Along with his penchant for Jheri curls, black leather-based, and thigh-high boots, Rick James was undoubtedly certainly one of soul and funk’s most flamboyant figures. However nobody was ready for the juggernaut success of his fifth album, Road Songs.
James had already lit up the charts together with his debut album, 1978’s Come Get It!, which melded his brash, edgy, avenue persona with scorching soul flavors and earthy disco-funk grooves. Launched by way of Motown’s Gordy imprint, it spawned the chart-topping R&B hit “You And I” and established James as certainly one of R&B’s hottest new stars. Three extra albums adopted within the wake of that explosive debut, nevertheless it was Road Songs that took issues to an entire different degree.
Purchase the very best 80s music on vinyl now.
Launched on April 7, 1981, the album’s success was aided by the funkafied, infectious dance groove “Give It To Me Baby,” a single which set the US R&B chart alight in March 1981, paving the best way for Road Songs to high the US R&B albums chart in Could.
Whereas his earlier album, Backyard Of Love, had proven James’ extra delicate aspect, the general public seemingly most popular the brazen, upstart-like persona he unleashed on the self-produced Road Songs. Although “Give It To Me Baby” was the album’s solely No.1 single, arguably probably the most well-known music on the eight-song set is “Super Freak,” a unusual slice of sexed-up, electro-meets-pop-funk written by James with Alonzo Miller.
That includes the mighty Motown vocal quintet The Temptations on background vocals, “Super Freak” reached No.3 within the US R&B singles chart (No.16 US pop) and was nominated for a 1982 Finest Rock Male Vocal Efficiency Grammy, however misplaced out to Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.” It gained extra publicity, nevertheless, after rapper MC Hammer filched the intro when he sampled it for his world smash, “U Can’t Touch This,” in 1990.
Punk funk for all times
The album’s third and remaining single was “Ghetto Life,” a funked-up floor-filler with an autobiographical theme pushed by a staccato guitar riff. It reached No.38 within the US R&B singles chart in November 1981, although that didn’t replicate the music’s high quality: its amalgam of street-savvy dance music and smooth sophistication epitomized a method that James as soon as branded as “punk funk,” and the music as soon as once more boasted The Temptations (James later featured on the legendary group’s 1982 Motown hit, “Standing On The Top”).
The remainder of Road Songs was fleshed out with equally robust cuts. The epic old-school soul ballad “Fire And Desire” discovered James luxuriating in a romantic temper alongside together with his protégé, Californian chanteuse Teena Marie (aka “Lady Tee”), who virtually upstages her mentor with some stirring declamatory vocals at across the 3.40 mark. (Jazz followers will dig Donny Keider’s mellow vibraphone-led passages close to the music’s fade.)
Earlier within the album, James had revealed his sensuality on the midtempo “Make Love To Me,” a observe whose syncopated bass-heavy groove is adorned by elegant orchestral charts. In sharp distinction, “Mr. Policeman” – a pull-no-punches criticism of police brutality – gives a chugging reggae-style vibe, with shiny, punchy horns complementing James’ strident vocals. The music can also be notable for a cameo by Stevie Surprise on harmonica.
Conflicting duality
For those who most popular Rick James using an irresistible funk groove, “Call Me Up” (full with phone-ringing sound results, a catchy refrain, and jabbing brass) fitted the invoice. Much more direct is “Below The Funk (Pass The J),” a comparatively brief, propulsive funk groove whose lyrics paint a vivid image of James’ adolescence: “I was born in a city we call Buffalo/Zero degrees below is too damn cold and funky/Mama raised me on the numbers racket/With eight kids and no father.”
Road Songs spent a staggering 78 weeks within the US R&B albums chart, occupying the No.1 spot for 20 weeks (it additionally made No.3 on the Billboard 200). Although James, who battled with drug issues and died in 2004, aged 56, would high the American R&B albums chart three years later together with his seventh Motown album, Chilly Blooded, Road Songs has offered over 4 million copies and stays his best-selling album. With its mix of robust city dance music and achingly romantic gradual jams, it mirrored the seemingly conflicting duality on the coronary heart of Rick James’ “punk funk” aesthetic.
Road Songs may be purchased right here.
