rick james was definitely inspired by Prince when he made this.......
I used to have the street songs lp back in 1993 and this was my jam simply because it sounded like Prince helped rick with this one especially on the rhythm guitar adding some chicken grease. That rhythm guitar is all Prince and its a funky little track even though it has the same beat as super freak.
I used to have the street songs lp back in 1993 and this was my jam simply because it sounded like Prince helped rick with this one especially on the rhythm guitar adding some chicken grease. That rhythm guitar is all Prince and its a funky little track even though it has the same beat as super freak.
They were influenced by each other a lot in turns. Prince must have taken a lot from his stage persona and then when Prince became the more successful one Rick started to take more and more influence from Prince. "Cold Blooded" in particular is clearly Rick's attempt to make a "1999" type of a record - one of the songs even has a similar intro as "Lady Cab Driver"(!). It's just that Prince didn't seem to pay that much attention to Rick stuff after the early-80s.
I'm not hearing a strong Princely musical influence on Rick. However, that Glow video is quite embarrassingly trying to be Purple Rain, almost scene-for-scene, with some slight changes. And the "puffy shirt" is CLEARLY a Prince bite. I bet P laughed his ASS OFF when he saw that bullshit.
"That's when stars collide. When there's space for what u want, and ur heart is open wide."
"I think I wanna talk about it..." This was all Rick. It is a musical prism illustrating Rick's human capacity. Brilliant cut on an outstanding record - one of the best of all time. "Too damn cold and funky!" Thank you for posting it. (I will be listening to Mr. Policeman next.)
Glow and much of the crap that followed Throwin' Down is an illustration of the power of cocaine. Heartbraking really. But Teena did say that Rick recorded BTF Pass The Joint on some keyboards that he had stolen from P when they were out on tour and Prince opened up Rick's shows. Rick later sent them back to P with a thank you note.
that Glow video is quite embarrassingly trying to be Purple Rain, almost scene-for-scene, with some slight changes. And the "puffy shirt" is CLEARLY a Prince bite. I bet P laughed his ASS OFF when he saw that bullshit.
I agree,that video is an embarassment.I have always wondered,what was Rick thinking?? Was he trying to mock Prince? Or,maybe he had the attitude "I'll do the whole Purple Rain thing,but I'll show the world some REAL acting"....lol...either way,he fails miserably.
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
I used to have the street songs lp back in 1993 and this was my jam simply because it sounded like Prince helped rick with this one especially on the rhythm guitar adding some chicken grease. That rhythm guitar is all Prince and its a funky little track even though it has the same beat as super freak.
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
To me, "Below the Funk" sounded like something that could've fit on Marvin's In Our Lifetime album...
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
To me, "Below the Funk" sounded like something that could've fit on Marvin's In Our Lifetime album...
Is it me, or am I not hearing any of these stolen "Prince synths" on this track? I hear what could be them on other tracks from this album but not this one in particular that was allegedly mentioned by Teena.
"That's when stars collide. When there's space for what u want, and ur heart is open wide."
To me, "Below the Funk" sounded like something that could've fit on Marvin's In Our Lifetime album...
Is it me, or am I not hearing any of these stolen "Prince synths" on this track? I hear what could be them on other tracks from this album but not this one in particular that was allegedly mentioned by Teena.
Nah it ain't just you. I don't hear Prince in this stuff either.
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
I own 'Super Freak', Rick's autobiography and he told the same story about jackin P's Oberheim synths and recording tracks for his next record with them.
rick got the rhythm guitar part from sexy dancer and thats why I say that this track was inspired by Prince because sexy dancer has a very similar rhythm guitar,it sounds like the same exact chords but rick just shortened the strumming a bit.
This only proves to me that Prince was the better musician and songwriter than Rick James. Rick James place in music history is set but Prince's sound has endured more and story of Rick stealing Prince's gear to record Street Songs only reaffirms that.
To me, "Below the Funk" sounded like something that could've fit on Marvin's In Our Lifetime album...
Is it me, or am I not hearing any of these stolen "Prince synths" on this track? I hear what could be them on other tracks from this album but not this one in particular that was allegedly mentioned by Teena.
The story Lady T told was about the whole Streets album, not just Below The Funk, I worded it poorly is all, my bad.
Harlepolis - so Pyro John told the same story about the keyboards? He was Rick's pyrotechnics guy. I think he had worked for Kiss for a few years before Rick scooped him up for a while. He had a bunch of Prince stories posted up on that board, some tour bus stories, sex drugs funk and roll. He talked some on Rick and T fighting on stage one night, her trying to pull his braids out, him bending her backwards pulling on her hair, neither one willing to back down first - all the while singing Fire and Desire. Crazy.
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
I own 'Super Freak', Rick's autobiography and he told the same story about jackin P's Oberheim synths and recording tracks for his next record with them.
Is it me, or am I not hearing any of these stolen "Prince synths" on this track? I hear what could be them on other tracks from this album but not this one in particular that was allegedly mentioned by Teena.
The story Lady T told was about the whole Streets album, not just Below The Funk, I worded it poorly is all, my bad.
Harlepolis - so Pyro John told the same story about the keyboards? He was Rick's pyrotechnics guy. I think he had worked for Kiss for a few years before Rick scooped him up for a while. He had a bunch of Prince stories posted up on that board, some tour bus stories, sex drugs funk and roll. He talked some on Rick and T fighting on stage one night, her trying to pull his braids out, him bending her backwards pulling on her hair, neither one willing to back down first - all the while singing Fire and Desire. Crazy.
[Edited 3/31/13 20:53pm]
Great storyteller, I wish he wrote a book about his career with those guys the image of Prince kicking his heels & screeching still lingers in my mind.
rick got the rhythm guitar part from sexy dancer and thats why I say that this track was inspired by Prince because sexy dancer has a very similar rhythm guitar,it sounds like the same exact chords but rick just shortened the strumming a bit.
You must not be from that era. There is nothing about Pass The J that sounds "Prince influenced". Prince wasn't the blueprint for R&B in 1981 and he himself was lifting elements from others' back then and putting his own spin on what was already happening. Its easy to come to such conclusions when something is taken out of the context of the era and judged solely. If you knew what was happening around that time musically in R&B, you'd know that this was very in-step with what was going on. Rick was bigger than Prince in 81', which is when Street Songs came out. If anything, Prince was following Rick's lead.
rick got the rhythm guitar part from sexy dancer and thats why I say that this track was inspired by Prince because sexy dancer has a very similar rhythm guitar,it sounds like the same exact chords but rick just shortened the strumming a bit.
You must not be from that era. There is nothing about Pass The J that sounds "Prince influenced". Prince wasn't the blueprint for R&B in 1981 and he himself was lifting elements from others' back then and putting his own spin on what was already happening. Its easy to come to such conclusions when something is taken out of the context of the era and judged solely. If you knew what was happening around that time musically in R&B, you'd know that this was very in-step with what was going on. Rick was bigger than Prince in 81', which is when Street Songs came out. If anything, Prince was following Rick's lead.
and stole/followed some of Ricks moves, stage show etc...hell even stole his ol lady (Vanity) lol
rick got the rhythm guitar part from sexy dancer and thats why I say that this track was inspired by Prince because sexy dancer has a very similar rhythm guitar,it sounds like the same exact chords but rick just shortened the strumming a bit.
You must not be from that era. There is nothing about Pass The J that sounds "Prince influenced". Prince wasn't the blueprint for R&B in 1981 and he himself was lifting elements from others' back then and putting his own spin on what was already happening. Its easy to come to such conclusions when something is taken out of the context of the era and judged solely. If you knew what was happening around that time musically in R&B, you'd know that this was very in-step with what was going on. Rick was bigger than Prince in 81', which is when Street Songs came out. If anything, Prince was following Rick's lead.
Even though he stole Prince's synths, I don't hear anything on the entire "Street Songs" album that even sightly resembles the Prince sound. I hear some synths on "Super Freak" but they don't sound the same as they do when Prince or his groups use them. I don't know because I'm not a musician but maybe there's different settings on the instrument to the way they sound and maybe Rick used a different setting? Hell, I don't know. I would have never known he used Prince's synths on the album though unless someone had told me because I've heard synths in some of Rick's previous slow jams such as "Hollywood" and "Spacey Love" which sound like they may have been influenced by 10 CC's "I'm Not In Love", Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver", or Norman Conners' "You Are My Starship".
Somebody from Rick James' message board who used to work as a roadie for him, said that he(Rick) stole the equipments from Prince when they toured together, used 'em to record "Street Songs", sent the equipments back to him with a thank you note now whether this story is a fragment of this guy's imagination or not, is up for a debate.
Granted, "Below The Funk" is a pure Motown cut. I could hear late 70's/early 80s Marvin Gaye doing his own thing on this to the max.
I own 'Super Freak', Rick's autobiography and he told the same story about jackin P's Oberheim synths and recording tracks for his next record with them.
The story Lady T told was about the whole Streets album, not just Below The Funk, I worded it poorly is all, my bad.
Harlepolis - so Pyro John told the same story about the keyboards? He was Rick's pyrotechnics guy. I think he had worked for Kiss for a few years before Rick scooped him up for a while. He had a bunch of Prince stories posted up on that board, some tour bus stories, sex drugs funk and roll. He talked some on Rick and T fighting on stage one night, her trying to pull his braids out, him bending her backwards pulling on her hair, neither one willing to back down first - all the while singing Fire and Desire. Crazy.
[Edited 3/31/13 20:53pm]
Great storyteller, I wish he wrote a book about his career with those guys the image of Prince kicking his heels & screeching still lingers in my mind.
My favorite is Rick pullling Prince's hair and pouring vodka down his throat. And another time when Pyro John was after Gail Chapman and Prince didn't like it and wanted Rick to put an end to it. Rick told his people to get the word out to "Princess" that Pyro was getting a raise. Pyro got excited and Rick told him "Hell no, you're not gettng a raise. I just want Princess to think you're getting a raise".
You must not be from that era. There is nothing about Pass The J that sounds "Prince influenced". Prince wasn't the blueprint for R&B in 1981 and he himself was lifting elements from others' back then and putting his own spin on what was already happening. Its easy to come to such conclusions when something is taken out of the context of the era and judged solely. If you knew what was happening around that time musically in R&B, you'd know that this was very in-step with what was going on. Rick was bigger than Prince in 81', which is when Street Songs came out. If anything, Prince was following Rick's lead.
and stole/followed some of Ricks moves, stage show etc...hell even stole his ol lady (Vanity) lol
I don't hear much Prince in most of Rick's stuff. Rick seemed fueled by his rock roots, old school funk, and the Motown sound. I was a Rick fan well before I was a Prince fan. Sure, their sound could fit into a "Venn Diagram" but
But MAYBE . . . Rick saw Prince flying by him and did what he could to catch up. To some extent I think Rick really "chased" him the rest of his career. Even the last TV appearance I saw, the BET Awards with Teena Marie, he was dressed in a Purple Rain-esque fluffy shirt and velvet suit.
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Was he trying to mock Prince? Or,maybe he had the attitude "I'll do the whole Purple Rain thing,but I'll show the world some REAL acting"....lol...either way,he fails miserably.
It's VERY interesting! 
And another time when Pyro John was after Gail Chapman and Prince didn't like it and wanted Rick to put an end to it. Rick told his people to get the word out to "Princess" that Pyro was getting a raise. Pyro got excited and Rick told him "Hell no, you're not gettng a raise. I just want Princess to think you're getting a raise".