Super Freak - Music
Super Freak by Rick James
Rick James
Artist Biography For Rick James
Rick James Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr February 1 1948 - August 6 2004 Was An American Funk And Soul Musician From Buffalo New York 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. As Time Went On James Was Given The Unofficial Title The King Of Punk-Funk. 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 The 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 & 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. "Super Freak" In 1981 From The Street Songs Album Was His Biggest Hit. During This Period He Also Helped Launch The Careers Of R&B Singer Teena Marie And The Mary Jane Girls As Well As Producing Eddie Murphy's Hit Party All The Time. After Remaining Moderately Successful Through The 80s His Popularity Waned In The 90s And He Succumbed To Drugs Having Frequent Run-Ins With The Law One Of Which Resulted In A Prison Term. After An Unsuccessful Comeback Attempt In 1997 And Suffering A Stroke James Retired. He Died In 2004 From Heart Failure With Multiple Contributing Factors.
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Super Freak
Rick-James - Street Songs
"Super Freak" Is A 1981 Single Produced And Performed By American Singer Rick James. The Song Co-Written By James And Alonzo Miller Was First Released On James' Fifth Album "Street Songs". And Became One Of James' Signature Songs. "Freak" Is A Slang Term For The Sexually Adventurous As Described In The Song's Lyrics "She's A Very Kinky Girl / The Kind You Don't Take Home To Mother". Rolling Stone Magazine Ranked The Song Number 477 In Its List Of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time In 2006 And Number 153 In An Updated List In 2021. The Song Was Nominated For The Grammy For Best Male Rock Vocal Performance At The 1982 Grammys. MC Hammer's 1990 Hit "U Can't Touch This" Samples "Super Freak". "Super Freak" Was Recorded With Other Tracks For The Street Songs Album Between December 1980 – January 1981 At The Record Plant In Sausalito California And Motown / Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios Hollywood CA. It Features Background Vocals From James' Motown Labelmates The Temptations—in Which The Bassist Was Greg "Big Money" Brown Melvin Franklin—and Canadian Singer Taborah Johnson. The Tenor Saxophone Solo Is By Stone City Band Member Daniel LeMelle. James' Improvised Lyrics Were Later Toned Down By Los Angeles DJ Alonzo Miller Who Received Co-Writing Credit. James Apparently Was Not Particularly Excited About The Song But Reputedly Wanted To Have Something On The Album That "white Folks Could Dance To." In 2006 Dutch Music Group Beatfreakz Covered The Song As "Superfreak" And Released It As A Single. This Cover Reached Number Seven On The UK Singles Chart And Number Six In Finland And Hungary.
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Biography - Rick James
Rick James Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr February 1 1948 - August 6 2004 Was An American Funk And Soul Musician From Buffalo New York 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. As Time Went On James Was Given The Unofficial Title The King Of Punk-Funk. 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 The 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 & 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. "Super Freak" In 1981 From The Street Songs Album Was His Biggest Hit. During This Period He Also Helped Launch The Careers Of R&B Singer Teena Marie And The Mary Jane Girls As Well As Producing Eddie Murphy's Hit Party All The Time. After Remaining Moderately Successful Through The 80s His Popularity Waned In The 90s And He Succumbed To Drugs Having Frequent Run-Ins With The Law One Of Which Resulted In A Prison Term. After An Unsuccessful Comeback Attempt In 1997 And Suffering A Stroke James Retired. He Died In 2004 From Heart Failure With Multiple Contributing Factors.
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16 Similar Artists To Rick James - Frogtoon Music
The Gap Band Mary Jane Girls Cameo One Way The Whispers Ohio Players Evelyn "Champagne" King Zapp Dazz Band Con Funk Shun Brothers Johnson Lakeside Slave Mtume Kool & The Gang Patrice Rushen.
"Super Freak" is a 1981 single produced and performed by American singer Rick James. The song, co-written by James and Alonzo Miller, was first released on James' fifth album, "Street Songs". and became one of James' signature songs. "Freak" is a slang term for the sexually adventurous, as described in the song's lyrics, "She's a very kinky girl / The kind you don't take home to mother". Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 477 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2006 and number 153 in an updated list in 2021. The song was nominated for the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 1982 Grammys. MC Hammer's 1990 hit "U Can't Touch This" samples "Super Freak".
"Super Freak" was recorded with other tracks for the Street Songs album between December 1980 – January 1981 at the Record Plant, in Sausalito, California and Motown / Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA. It features background vocals from James' Motown labelmates The Temptations—in which the bassist was Greg "Big Money" Brown, Melvin Franklin—and Canadian singer Taborah Johnson. The tenor saxophone solo is by Stone City Band member Daniel LeMelle. James' improvised lyrics were later toned down by Los Angeles DJ Alonzo Miller, who received co-writing credit. James apparently was not particularly excited about the song, but reputedly wanted to have something on the album that "white folks could dance to."
In 2006, Dutch music group Beatfreakz covered the song as "Superfreak" and released it as a single. This cover reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and number six in Finland and Hungary. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.