Before the Super Freak: The Untold Origins of Rick James

Rick James wasn’t just a funk legend, he was a no-brakes hurricane of groove, chaos, and sweat-soaked brilliance. Before “Super Freak” took over the world, he was a Motown misfit brushing shoulders with Smokey Robinson, and a man who collected enough musical projects to fill a library. Nick Warburton digs deep into Rick James rarely explored early years.

In 2006, Universal Music Distribution unveiled volume six of its epic Complete Motown Singles series – 125 tracks covering the year 1966. Nestled between Tammi Terrell’s “Baby Don’tcha Worry” and Chris Clark’s “Do I Love You (Yes I Do)” were two previously unreleased tracks by The Mynah Birds, the legendary Toronto R&B band that for a mere six weeks fused the talents of future punk/funk star Rick James (or Ricky James Matthews as he was then known) and Canadian guitar legend Neil Young.

Scheduled for release as a single on Motown’s V.I.P. subsidiary in spring ‘66, and assigned the catalogue number 25033, the garage/folk-rock classic “It’s My Time” (allegedly one of several Rick James/Neil Young collaborations but credited to Michael Valvano, Ricky James Matthews and R Dean Taylor in the boxed set) should have been a smash single. Driven by James’s distinctive soulful voice and Young’s ringing 12-string guitar, the pulsating “It’s My Time”, coupled with the ballad “Go On and Cry”, credited to James, rhythm guitarist John Taylor and Motown staff writers Michael Valvano and R Dean Taylor, had all the ingredients to be a major hit. But it was withdrawn when, mid-way through the recording of an album with producers William “Mickey” Stevenson, Michael Valvano and R Dean Taylor at Motown’s Hitsville studio in Detroit, the band imploded spectacularly. James was AWOL from the US Navy, and his surrender to the FBI and subsequent imprisonment put an end to the recordings.

For Neil Young, who would relocate to L.A. with bass player Bruce Palmer and help form Buffalo Springfield, The Mynah Birds have become just a footnote in a long and illustrious career. In Rick James’s case, however, the group’s recordings with Motown signalled the first of several dealings with Berry Gordy’s soul stable and ultimately see the singer resign as a solo artist in 1977, storming the charts with the million-selling hits “You and I”, “Give It to Me Baby” and “Super Freak”.

To trace Rick James’s rise to superstardom, we need to go back to the autumn of 1964 and a thriving Toronto live scene, into which stepped a young man wanted by the FBI: James Ambrose Johnson Jr.

Continued at: Before the Super Freak: The Untold Origins of Rick James