First Concert

Snapshots In My Time, Of My Time.....Hauntings.
First Concert:

Do you remember your first concert? Who did you see? What did you wear? Who did you go with?

I remember my first concert. I went to see Rick James.

Rick James was coming to town. I did not really keep up with celebrity or stars and really would not have gone on my own. My friend Monica who lived across the street from me was going and asked me to go with her. My mother said I could go and well...I was going to my first real concert. I remember being overwhelmed by the crowd of people. Her father dropped us off and we walked into the auditorium. It was a sea of people.

I remember we got their early so we were able to get good seats right up front. We had a fantastic view and I remember him performing Super Freak. I was in love.

Superfreak

She's a very kinky girl
The kind you don't take home to mother
She will never let your spirits down
Once you get her off the street, ow girl

She likes the boys in the band
She says that I'm her all-time favorite
When I make my move to her room it's the right time
She's never hard to please

{Refrain}
That girl is pretty wild now
The girl's a super freak
The kind of girl you read about
In new-wave magazine
That girl is pretty kinky
The girl's a super freak
I really love to taste her
Every time we meet
She's all right, she's all right
That girl's all right with me, yeah
She's a super freak, super freak
She's super-freaky, yow

Super freak, super freak

She's a very special girl
The kind of girl you want to know
>From her head down to her toenails
Down to her feet, yeah
And she'll wait for me at backstage with her girlfriends
In a limousine
Going back in Chinatown

Three's not a crowd to her, she says
"Room 714, I'll be waiting"
When I get there she's got incense, wine and candles
It's such a freaky scene

{Refrain}

{Bridge}

Temptations sing!
Ohhhhh
Super freak, super freak
That girl's a super freak
Ohhhhh

She's a very kinky girl
The kind you don't take home to mother
She will never let your spirits down
Once you get her off the street, ow girl

Blow, Danny!

Now I had heard the news that he passed away this past year in August.
A great legend was lost but he had a good career and was actually
putting out a new cd. That CD has been released on March 1, 2005.

Now I remember standing up in the chairs in the auditorium so that Monica and I could see. Once the concert began, the people in the rows ahead of us stood up in their chairs. Why I am not sure. We were up front and could see. Once they stood up we could not see so we had to stand in our chairs as well . We danced in the aisles and had a great time. After it was over, I remember being hot, with all the curls that were in my hair having fallen out from the heat and dancing. Monica's father picked us up and whisked us home. I could hardly sleep that night from all the excitement.

LOS ANGELES -- Funk legend Rick James, the flashy Motown Records artist best known for his 1981 hit "Super Freak," died Friday. He was 56.

Mr. James died in his sleep at his residence near Universal City, apparently of natural causes, said his publicist, Sujata Murthy. Mr. James, who was unmarried and lived alone, was found dead by his personal assistant, who notified police, she said.

With long hair elaborately styled in braids or Jheri curls, Mr. James was one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1980s, using danceable rhythms and passionate ballads to gain a wide following. Aside from "Super Freak" -- which MC Hammer used a decade later as the backing track for his monster hit "U Can't Touch This" -- Mr. James' hits included "Mary Jane," "Ebony Eyes" and "Fire and Desire."

In what has endured as one of pop music's quirkiest trivia tidbits, Mr. James formed a band in the mid-1960s with eventual rock legend Neil Young. The Mynah Birds landed a deal with Motown Records and cut 16 songs for the Detroit label before Mr. James was fingered for being AWOL from the U.S. Navy. Their material was never released, and the band broke up in 1966.

Mr. James was the nephew of Temptations vocalist Melvin Franklin, and he signed as a solo artist with the Motown label in 1977, dubbing his rock-inflected sound "punk-funk." While at Motown, he served as mentor and producer for a variety of acts, including Teena Marie and even actor Eddie Murphy.

"He was really fantastic. He was a creator," singer Little Richard told MSNBC.

After "Super Freak," Mr. James' fame began to fade as he became embroiled in drugs, legal problems and health issues.

He was convicted in 1993 of assaulting two women. The first attack occurred in 1991, when prosecutors said Mr. James and his girlfriend tied a woman to a chair, burned her with a hot crack pipe and forced her to perform sex acts during a cocaine binge at his West Hollywood home. He was free on bail when the second assault occurred in 1992 in his hotel room.

He served more than two years in Folsom Prison.

In 1997, he released a new album, but a year later he suffered a stroke while performing at Mammoth Events Center in Denver, derailing a comeback tour.

Mr. James was born James A. Johnson Jr. in Buffalo, N.Y. He had long been reported to have been born in 1952, but according to his Web site and police he was born on Feb. 1, 1948.

He is survived by a daughter Ty, sons Rick Jr. and Tazman, and granddaughters Jasmine and Charisma.

Funeral arrangements were being planned.

New Rick James CD: Rick James Gold