10 Things We Learned From...k James’

His beef with Prince

“I saw some videos of him and he was cool,” James recalls in doc, discussing his initial impression of the Minneapolis funk master as a 21-year-old whom he felt “resembled us a lot.” But when Prince joined the older musician’s Fire It Up tour in 1980 as the opening act, things turned ugly. James felt undermined, accusing Prince of copying his stage moves and stealing the unique call and response formula he had developed for geeing up an audience. “Prince was giving me hell on the road,” James recalled in the film.

“I got really pissed off and went and told his managers. I said, look, how can I go up and do what I’ve got to do if this dude’s gonna be taking my shit.” Things got so bad that they tried to sabotage each other’s shows, as Bootsy Collins revealed in the movie: “I remember being on shows with Rick and Prince and they were pulling plugs on each other and were getting ready to go to blows.” After that infamous 1980 tour, they never appeared together on the same bill again as their careers went in different directions; James went on to create his magnum opus, 1981’s Street Songs.

SoulAlive said:

10 Things We Learned From...k James’

His beef with Prince

“I saw some videos of him and he was cool,” James recalls in doc, discussing his initial impression of the Minneapolis funk master as a 21-year-old whom he felt “resembled us a lot.” But when Prince joined the older musician’s Fire It Up tour in 1980 as the opening act, things turned ugly. James felt undermined, accusing Prince of copying his stage moves and stealing the unique call and response formula he had developed for geeing up an audience. “Prince was giving me hell on the road,” James recalled in the film.

“I got really pissed off and went and told his managers. I said, look, how can I go up and do what I’ve got to do if this dude’s gonna be taking my shit.” Things got so bad that they tried to sabotage each other’s shows, as Bootsy Collins revealed in the movie: “I remember being on shows with Rick and Prince and they were pulling plugs on each other and were getting ready to go to blows.” After that infamous 1980 tour, they never appeared together on the same bill again as their careers went in different directions; James went on to create his magnum opus, 1981’s Street Songs.

Rick James didn't invent the "call and response" that is a staple of Black-based blues, soul, and gospel music. Prince didn't steal anything that Rick didn't steal...

purplethunder3121 said:

SoulAlive said:

10 Things We Learned From...k James’

His beef with Prince

“I saw some videos of him and he was cool,” James recalls in doc, discussing his initial impression of the Minneapolis funk master as a 21-year-old whom he felt “resembled us a lot.” But when Prince joined the older musician’s Fire It Up tour in 1980 as the opening act, things turned ugly. James felt undermined, accusing Prince of copying his stage moves and stealing the unique call and response formula he had developed for geeing up an audience. “Prince was giving me hell on the road,” James recalled in the film.

“I got really pissed off and went and told his managers. I said, look, how can I go up and do what I’ve got to do if this dude’s gonna be taking my shit.” Things got so bad that they tried to sabotage each other’s shows, as Bootsy Collins revealed in the movie: “I remember being on shows with Rick and Prince and they were pulling plugs on each other and were getting ready to go to blows.” After that infamous 1980 tour, they never appeared together on the same bill again as their careers went in different directions; James went on to create his magnum opus, 1981’s Street Songs.

Rick James didn't invent the "call and response" that is a staple of Black-based blues, soul, and gospel music. Prince didn't steal anything that Rick didn't steal...

and plus,George Clinton and P-Funk were already doing that same "call and response" thing,where they put their hand behind their ears,which gets the audience fired up to sing along

SoulAlive said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Rick James didn't invent the "call and response" that is a staple of Black-based blues, soul, and gospel music. Prince didn't steal anything that Rick didn't steal...

and plus,George Clinton and P-Funk were already doing that same "call and response" thing,where they put their hand behind their ears,which gets the audience fired up to sing along

Yup. Coincidentally, just saw ole George back on the road with P-Funk Friday night on a livestream his wife posted with them doing the ole "call and response" staple. Thought he was gonna retire a couple of years ago; guess he can't stop funkin'!

purplethunder3121 said:

SoulAlive said:

and plus,George Clinton and P-Funk were already doing that same "call and response" thing,where they put their hand behind their ears,which gets the audience fired up to sing along

Yup. Coincidentally, just saw ole George back on the road with P-Funk Friday night on a livestream his wife posted with them doing the ole "call and response" staple. Thought he was gonna retire a couple of years ago; guess he can't stop funkin'!

I saw George in concert a few years ago.It was billed as his farewell tour,but now I see he's gonna keep on touring

SoulAlive said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Yup. Coincidentally, just saw ole George back on the road with P-Funk Friday night on a livestream his wife posted with them doing the ole "call and response" staple. Thought he was gonna retire a couple of years ago; guess he can't stop funkin'!

I saw George in concert a few years ago.It was billed as his farewell tour,but now I see he's gonna keep on touring

I saw him and the current line-up of P-Funk at the end of 2018... He took breaks but at the end of the three hour long concert in a small sweaty club he took a toke off an audience member's pipe and that seemed to re-energize him and he was having a good ole time with those timeless P-Funk classics. He's gonna be 80 in July! Way to go, George, keep on funkin' til you can't funk no mo'!

A new trailer is out: https://youtu.be/YV0tMF9Ue8g

RobotFix said:

RobotFix said:

ReddBlitz said:

I wonder if this docu will mention how Motown would slowly stop promoting James fully to focus more on Lionel Richie.

Well they played it safe. I remember when Motown25 aired and Rick got a tiny video spot, like an after thought. In the UK i don't recall if he ever charted. got much air time or was widely known until after Prince hit and he was bad mouthing him on breakfast TV (He was promoting 'Wonderful'). Thats how I got into Rick James. I think with him being ten years older than MJ and Prince worked against him a bit too back then.