Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James

I watched the documentary this evening on the Tribeca website. I also read Rick's autobiog a few years ago, cowritten by David Ritz. And the documentary follows the book. He wasn't one of my favorite artists, I wasn't into funk, but I could appreciate his craftsmanship and creativity. I much better liked his artists like Teena Marie and the Mary Jane Girls.

He was a tortured man at the end of his life, and he couldn't escape the persona he created: Rick James (not his birth name). And as usual, in the end the drugs consumed him. I liked that half of the documentary was Rick talking and explaining in his own words, that gave the movie more authenticity.

This documentary is worth seeing and understanding what drove him and how he helped others in their career.

No Doco Is Perfect, Especially for an Icon. It started a bit slow but then warmed up real nice. I, of course, knew Rick James's famous music, but was really not aware of his "story."

I gave it a ten because it was interesting all the way through. It brought in his story, which was not a straightforward rise to fame. It was pretty crazy that he played with Neil Young in a band in Toronto. How many people knew that? He grew up in Buffalo, of all places.

There's a variety of viewpoints, many from his band members and former girlfriends/spouses, etc. He put Teena Maria on the map, the Mary Jane Girls, in my house. Loved their video back when.

It was just a really good exploration of the man and his music. Well worth viewing. It's a sad tale at the end, evocative of the rock stars demise.

This was a well put together documentary of a talented yet flawed human being, and the recorded audio from the Punk-Funkster himself was truly an ear-opener. I'm glad they were very honest with Rick's unfortunate sexually deviant actions due to heavy drug use, and possible childhood trauma--and he PAID FOR HIS CRIMES, unlike countless celebrated so-called rock icons of yesteryear whose also deviant actions have been white-washed and excused. As a longtime funk music fan, I did however, wish they had touched on his "Fire It Up/"Garden Of Love" period, which was part of the blueprint that birthed the iconic "Street Songs". Furthermore, I'm glad this is available for those who may only know him from "Superfreak", and a certain catch-phrase that in my opinion, turned him into somewhat of a caricature. I already see some "squares"belittling his musical contributions, and incorrectly posting here about his crimes; it's obvious they didn't watch this. Clearly, seeing their previous posts and critiques speak volumes, and I'll leave it that.

Rick James came from the ghetto in a Rust Belt whose best years were gone by the time he was born. He used his appreciation for soul, blues, disco and rock to create his own style of funk. He was good, but he had a taste for drugs and was willing to pay any price to stay high. Drugs ruined his life, the lives of the women who got close to him, and hurt his kids.

This documentary does, as many of the reviewers have said, show the best of him while ignoring his many instances of violence against women. However, James was a lot more than a violent man, and the women whom he attacked were there for sex and drugs. He didn't lure them to his house. Drugs, drugs and more drugs caused those women to be hurt and they killed Rick James. He was just lucky enough to make it past the 27 Club,

Also, he was absolutely right about MTV destroying the exposure of his music to white Americans. Before the corporatization of music in the 1980s, the same radio station would play everything from jazz to blues to Motown to country. It was easier to hear black artists on popular stations. MTV virtually destroyed his ability to grow in popularity by refusing to play his music. (So too did it destroy many other funk and jazz artists),

However, at the end of the day, the person who destroyed Rick James was Rick James. And, along the way, he took a lot of other people down the road of pain paved by cocaine.

"Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James" (2021 release; 112 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of Rick James. As the documentary opens, we see Ty James, Rick's daughter, driving her convertible, with Rick James music blasting away. She is going to a storage facility in Corona, CA where there is TONS of personal stuff and memorabilia about Rick James stored for eternity, her first time there since Rick James passed in 2004. We then go back in time, to the 1950s in Buffalo, NY, where Rick grew up, being 1 of 8 siblings. Buffalo was of course racially segregated, and "racist down to the bone", as noted by Rick James' brother. In the 1960s, Rick James joined the Navy but soon was AWOL and ended up in Toronto... At this point we are less than 15 min into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from writer-director Sasha Jenkins, whose previous work includes 2017's excellent documentary "Burn, Motherf**ker, Burn!". Here he reassesses the legacy of multi-talented and super-ambitious Rick James, who after toiling away for years in the music business without much of any success, finally hits his stride in the late 70s when he turned 30. Let me state upfront: I knew "Super Freak" and that was about it (and the song has been played to death so I don't care if I ever hear it again). But here is the surprise (and payoff): the man had a lot of great music, which I frankly had never heard until I saw this documentary. Rick James' early albums like "Come Get It" and "Bustin' Out of L Seven". If his music needs to be summarized in just two words: "punk funk". The documentary features a lot of talking heads, as can be expected: Bootsy Collins (Funkadelic), Nile Rodgers (Chic), and many more. And there is also lavish attention to Rick James' life style, which is excessive (to put it mildly) and in this day and age would be considered unacceptably sexist if not worse. But setting all that aside: the documentary has given me new insights on the musical legacy that Rick James left behind, and I can't wait to explore his music. Bottom line: if you, like me, knew Rick James only of "Super Freak", you are in for a major surprise in the best possible way.

"Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James" premiered this weekend on Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand, Amazon Instant Video, and other streaming services. If you have any interest in R&B, or generally in music history, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.