I know Michael Jackson and James Brown have met plenty of times before but has Michael Jackson and Rick James ever met or were they friends ?

[Edited 10/13/10 14:04pm]

It would have been hard for the two not to have met and known each other. MJ was close to Berry Gordy and he was formally signed to Motown. And it sounds like they both frequented Studio 54 a lot.

[Edited 10/13/10 13:49pm]

I believe they've met. Rick had a lot of respect for Michael.

http://www.zimbio.com/Ric...ctures/pro

http://www.google.com/img...29,r:4,s:0

They both worked with Eddie Murphy on his "classic albums". They probably met at some point in time.

Michael and Rick were friends. I remember hearing that Michael let Rick stay at Neverland for a brief time after he got out of jail

bboy87 said:

Michael and Rick were friends. I remember hearing that Michael let Rick stay at Neverland for a brief time after he got out of jail

Yep,I heard that too.Rick has always spoken favorably about Michael.

SoulAlive said:

bboy87 said:

Michael and Rick were friends. I remember hearing that Michael let Rick stay at Neverland for a brief time after he got out of jail

Yep,I heard that too.Rick has always spoken favorably about Michael.

I heard that too.

"come here Michael, show me yo' titties!"

Rick was very proud that the song "Thriller" borrows its bassline from "Give It To Me Baby"

SoulAlive said:

Rick was very proud that the song "Thriller" borrows its bassline from "Give It To Me Baby"

yeah, but did he get paid for it??

funkpill said:

SoulAlive said:

Rick was very proud that the song "Thriller" borrows its bassline from "Give It To Me Baby"

yeah, but did he get paid for it??

Probably not Similarly,Eddie Van Halen wasn't paid for his guitar solo on "Beat It".

HonestMan13 said:

SoulAlive said:

Yep,I heard that too.Rick has always spoken favorably about Michael.

I heard that too.

"come here Michael, show me yo' titties!"

"Mike, fcuk yo couch nicca"

SoulAlive said:

funkpill said:

yeah, but did he get paid for it??

Probably not Similarly,Eddie Van Halen wasn't paid for his guitar solo on "Beat It".

Upon receving a call from Quincy asking him to contribute a guitar solo, Eddie voluntarily did it free of charge. He recalled: "Everybody (from Van Halen) was out of town and I figured, 'who's gonna know if I play on this kid's record?' I didn't want nothing. Maybe Michael will give me dance lessons someday."

The quotes are from a 2009 interview.

funkpill said:

SoulAlive said:

Rick was very proud that the song "Thriller" borrows its bassline from "Give It To Me Baby"

yeah, but did he get paid for it??

Nope, he was honored just the same. He always told that story.

[img:$uid]http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Jackson+s+life+in+pictures+gRTLRl-kN8Gm.jpg[/img:$uid]

This shot is from the 1980 American Music Awards red carpet.

Cinnie said:

funkpill said:

yeah, but did he get paid for it??

Nope, he was honored just the same. He always told that story.

That's remarkable. Did anyone bother to tell him that Rod Temperton wrote "Thriller"?

WaterInYourBath said:

[img:$uid]http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Jackson+s+life+in+pictures+gRTLRl-kN8Gm.jpg[/img:$uid]

This shot is from the 1980 American Music Awards red carpet.

"Michael says 'beat It'...he's polite"

MyLuv229 said:

WaterInYourBath said:

[img:$uid]http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Jackson+s+life+in+pictures+gRTLRl-kN8Gm.jpg[/img:$uid]

This shot is from the 1980 American Music Awards red carpet.

"Michael says 'beat It'...he's polite"

Identity said:

Cinnie said:

Nope, he was honored just the same. He always told that story.

That's remarkable. Did anyone bother to tell him that Rod Temperton wrote "Thriller"?

Basslines usually aren't penned by songwriters. Bassline creation is usually part of the "Arranging" period, which come under the umbrella duties of the Producer ( or he/she would hire an arranger etc)

Im pretty sure Q, used a variety of arrangers, mostly for hornz and keyboards. But he over saw it, and told them what to do. Q's said numerous times that he took the elements of Give it to me baby,

and threw them in thriller. Mind you this was when the copyright law entailed that a violation was a work that borrowed more than 75% of a melodic idea. (might be 85% I don't remember.) I just know there was alot of leeway. Pretty much you can change a few notes, the key its in, and you'd be safe. With basslines you have even more leeway, because bass isn't really a "melodic" instrument so they tend to be more lenient. Unless you blatantly rip it off like V-Ice did with "Ice Ice baby" He tried to get away with it by using the very same rule by claiming he changed one note ( a lie, which wouldn't exonerate him anyway)

IE if you change the chord structure and key and just keep the overall rhythm, your pretty much safe.

BUT even when your safe from copyright harm, its always good form to say who influenced the track. All music has influences, and they should all be respected.

It's a bummer they never worked together... that would've been wild though considering Rick and Michael were two very different individuals.

HonestMan13 said:

SoulAlive said:

Yep,I heard that too.Rick has always spoken favorably about Michael.

I heard that too.

"come here Michael, show me yo' titties!"

I seriously doubt their friendship was similar to Rick's and Charlie's.

Besides Charlie was acting a fool alongside Rick so it came with the territory.

"Tito Tito, Rick slapped me again he's had too much Jesus juice"

Would love to be a fly on that wall.

bboy87 said:

Michael and Rick were friends. I remember hearing that Michael let Rick stay at Neverland for a brief time after he got out of jail

Michael let Rick stay at neverland ? WOW ! I never knew that . So Michael and Rick were actual friends right ? So do you think Michael Jackson and Rick James had a more friend relationship than Michael Jackson had with James Brown ? Because James Brown just inspired Michael . But anyways , tell me what you think .

Identity said:

Cinnie said:

Nope, he was honored just the same. He always told that story.

That's remarkable. Did anyone bother to tell him that Rod Temperton wrote "Thriller"?

Yeah

WaterInYourBath said:

[img:$uid]http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Jackson+s+life+in+pictures+gRTLRl-kN8Gm.jpg[/img:$uid]

This shot is from the 1980 American Music Awards red carpet.

I was remembering a different photo of them both, but the same event.

Cinnie said:

WaterInYourBath said:

[img:$uid]http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Jackson+s+life+in+pictures+gRTLRl-kN8Gm.jpg[/img:$uid]

This shot is from the 1980 American Music Awards red carpet.

I was remembering a different photo of them both, but the same event.

Yeah, there's another one from that night I think, with Mike to the left and Rick on the right in the shot. I'll have to find it.

• thebrazilshow

  (3 months ago)

  "...I used to play with Rick back in the day. They (Prince & Rick) also recorded a song together. I heard about a minute of it back in 85. Rick's engineer Tom Fly played it for me but got scared

  Rick would hear it and fire us! Too bad there was a lot bad blood between them, the song was a MONSTER jam. but it's long lost now, maybe Prince will release it someday..."

  
  

  ...

  
  

  
  

Shango said:

source : youtube

• thebrazilshow

  (3 months ago)

  "...I used to play with Rick back in the day. They (Prince & Rick) also recorded a song together. I heard about a minute of it back in 85. Rick's engineer Tom Fly played it for me but got scared

  Rick would hear it and fire us! Too bad there was a lot bad blood between them, the song was a MONSTER jam. but it's long lost now, maybe Prince will release it someday..."

  
  

  ...

  
  

  
  

If Rick had the tapes, did Prince make a copy? If not, how can Prince release it?

Nice thread

Timmy84 said:

It's a bummer they never worked together... that would've been wild though considering Rick and Michael were two very different individuals.

It would have been a far better match artistically than Michael and Prince though.