Rick James

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Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr; February 1, 1948 - August 6, 2004) was an American funk and soul musician, who worked as a singer, keyboardist, bassist, record producer, arranger, and composer during his long career. One of the most popular artists on the Motown label during the late 1970s and early 1980s, James was famous for his wild brand of funk music and his trademark cornrow braids, sporting them well before the style was widely popularized by actress Bo Derek. As time went on, James was given the unofficial title The King of Punk-Funk.df

After dropping out of high school and joining the US Naval Reserve, he eventually went AWOL to concentrate on music. He fled to Canada in 1964 and started using the name Ricky Matthews. In Toronto, he led various incarnations of Mynah Birds, some of which included Neil Young and Bruce Palmer (who would go on to form Buffalo Springfield) and Nick St. Nicholas (later of Steppenwolf). After scoring a deal with Motown, the band was swindled by their manager and the label discovered James was on the lam, and the band split up.

After serving time for desertion, James tried to rekindle the Mynah Birds, but eventually found a role as a writer and producer at Motown, using the name Terry Johnson on tunes for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Bobby Taylor And The Vancouvers and The Spinners. He moved to California in 1969 and formed Salt ‘n’ Pepper (not to be confused with Salt-N-Pepa) and worked with a number of bands (Heaven And Earth, Great White Cane, and Stone City Band) before returning to Motown, where he developed the gritty funk sound that would bring him hits and notoriety.

Street Songs
Rick James
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Greatest Hits
Rick James
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The Ultimate Collection
Rick James
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Anthology
Rick James
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Top Tracks

1	Super Freak full track	1,680
2	Give It to Me Baby full track	571
3	Mary Jane full track	547
4	Ghetto Life full track	306
5	Superfreak	267
6	Cold Blooded full track	258
7	Bustin' Out full track	120
8	You and I full track	105
9	Love Gun full track	85
10	Dance Wit' Me full track	84
11	Fire and Desire full track	72
11	Superfreak (Roca Sound Remix)	72
13	Super Freak (Part 1) full track	67
14	Ebony Eyes full track	54
15	Mr. Policeman full track	49

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the_real_roto wrote:
Friday morning

You wanna smoke with your 'ole boy Rick James?

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hisownparade wrote:
Wednesday morning

http://www.last.fm/group/Teena+Marie

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t0rsk wrote:
Wednesday morning

I'M RICK JAMES BITCH!

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AtittudeG wrote:
last week

i love u mary jane u my main thang

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karamzin wrote:
12 days ago

AUUUUUUUU !

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neverbeenkissed wrote:
last month

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

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godSmokie wrote:
last month

ME E n RICK JOHNSON'$S. .

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soulfinger wrote:
last month

Glow was a ray of light in the dark days of Rick James's late-80s musical output.

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Cemor wrote:
last month

Rick James Is tha mothafucker boss. All Cops Are Bastards

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Ziplock74 wrote:
last month

I'm Rick James, BITCH! hah, all the cool kids are doing it :P

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[deleted-user] wrote:
last month

Ummmm...I'm Rick James, BITCH!!! ( why be original )
amradio19 wrote:
last month

.... somehow Rick James has become bigger than his music.... lame.

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mupet0000 wrote:
August 2008

I'm Rick James, BITCH.

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coffeex wrote:
August 2008

Wanna get more this singer albums? Here you are http://mp3bumbule.com/find/?criteria=Rick+James

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80sfever wrote:
August 2008

"They shoulda never gave you suckaz Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories, you misused to overshadow Rick's musical talent."

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[deleted-user] wrote:
August 2008

musical genius!
funkadilotto wrote:
July 2008

GOTTTTTTT OF FUNK

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deauthorized wrote:
July 2008

I am bitch Rick James.

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80sfever wrote:
July 2008

Ebony eyes!

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Uelkse wrote:
July 2008

http://www.last.fm/group/Super+Freaks

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Recent Activity

Lulaloca, oby-one, elias19 and 4 other people added Rick James to their libraries. 3 hours ago
rakshasa07 tagged Rick James with ‘80s’ and ‘disco’. yesterday morning
cassact, ursu0191, lupino9 and 27 other people added Rick James to their libraries. yesterday morning
xyliavxs tagged Rick James with ‘funk’. Thursday morning
glawatl and sanisis55 added Rick James to their libraries. Thursday morning
ipozgaj tagged Rick James with ‘soul’, ‘disco’ and ‘pop’. Wednesday evening
BassetHound2008 and AlleyCat2012 added Rick James to their libraries. Wednesday evening
Hellbilly tagged Rick James with ‘funk’ and ‘quiet storm’. Wednesday evening
aonghas100 and sunsetwoman added Rick James to their libraries. August 2008
SeveredxTies tagged Rick James with ‘funk’ and ‘soul’. August 2008