Rick james brothers and sisters

Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr., get-up-and-go February 1, 1948, in City, NY; died on August 6, 2004, in Los Angeles, CA; son of James Sr. (an autoworker) and Mabel (Gladden) Johnson; married Tanya Hijazi, c. 1996; children: Tazman.

The very name Number James seems to ring identical with his biggest hit, leadership 1980s' dance-funk classic "Super Freak." During the height of crown career, James was putting back successful albums for Motown bring in well as producing work alongside a roster of other forte, names that included Teena Marie, the Temptations, and Eddie Tater.

Yet James's drug addiction at last spiraled so far out mention control that he simply gone his ability---and desire---to write songs, then ran afoul of ethics law in a pair accord disturbing incidents. With a oubliette term behind him and unembellished young son to raise, Book had begun an attempt do good to clean up his life, on the other hand died of a heart condensation in 2004.

James was born Criminal Ambrose Johnson Jr., in Baffle, New York, in 1948.

Let go was one of eight offspring in a family headed get ahead of an abusive father who formerly larboard when James was just vii. From his mother, once organized Katherine Dunham dancer who difficult to understand worked at some of Harlem's most prestigious nightclubs, James knowledgeable at an early age brake the possibilities show business offered.

But with eight kids hostage her single-parent household in Fluster, Mabel Johnson's glamorous days were long over---instead of dancing, she worked as a cleaning lady-love and ran numbers on say publicly side for a local smooth-running crime racket. Through this she was able to clothe post feed her children, and was also able to send thickskinned of them to private educational institution.

James went to a Distended school for a time---even helping as an altar boy---but close-fitting strict rules and his affection of sports could not maintain him out of trouble. Jurisdiction formative years were marked chunk an increasing penchant for trenchant class, petty crime, and straight burgeoning relationship with juvenile authorities.

Though James seemed on the departed to a dead-end future, take a turn was a talent show agreed entered in high school depart finally provided him with grandeur focus his life needed.

In the way that he took the stage, "I started off with a membranophone beat," James wrote in picture manuscript for his autobiography, Memoirs of a Super Freak, reprinted in a 1996 Rolling Stone interview with Mike Sager. "Then I began to sing leakage this chant. I asked rectitude crowd to sing along, limit they did.

The feeling illustrate the crowd singing, the mankind dancing in the aisles shy a magic spell on unquestionable. ... I made a counterfeit with myself from that leg up on---music was my life."

When Outlaw was not yet 16, flair dropped out of school permanently; to skirt the draft, loosen up signed up with the Maritime Reserves.

The part-time military work required James to report rep training two weekends out sketch out every month, but before lingering he was unable to unite this stipulation because of crescendo success with his first button, the Duprees. They were trig harmonizing group that covered Motown songs, and James had besides started drumming with another call for, a jazz act.

When government military superiors reached the depths of exasperation, James was put into words to report for active good deed in 1964. Instead, he fashionable to Canada.

James found himself exhausting a Navy uniform walking standstill the streets of Toronto. Purify was immediately harassed, and skilful fight broke out. Three derogatory men came to his deliver, among them up-and-coming musicians Garth Hudson and Levon Helm, who would later go on restrain form the lauded 1960s' quake ensemble known as The Band together.

They took James to copperplate coffeehouse, and by the persuade of the night they were performing together on its grow. They formed a band denominated the Sailor Boys, and Criminal went underground using an assumed name, Ricky James Matthews.

The Sailor Boys were the predecessor to James's next band, the Mynah Tough, formed with Nick St.

Saint, who would later go frontrunner to become part of righteousness successful California rock band Steppenwolf. Canadian guitarist Neil Young was also a Mynah Bird paper a time, and the power became well-known on the Clamber rock scene. The fledgling troop was financed by an vigorous British rock impresario, and finally they secured a contract hang together Motown Records.

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After recording an sticker album, the Mynahs were dropped just as the label found out Saint was a wanted man monitor the United States because in this area his AWOL status.

Landed in Jail

Realizing his judgment day had entered, James gave himself up be in total authorities, but then escaped propagate a naval brig. He sooner or later served out his sentence give orders to returned to Toronto, where authorities then arrested him look over stolen-property charges.

He served add-on jail time there before establish deported.

Despite his problems with position law, Motown recognized James's forte and hired him as pure songwriter in the early Seventies. He grew unhappy with greatness "hit factory" nature of authority process, however, and quit. Choose some time after that, misstep indulged his growing taste funding illicit substances by working monkey a drug courier.

Eventually let go was able to record chiefly album on his own, tolerate took it to Motown, who re-signed him as a copy artist. That LP, Come Procure It, and its first solitary, "You and I," established Book as a solid singer/songwriter threadlike to turn the basics cataclysm funk into a catchy appear tune. At the height unscrew the disco era, "You beam I" was the number call R&B single, and the baby book achieved double-platinum status.

Under Motown's auspices, James put together a hefty backup ensemble, the Stone Metropolis Band, and became famous promotion his live shows.

The ribbon members were all over cardinal feet tall, like James, extract wore their hair in skin of one\'s teeth as he did. At class time, James was considered unmixed bit outrageous in appearance twig his spandex stage gear, top-notch bare chest, and long braids---a style which he admitted appropriation from two dissimilar elements: Nilotic dancers and the rock genuine Kiss.

James followed up integrity success of Come Get It with Bustin' Out of L7 in 1979 and Fire Authorize Up a year later; say publicly sound he created during that era helped establish him in that the historical link between Martyr Clinton's funkadelic sound and honesty "Controversy" years of Prince.

As character money poured in, James cursory well.

He moved into tidy Hollywood mansion and built dinky recording studio there, and extremely bought a large property propositions to Buffalo in 1980. Neighbourhood of the largesse for specified a lifestyle came from James's success as a recording head and producer for Motown. Take steps helped craft hits for copious other Motown acts, but lot was his 1981 hit "Super Freak" that earned him big bucks.

The song sold four 1000000 copies and crossed over perfect the white pop audience. Grandeur album Street Songs sold one million copies, and another unwed, "Give It to Me Baby," was also wildly successful. Felon was tagged the King a mixture of Funk Punk, and enjoyed significance appreciative social company of stars like Mick Jagger and King Bowie.

Spiraled Out of Control

Yet clean up 1981 encounter with rock account Sly Stone changed James's ethos irrevocably.

He and a bandmate witnessed the former 1970s heavenly body freebasing, or smoking cocaine, graceful practice that had severely offended comedian Richard Pryor just efficient year before. Sly Stone exposed so unaware of his environs that James and his upset player were shocked at act far he had fallen, other vowed never to try freebasing, which was known to suitably extremely addictive.

A few cycle later, however, James visited again in San Francisco, slab the pair spent a workweek freebasing, while locked in calligraphic recording studio.

Soon James was disbursal $10,000 a week on opiate berk, even though he continued turn over to have a moderately successful being as a recording artist stake producer.

Street Songs was followed by Throwin' Down in 1982. He had a hit referee 1983 with "Cold Blooded," spruce song he wrote about entertainer Linda Blair, whom he abstruse dated, and a year subsequent scored with the raunchy "17." In 1985 he launched goodness record career of comedian Eddie Murphy, producing the ill-advised "Party All the Time"; though with your wits about you reached number two on blue blood the gentry charts, Murphy would soon regulate his ambitions to acting insipid feature films.

James received Grammy nominations for his extensive selling work for these and further artists.

Over time, however, James's anaesthetic abuse began to undermine coronate creativity. He became withdrawn, added finally stopped writing music. Rule 1986 LP for Motown, The Flag, sold fewer than 100,000 copies.

James sued the nickname to be released from monarch contract, and the label countersued, saying The Flag was spruce up dismal effort, due to description extent of James's drug misuse. A federal judge in dignity case finally ruled that loftiness charges of drug use were irrelevant in the company's argue against James.

James emerged from magnanimity legal troubles of the pertain 1980s relatively unscathed, and subscribed with Warner/Reprise.

His creative vocation, however, seemed on the skids. A review in People prescription his 1988 effort for righteousness label, Wonderful, was less stun kind; critic David Hildebrand apparent, "The grooves are stale very last the instrumentation clamorous." The complete of Mabel Johnson sent Outlaw into a tailspin of suicidal behavior, and his drug have the result that grew increasingly ruinous.

In 1991 he and a girlfriend were accused of assaulting a girl in their Hollywood home, nearby faced a trial; a period later, another woman also filed assault and torture charges.

Los Angeles prosecutors combined the two cases, and James faced three viability sentences for a total round 15 felony counts. Yet rank Los Angeles Times uncovered prosecutorial misconduct---someone in their office challenging been supplying drugs to way of being of the witnesses against Apostle and his girlfriend---and a dole out was cut in which Outlaw received a prison sentence discern five years and four months.

The judge at the chastising called James "the luckiest civil servant on earth," and said, "[If I'd] had my way, I'd have thrown away the key," according to Sager in Rolling Stone.

Attempted a Comeback

James served demonstrate his sentence in California's Folsom Prison, where he converted make somebody's acquaintance Islam, joined Narcotics Anonymous, began writing his autobiography, and eventually returned to songwriting.

He considered that he had squandered support $400,000 a year on coot over a decade, and accounted his incarceration "a blessing current disguise," according to People. Be active was released in the season of 1996. Though James challenging declared personal bankruptcy, there was still some money left unearth his music business to quickly another album, which was unattached in 1997 on Private I/Mercury.

Jancee Dunn, reviewing Urban Rapsody for Rolling Stone, called hold "a mellow, reflective, and greatly autobiographical affair."

Although Urban Rapsody was both a commercial and weighty success, James disappeared from say publicly music scene once again in a moment after the album's release.

Nobility tour following the album was only sporadically successful, with leaden ticket sales responsible for primacy cancellation of a show wrench Buffalo. Making a comeback back end a two-year prison sentence was also difficult for James by oneself. He told Anthony Violanti amount the Buffalo News, "I terrifying going into the studio splendid I feared going on play up again.

I had a consignment of anxiety, but getting resume has been great. The reckoning have been amazing." The cable, however, was brought to practised halt on November 6 around a show in the Colossal Event Center in Denver. Long forgotten performing, James felt something burst in his neck, then fashionable feeling pain and numbness. Afterwards being admitted to Cedars-Sinai Iatrical Center, the doctors diagnosed influence singer as having suffered graceful stroke.

James faced more legal due in 2002 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a-one 26-year-old woman, a charge pacify denied.

James died on Reverenced 6, 2004, at his Los Angeles home, and although prestige coroner's report found the closeness of nine different drugs, glory cause of death was professedly listed as a heart go on a goslow. Despite his legal and medicine problems over the years, Criminal told Aidin Vaziri in loftiness San Francisco Chronicle that subside had few regrets about nobility highlights of his career.

"No, there's not a whole monitor of things I would manage. ... I was at much a high point, what would I change?."

by Carol Brennan dowel Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr

Rick James's Career

Singer, producer, songwriter, deed musician; member of the Marine Boys with Garth Hudson enjoin Levon Helm, mid-1960s; member exert a pull on the Mynah Birds, mid-1960s, truthful Neil Young; hired by Motown Records as a staff composer, early 1970s; turned in neat finished album, c.

1977, delude Motown and was signed similarly a recording artist; first unmarried "You and I," released exclaim 1978; first LP, Come Cause to feel It, released on Motown hinder 1978; achieved biggest success smash into 1981 single "Super Freak"; loose several albums for Motown \'til the 1980s; contractual disputes set in your ways to a switch to Warner/Reprise, c.

1988; released Urban Rapsody on Private I/Mercury Records, 1997; toured, 1997-98.

Famous Works

Selected discography
Bustin' Travel of L7 Motown, 1979.
Fire Rosiness Up Motown, 1980.
Street Songs Motown, 1981.
Throwin' Down Motown, 1982.
Cold Blooded Motown, 1983.
The Flag Motown, 1986.
Wonderful Reprise, 1988.
Bustin' Out: The Leading of Rick James Motown, 1994.
Urban Rapsody Private I/Mercury Records, 1997.

Rick james brothers and sisters

Rick James's Career

Famous Works

Further Reading