Transcript Slide 1

Tatton Galyean
Taylor DeWeese
Jeff Williams
• He was born James Johnson Jr. February 1,
1948 in Buffalo, New York
• He was the oldest child in a family of eight.
• He was the nephew of the Temptations
Melvin Franklin
• Joined the Navy at age 15 and fled to Canada
after going AWOL
• Went to prison for the Abduction and Sexual
Assault of his girlfriend
• He founded his first group, the Mynah Birds, in
Toronto
• He soon became known as Rick James
•The Mynah Birds consisted of Neil Young and Bruce
Palmer of Buffalo Springfield, and Goldie McJohn of
Steppenwolf
• The group recorded a couple of tracks but nothing
was ever released
•In 1977 formed the Stone City Band
• The band experimented with a mixture of Rock and
Funk, which he called “Funk ‘n’ Roll”
• In 1978 he signed with Berry Gordy to Motown
Records
• Later that year his first record, Come Get It, was
released
• “Mary Jane” and “You and I” were his two hit songs
1978 - Come Get It!
1979 - Bustin' Out of L Seven
1979 - Fire It Up
1980 - Garden of Love
1981 - Street Songs
1982 - Throwin' Down
1983 - Cold Blooded
1984 - Reflections
1985 - Glow
1986 - The Flag
1988 - Wonderful
1994 - Bustin' Out - The Very Best of Rick James
1997 - Urban Rapsody
2001 - Street Songs - Deluxe Edition
2002 - Anthology
•Smokey Robinson
•The Temptations
•Paul McCartney
•Neil Young
•Dizzy Gillispie
• Prince
• Eddie Murphy
• MC Hammer
• Teena Marie
• And several Mary Jane Girl’s
• 1990-Grammy Best R@B Song, written by
Rick James and Recorded By MC Hammer
• 2003 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Heritage
Award
Number 1 Songs
• You and I – 1978
• Super Freak – 1981
• I - 1983
•Throughout his life he was a heavy alcoholic and cocaine
addict
• He was hospitalized several times between 1979 and
1984
• Died in his sleep of cardiac failure on August 6, 2004
•The Coroner found 9 different drugs in his system
• He was 56 years old
• He suffered from diabetes, had several strokes, and
used a pacemaker during the final years of his life
1. What type of music did Rick James create?
2. What was the name of his first band?
3. What is a hell of a drug?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2105003/
http://www.rickjames.com/
http://www.ascap.com/eventsawards/awards/rsawards/2004/rickjame
s.html