All of Rick James' albums he recorded for Motown as well as Reprise have been released digitally. All of his Motown albums are available in one Complete Motown Albums package as well as seperately. The albums are newly mastered and feature several bonus tracks inclusing some new mixes by John Morales. Now only if this were a physical release...

His "Wonderful" album which he recorded for Reprise has albo been released, along with the unreleased "Kickin'" album (which isn't his best I must add).

Exciting is that most RJ-related albums by Stone City Band, Mary Jane Girls, Bobby Nunn and Val Young and even White Cane are also available. The best news is that the previously unreleased Mary Jane Girls album "Conversation" will also come out this summer, yay! Unlike Kickin', this album has never leaked.

http://finance.yahoo.com/...00590.html

[Edited 7/8/14 22:53pm]

are you serious??

that 1986 unreleased Mary Jane Girls album is finally being released??!! WOW!

Rick James' Catalog Re-Released in Digital Form on July 8, to Coincide with New Autobiography, Glow

Three Motown albums reissued for the first time; All nine Motown albums available in a 109-track “Complete Motown Albums” digital box set with exclusive bonus tracks; Five Rick James-produced albums from Stone City Band, Bobby M. and Val Young, plus rare 1972 Rick-led LP White Cane, all reissued for first time.

Rhino to release the fabled 1989 unreleased albumKickin’, available for the first time in any format.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rick James, the “Super Freak” hitmaker singer, producer, innovator and award-winning pioneer in the fusion of funk, R&B, rock and soul was a vagrant hippie in the 1960s who wandered to Toronto, where he ended up playing with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, only to end up a hybrid superstar in the ‘80s thanks to his hit song, “Super Freak.” An incorrigible bad boy caught up in bad boy ways since his passing from heart failure in 2004, he has remained a legendary icon whose contributions to music can be felt in the likes of Prince, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg, among countless others.

On July 8, Universal Music Enterprises will reissue James’ entire Motown catalog in a 109-track Complete Motown Albums digital box set, which includes all nine albums and a selection of bonus tracks. The reissues will coincide with the publication of his authorized biography, Glow, written with acclaimed author David Ritz on Atria Books (Simon & Schuster).

Five of James’s nine Motown albums will receive separate digital releases, three of them – 1983’s #1 R&B gold-certifiedCold Blooded, 1985’s Top 10 R&B effort Glow and 1986’s The Flag – will be reissued for the very first time, and all contain original 12-inch versions as bonus tracks. Two additional albums – 1978’s double-platinum Come Get It! and 1979’s platinum #2 R&B release Bustin’ Out of L Seven – will be remastered and re-released digitally with new bonus tracks. All five will be Mastered for iTunes (iTunes.com/RickJames). This ensures that the music is delivered to listeners with increased audio fidelity that more closely replicates what the artists, recording engineers and producers intended. James’ four other Motown releases, also available individually – 1979’s Top 5 R&B gold-certifiedFire It Up, 1980’s gold Garden of Love, 1981’s Top 3 pop, triple-platinum Street Songs (which includes “Super Freak”) and 1982’s #2 gold Throwin’ Down – will be part of the nine-albumComplete Motown Albums digital box set available at all online retailers which includes 109 tracks, featuring rare instrumental 12-inch releases only available as part of this offering.

In addition, UMe will release six new Rick-James associated albums never available digitally, including three from his back-up band Stone City Band – Rick James Presents Stone City Band In ‘N’ Out (1980), The Boys Are Back (1981) and Out from the Shadow (1983) – as well as Rick James Presents Bobby M.: Blow (1982) and Val Young’s 1985 album, Seduction, which features her hit “If You Should Ever Be Lonely,” all on July 8. Finally, the super rare White Cane album, The Great White Cane, originally released by Lion/MGM, will be available for the first time since 1972 on July 15. The Canadian-American horn-rock outfit featured James, who wrote or co-wrote all the songs and sang lead, with the album co-produced and engineered by Jimmy Ienner, who was then also producing the Raspberries and would go on to an illustrious producing and consulting career. A previously unreleased Mary Jane Girls album,Conversation, featuring the single “Walk Like A Man,” will follow this summer. These digital albums join three already-available Rick James productions, including Teena Marie’s 1979 bowWild and Peaceful along with Mary Jane Girls’ pair of gold albums, their self-titled 1983 debut and the 1985 follow-up,Only Four You.

Rhino Records will release two albums from Rick James’ stint at Reprise Records including the fabled album Kickin’, which was shelved in 1989 and is now available for the first time in any format, and 1988’s Wonderful, featuring the #1 R&B duet with Roxanne Shanté “Loosey’s Rap.”

Rick James was a larger-than-life figure, a musical trailblazer who anticipated the synthesis of funk and rock with his expansive catalog. “My journey has taken me through hell and back,” he says in Glow. “It’s all in my music – the parties, the pain, the oversized ego, the insane obsessions.”

His “Glow” could be heard in his prodigious musical output, someone whose catalog has left a pop culture legacy that is hard to top.

I feel like it's Christmas in July this news is incredible!!

SoulAlive said:

I feel like it's Christmas in July this news is incredible!!

It would have been amazing had this been a physical release, but who knows, maybe Universal will licence the albums to reissue labels so we'll get them on CD eventually!

whitesockedfunk said:

SoulAlive said:

I feel like it's Christmas in July this news is incredible!!

It would have been amazing had this been a physical release, but who knows, maybe Universal will licence the albums to reissue labels so we'll get them on CD eventually!

yeah a physical release is preferable,but at this point,I'll take what we can get Just saw the entire digital package on iTunes for around $50.

Holy smokes and gee whiz! I want that previously-shelved Mary Jane Girls album, Conversation.

Identity said:

Holy smokes and gee whiz! I want that previously-shelved Mary Jane Girls album, Conversation.

Me too!! For years,I've been curious about that album.

I believe I have all of his physical CDs. I believe "Glow" was the only one that never received an official release, although I heard it was released in Japan years ago. I've yet to see it, tho. I have a bootleg so I guess I will download that one. The unreleased Mary Jane Girls album? Wow! Never saw that one coming!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait for that one!!! I wonderr if a physical James box set will follow before the year is out? It would be nice but I wouldn't buy it just to get that one album so I guess the download will have to do for me. Although I hate downloading albums as MP3's unless it's my only option.

[Edited 7/9/14 6:33am]

Finally. It's ridiculous that you can't get his mid-80s albums on CD and the LPs are hard to find at least outside US as well, while so much stupid bullshit from the same era has been widely available on all formats.

Just need the "Glow" cd.

"Glow" is the only one of his albums that has never been released on cd. Some copies sometimes appear on Ebay but they are bootleg cd-r's. However, I would be suprpised if Universal Japan don't end up releasing this on CD later this year. However, they usually do straight album reissues, so it won't contain bonus tracks.

I downloaded the whole package from iTunes even though I have all albums already, but the remastered Cold Blooded and Come Get It sound a lot better than the cd versions. Even the recent Japanese reissue of Cold Blooded doesn't sound that good...

Cant wait for that "Conversation" release, I remember waiting and waiting for the third MJG release and then it all falling apart due to substance issues etc....

This stuff caught my eye the other night on iTunes when checking the new releases for the week and seeing the Rick James collection.

I will say that "Kickin" album though is not that good.

[Edited 7/9/14 9:25am]

Just bought The Complete Motown collection, along with Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear", off Amazon.

Would have preferred a physical CD set but the price of the dl was worth it.

Thanks for the thread info, that's the only way I would have known of its release.

I have all of RJ's albums on vinyl, except for "The Flag", which is on cassette, and "Deeper Still" on CD. I need to invest in the CDs or digital releases. I miss listening to the songs that aren't part of the Greatest Hits or Millenium collections...

Awesome. The only thing missing from the Motown collection is the live bonus disc from Street Songs.

I'll be getting Come Get It, Bustin' Out and Throwin' Down. Throwin' Down I only have on vinyl and my Come Get It CD is the old release with no bonus tracks. I've never owned Bustin' Out in any format. Yay!

HuMpThAnG said:

Just need the "Glow" cd.

'Glow' has the most bonus tracks.....a whopping 12(!) tracks! They even included the three studio tracks ("17","Oh What A Night 4 Luv" and "You Turn Me On") from Rick's 1984 best-of album Reflections!!

oh cool i need that. too bad no cd.

SoulAlive said:

HuMpThAnG said:

Just need the "Glow" cd.

'Glow' has the most bonus tracks.....a whopping 12(!) tracks! They even included the three studio tracks ("17","Oh What A Night 4 Luv" and "You Turn Me On") from Rick's 1984 best-of album Reflections!!

lastdecember said:

Can't wait for that "Conversation" release, I remember waiting and waiting for the third MJG release and then it all falling apart due to substance issues etc....

Rick was feuding with Motown at the time and that third Mary Jane Girls album got caught in the crossfire and never released.It's a shame because the girls were still very popular at that time.Their first two albums reached gold status.

SoulAlive said:

HuMpThAnG said:

Just need the "Glow" cd.

'Glow' has the most bonus tracks.....a whopping 12(!) tracks! They even included the three studio tracks ("17","Oh What A Night 4 Luv" and "You Turn Me On") from Rick's 1984 best-of album Reflections!!

yup

The Kickin' album finds him strugging to come up with interesting chords and melodies. For all intents and purposes, it's contract-filler. The ballad Teach Me, however, is a lovely slow jam.

Identity said:

The Kickin' album finds him strugging to come up with interesting chords and melodies. For all intents and purposes, it's contract-filler. The ballad Teach Me, however, is a lovely slow jam.

I don't really like the Kickin' album,but I'm glad it's finally being released.It's a good CD to have,for completion purposes.

HuMpThAnG said:

SoulAlive said:

'Glow' has the most bonus tracks.....a whopping 12(!) tracks! They even included the three studio tracks ("17","Oh What A Night 4 Luv" and "You Turn Me On") from Rick's 1984 best-of album Reflections!!

yup

The "Glow" download is only $7.99!!! I downloaded that one and Val Young's "Seduction". Haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. I really hope they follow-up with actual physical CDs, even though it would be double-dipping on their part.

In this particular round of Prince vs. Rick James, Rick wins.

whitesockedfunk said:

All of Rick James' albums he recorded for Motown as well as Reprise have been released digitally. All of his Motown albums are available in one Complete Motown Albums package as well as seperately. The albums are newly mastered and feature several bonus tracks inclusing some new mixes by John Morales. Now only if this were a physical release...

His "Wonderful" album which he recorded for Reprise has albo been released, along with the unreleased "Kickin'" album (which isn't his best I must add).

Exciting is that most RJ-related albums by Stone City Band, Mary Jane Girls, Bobby Nunn and Val Young and even White Cane are also available. The best news is that the previously unreleased Mary Jane Girls album "Conversation" will also come out this summer, yay! Unlike Kickin', this album has never leaked.

http://finance.yahoo.com/...00590.html

[Edited 7/8/14 22:53pm]

Don't tease me like that dude. I remember back in 86 I was checking

with the wrecka sto every week waiting for it to come out and it never

did. I believe a few of those album tracks from that unreleased album

went to Val Young's Private Conversation album in 1987. I believe the

MJG would have scored bigger with the single Private Conversation because of the success they previously had.

sermwanderer said:

sexton said:

In this particular round of Prince vs. Rick James, Rick wins.

I agree In order for Prince to top this,he would have to not only reissue his own WB albums,but also those of his proteges.We're getting an unreleased Mary Jane Girls album! Maybe Prince will gather up those Vanity 6 demos and finally give us that unreleased album,too.LOL,no chance!

kitbradley said:

HuMpThAnG said:

yup

The "Glow" download is only $7.99!!! I downloaded that one and Val Young's "Seduction". Haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. I really hope they follow-up with actual physical CDs, even though it would be double-dipping on their part.

I'm gonna purchase Val Young's Seduction.It's a great album that should have sold more when it was released in 1985.A very underrated album.The title track and "If You Should Ever Be Lonely" are excellent singles.