All the time in pictures and videos there's shots of him with a Rickenbacker, yet he doesn't play it live. What's the story behind this? Did he really compose and play all of those funky lines? If he did, that dude could PLAY. Funk Legend.
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Rick James
- Thread starter Tupac
- Start date
Never saw him live. Was way before my time, but I recall hearing that Rick was multi talented and played several instruments. Not just bass.
Oscar Alston is the guy who played on a lot of Rick James' stuff. He's probably the guy you think is such a good bass player. As for the composition side of things and who wrote the bass lines, that I couldn't tell you.
Wayne1167 said:
I saw him live with Teena Marie once. He was the frontman, he may have picked up the bass once, spent some time on keyboard, guitars and percussion as well. As I understand it when he was a Motown songwriter he would produce his stuff alone like Prince does but by the time of his breakout album Come Get It some members of the Stone City Band were also recorded
No bass strapped across his chest when he rocked Chicago's Football stadium in 1980. A Budweiser Superfest, with a bad, bad vibe--hot, crappy summer day, nasty, nasty violence in the crowd, nasty violence backstage (some stoopid security guy punching out our road manager), just plain nasty. Rick James rocked it, channelling all of that ugliness into that peculiar thing that was his...no chains swinging on the field during his thing! BUT...no bass from him, either (an LA-based band, IIRC).
Great after-party at the Blackstone Hotel (does that still exist?)...woke up in some garage in B***-F*** Indiana, with the bus having broken down.
Ah...the road...
Seriously. Rick James could be a force of nature when circumstances so demanded. I have no idea whether he could play bass or formulate cool bass lines! But I figured I'd hijack the thread. Sue me.
Great after-party at the Blackstone Hotel (does that still exist?)...woke up in some garage in B***-F*** Indiana, with the bus having broken down.
Ah...the road...
Seriously. Rick James could be a force of nature when circumstances so demanded. I have no idea whether he could play bass or formulate cool bass lines! But I figured I'd hijack the thread. Sue me.
From what I understand, Rick was very good at giving direction on different instruments and would hum bass lines, etc., but it's Oscar who played all that stuff for real. Rick looks awesome with that Rickenbacker bass, though.
I remember an awards show several years back where a bassist was honored and he and someone else played bass in their honor..
From his bio it seems he played bass for many bands before he became a star. When he guested with The Temptations on Standing On The Top he played or air guitared the bass. I would guess that if it came down to a sideman gig he would see himself as a bassist first.
CrashClint
I Play Bass therefore I Am
I am pretty sure Rick played his Rick when he did a New Year's eve show in Times Square.
Imagine what it would have been like to live his life, Wow!
Imagine what it would have been like to live his life, Wow!
Much of it good, but I'd pass on the bad parts…
Per Wikipedia:
Legal problems[edit]
The start of the 1990s brought with it a string of bizarre and sometimes horrific incidents for Rick James. His drug use was by this time public knowledge. He was mainly addicted to cocaine and later admitted to spending about US$7,000 per week on drugs for five years straight. In 1993, he and future wife Tanya Hijazi were accused of holding 24-year-old Frances Alley hostage for up to six days (accounts vary on how long she was actually held),[citation needed] tying her up, forcing her to perform sexual acts, and burning her legs and abdomen with the hot end of a crack cocaine pipe, during a week-long cocaine binge. In 1993, while out on bail for that earlier incident, James, under the influence of cocaine, assaulted music executive Mary Sauger at the St. James Club and Hotel in West Hollywood. Sauger claims she met James and Hijazi for a business meeting, but said the two then kidnapped and beat her over a 20-hour period.
He was found guilty of both offenses but was cleared of a torture charge in the crack pipe incident that could have put him in prison for the rest of his life. He served two years in Folsom Prison and lost US$2 million in a civil suit to one of the women.[Invalid Link Removed] He was released in 1996.[7] In 1998, James was accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, though charges were later dropped.
Per Wikipedia:
Legal problems[edit]
The start of the 1990s brought with it a string of bizarre and sometimes horrific incidents for Rick James. His drug use was by this time public knowledge. He was mainly addicted to cocaine and later admitted to spending about US$7,000 per week on drugs for five years straight. In 1993, he and future wife Tanya Hijazi were accused of holding 24-year-old Frances Alley hostage for up to six days (accounts vary on how long she was actually held),[citation needed] tying her up, forcing her to perform sexual acts, and burning her legs and abdomen with the hot end of a crack cocaine pipe, during a week-long cocaine binge. In 1993, while out on bail for that earlier incident, James, under the influence of cocaine, assaulted music executive Mary Sauger at the St. James Club and Hotel in West Hollywood. Sauger claims she met James and Hijazi for a business meeting, but said the two then kidnapped and beat her over a 20-hour period.
He was found guilty of both offenses but was cleared of a torture charge in the crack pipe incident that could have put him in prison for the rest of his life. He served two years in Folsom Prison and lost US$2 million in a civil suit to one of the women.[Invalid Link Removed] He was released in 1996.[7] In 1998, James was accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, though charges were later dropped.
According to Oscar Alston in The Funky Bass Book Rick James had kinda natural feel with different instruments allowing him to suggest parts for the band by playing but not being studio level musician. 'Rick would bring in songs and ideas for parts, and we'd sort of jam our parts and finish the songs'. Sometimes Rick had a thought bass line, sometimes only one-note groove and then Oscar Alston created the bass line.
All credited to Rick James, of course. This being the normal superstardom feature not unlike James Brown, Bob Marley or George Clinton.
This thread made me check Rick James' early career. The Tube contains lots of material from Mynah Bird, White Cane, Rick's first single 'My Mama' (74) of which B-side ' Funkin Around' is surprisingly serious stuff. When reading his autobio I was amazed to find out how much one's body can stand for years different refreshing but weary substances and still have intense sex once a while.
All credited to Rick James, of course. This being the normal superstardom feature not unlike James Brown, Bob Marley or George Clinton.
This thread made me check Rick James' early career. The Tube contains lots of material from Mynah Bird, White Cane, Rick's first single 'My Mama' (74) of which B-side ' Funkin Around' is surprisingly serious stuff. When reading his autobio I was amazed to find out how much one's body can stand for years different refreshing but weary substances and still have intense sex once a while.
