as hell that Rick couldn't fuck with P as a musician and P utilized this on the 1999 album to death. It's some of his best playing on any of his albums. That album basically is a musician album. All of the songs are built to showcase this. That's why so many of the songs are so long. Plus, Prince being a rock guitarist, in the vein of Hendrix, that was another element Rick couldn't expoit. In other words, P set back and studied Rick. He knew what Rick was good at. But he was on fire about out doing Rick so he showcased what he knew Rick couldn't do. On the very album right AFTER Streetsongs. Gotta understand, P was competing against Rick, against The Time. So he was going to bring it. And he hasn't brought it that hard since. I think Rick saw this and it under cut his confidence. Folks in Rick's clique, including Teena, knew that P was hard and on another level than Rick. This and the drugs really fucked Rick over from 82 onward. Sure, Rick had some jams but imstead of climbing upward like P was doing, Rick went the other way. Even getting to the point that he was bitting off of P. Which was sad to see.

vainandy said:

Vain, what is it about Whitney that gets to u so?

That would have been great.



I always called it "Super Freak Part 2". However, it's more funkier than "Super Freak". "Hard To Get" reminds me more of the extended part of "Super Freak".



He was definately capable of doing some rock. However, what I've always admired most about Rick James is, even after he had a crossover hit with "Super Freak", he didn't let that change him. He continued on with funk and nothing but funk. People straying from the funk trying to continue pop success is what helped to kill funk.....and you know how I feel about people who go out of their way and try for a crossover hit.

funkpill said:

blackguitaristz said:

SoulAlive said:

Don't mean to get too deep with this, but fuck it. Here's my thought on Rick's decline. Like I posted earlier, Rick was the shit in 81. His Streetsongs album was really, really big. Rick was already set and sitting pretty with the black audience. but with Steetsongs, Rick really crossed over into the pop market and had a lot of white folks that dug rock as well. "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak" were monster smashes and they were all over the radio. To say Rick got caught up is an under statement. I believe he thought that nobody in music could fuck with him. He knew that Parliament was over. He knew Michael was always going to be there but Mike had his own thing that didn't get in the way with Rick's thang. But man, when P hit with his 1999 album and also he was getting massive black airplay with The Time and Vanity6, on a creative level, I think Prince at that time, on a creative level, kinda scared Rick. I think what P showcased on the 1999 album really set him apart from everybody else in the biz. Plus, P had the support of MTV, which never supported Rick. Rick always had that black rock star thing. He had the women. And with Streetsongs, he had crossed over. But now, here comes Prince, coming on hard like he got some kind of magical force working for him all of a sudden. Prince was hitting all of the marks, basically doing a lot of what Rick HAD been doing, BUT Ptook it to another level. It was obvious as hell that Rick couldn't fuck with P as a musician and P utilized this on the 1999 album to death. It's some of his best playing on any of his albums. That album basically is a musician album. All of the songs are built to showcase this. That's why so many of the songs are so long. Plus, Prince being a rock guitarist, in the vein of Hendrix, that was another element Rick couldn't expoit. In other words, P set back and studied Rick. He knew what Rick was good at. But he was on fire about out doing Rick so he showcased what he knew Rick couldn't do. On the very album right AFTER Streetsongs. Gotta understand, P was competing against Rick, against The Time. So he was going to bring it. And he hasn't brought it that hard since. I think Rick saw this and it under cut his confidence. Folks in Rick's clique, including Teena, knew that P was hard and on another level than Rick. This and the drugs really fucked Rick over from 82 onward. Sure, Rick had some jams but imstead of climbing upward like P was doing, Rick went the other way. Even getting to the point that he was bitting off of P. Which was sad to see.

i dont think you cats are being serious with this/ do you think rick was honestly scared of prince.

Scared as in "whoop your ass" scared? No. But yeah, I believe Rick was intimated by P's talent and his rising fame. It's very rare when any artist, let alone a black artist, can get a motion picture made featuring them and their music. And not only that, but have it blow up to kingdom come. Before P's movie, Rick was to come out in a motion picture as well titled "Alice In Ghetto Land". Teena was to play Alice. Rick and the Stone City Band AND the Mary Jane Girls were all to be in this. This was in either Black Beat or Right On magazine around 83. Why it didn't come out, who knows. But P's did. So, I think for Rick, seeing this young black artist just hitting like firecrackers and who borrowed things from Rick, didn't sit well. Then, he was like "O.K., fuck it. he took shit from me, o.k., I'll take shit from him. Since he's so hot, I'll bite from him." Rick never should have went that way. He was bigger than that.

blackguitaristz said:

why would rick be itimated by princes talent he has more talent tha you are willing to give him credit for. have you forgotten that before rick got acontract he was producing music for most of the groups for motown.he can write a hit song for a five man quartet group can prince do that.as for purple rain movie coment the movie was lame i mean if you are gonna make love to applelonia with her rags on then that movie was lame.

speaking of Rick and Teena,I got some trivia for y'all :

In 1979,Motown asked Rick James to produce some tracks for Diana Ross (!).They wanted three or four tracks,but Rick wanted to produce the entire album.When they refused,he took one of the songs and gave it to Teena Marie instead.The song is "I'm Just A Sucka For Your Love".Rick originally wanted to record this song with Diana for her album!

SoulAlive said:

yup

Imagine how that album would've sound

funkpill said:

Rick has said what he wanted the album cover to look like: Diana would be standing over her own grave (!),and her coffin would be filled with her old wigs,fake fingernails,flashy outfits,etc.It would represent the new FUNKY Diana who is laying her old image to rest.Sounds like an interesting concept!

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah bruh, this was DEFINATELY Rick at his peak. And for all the folks that think they know all about P...nobody can't tell me that P didn't dig the shit out of Rick. Look at the clip with Rick before Teena came out on stage. Tell me P didn't take that shit. Rick's mannerisms, facial expressions, the falling on the floor and then sitting up, looking disgusted...the whole 9.

SoulAlive said:

Yes it does. Don't see Diana going for that though.

There's a cat named John who roadied for Rick back in the 80's. He used to post on Rick's old site a lot with some great stories of Rick on tour. He did mention that Rick and Prince RECORDED a jam together back in 80/81. He described it as a "psychedelic but funky" jam. Wish it had been released...I wonder who owns the master to that.