Blasting from the past.


Street Songs and Throwin Down; the first time around I didn't really acknowledge the incredible range of styles.


Wow.

The vocals were AMAZING... maybe more even.


Just sayin.



:-)

???  

Guitarhacker


???  

don't worry, herb, we're not actually qualified to comment here. 

Guitarhacker


???  

I enjoyed listening to 2 of Rick James' albums yesterday.


I had the vinyl of both when it was in the charts in '81 and '82 but lost track of the records years ago.


It had been years since I had listened to them.


Yesterday I listened to mp3 streams of both albums and I was amazed at the range of styles performed and even more amazed at the basic *wonderfulness* of Rick James' voice.


His voice was over the top good.




Don't mind me... I was just having a moment of great enthusiasm for listening to music.




all the best,
mike 






edit spelling and grammar

I used to cover a lot of rick james back in the cover band days....

mary jane
bustin out
ghetto life
give it to me baby
super freak
dance wit me
cold blooded
glow

it's where i got a lot of my funk influences...
even in my hard rock stuff, i pull from that well...........

rip RJ

favorite james tune, that i never played:

"Below the funk (pass the joint)"

http://youtu.be/57i9SXbnlwU

I can hear that versatility in your music!

best,
mike

thanks for that mike....


well, the one thing that james had in spades (excuse the pun) is groove.
i mean, he was a master of it..
like James Brown.


and tho he wrapped it commercial terms, at the heart of it, is a school on rhythm.

O I C.... Rick James was not on my radar much.... he wasn't zakly country or country rock and in the 80's that's where I was at..... still am come to think about it....

I was playing with a band which did lots of the country rock stuff of the day. The other guitar player's dad was a club manager on the military base where we played quite a bit, and his dad told him about another act that was playing the same clubs on the base.  Me and Mike decided to drop in to check it out..... 

It was a girl dancing to records....and Superfreak was one of the songs we saw her dance to..... I can't hear that song anymore without remembering those few short minutes in that club that evening..... 

For some reason, her act was immensely popular on the base with those marines. Go figure....