The Insane Story Of Rick James

Singer, junky, producer extraordinaire, multiple felon, and all-around Super-Freak - Rick James is the stuff of legend today, but was one of the most colorful personalities of the 70’s and 80’s. Part musical luminary, part cautionary tale, this is the story of the one and only Rick James. Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr., Rick James was the most troublesome of his mother Mabel’s eight children. Rolling Stone reported that young James filled the family bathtub with stray dogs, dumped itching powder down his baby sister’s back, and lodged a pearl in a brother’s ear. By 13 he had a habit of stealing cars simply for the thrill of it, or sometimes because he wanted to see, quote, “his women on the other side of town.“ In addition to juvenile grand theft auto, he spent his early teens doing heroin and committing burglary. Years later, doctors and courts found James to be sane, but there were certainly circumstances that influenced his early behavior. James grew up in poverty, and h