Notes & Personnel Info |  | Street Songs: Deluxe Edition includes four 12 inch mixes and a live bonus disc. | | Personnel includes: Rick James (vocals, arranger, guitar, bass, drums, timbales, timpani, percussion); Teena Marie (vocals); Alonzo Miller (spoken vocals); Tom McDermott (guitar, percussion); Larry Hansen (violin); Daniel LeMelle (flute, alto & tenor saxophones); John Ervin (flute, trombone); Gerald Albright (flute); Cliff Ervin (piccolo, trumpet, flugelhorn); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); William Rhinehart (saxophone, background vocals); Erskine Williams (Clavinet, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Levi Ruffin, Jr. (OBX synthesizer, strings, background vocals); Donny Keider (vibraphone); Narada Michael Walden, Steve Price (drums); Armando Peraza (percussion); The Temptations, Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, Jane't DuBois (background vocals). | | Producer: Rick James. | | Reissue producer: Harry Weinger. | | Engineers include: Tom "Super" Flye, Rick "Port Hole" Sanchez, Bobby Brooks. | | Recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito, California; Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Hollywood, California; The Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California between December 1980 and July 1981. Originally released on Gordy (G8-1002M1). Includes liner notes by Craig Werner. | | All tracks have been digitally remastered. | | Personnel: Rick James (vocals, arranger, guitar, bass, drums, timbales, timpani, percussion); Teena Marie (vocals); Tom McDermott (guitar, percussion); Larry Hansen (violin); Danielle, LeMelle (flute, alto & tenor saxophones); John Ervin (flute, trombone); Gerald Albright (flute); Cliff Ervin (piccolo, trumpet, flugelhorn); Roy Roper, Fernando Harkless (trumpet); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); Erskine Williams (Clavinet, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Levi Ruffin, Jr. (string synthesizer); Donny Keider (vibraphone); Oscar Alston (bass, percussion); Narada Michael Walden, Steve Price, Lanise Hughes (drums); Nate Hughes, Bugsy Wilcox, Armando Peraza, Raul Rekow (percussion); The Temptations, Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, Janet DuBois (background vocals). | | Recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito, California and Motown Studios, Hollywood, California between December 1980 & January 1981. Originally released on Gordy (1002M-1). Includes liner notes by Craig Werner. | | Personnel: Rick James (vocals, guitar, drums, timbales, timpani, percussion); Lisa Sarna, Teena Marie (vocals, hand claps); Jackie Ruffin, Joanne McDuffie, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams & the Charms , Patti Brooks, Richard Street, Marci Thomas (vocals); Tom McDermott (guitar, percussion); Daniel LeMelle (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, hand claps); John Ervin (flute, trombone); Clifford J. Ervin (piccolo, trumpet, flugelhorn); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); Fernando Harkless, Roy Poper (trumpet); Erskine Williams (Clavinet, keyboards, percussion); Narada Michael Walden (drums); Oscar Alston (hand claps, percussion); Victoria Reed (hand claps); Nathan Hughes, Bugsy Wilcox, Raul Rekow, Armando Peraza (percussion). | | Audio Mixer: Suha Gur. | | Recording information: Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios, Hollywood Californi (12/1980-01/1981); Motown (12/1980-01/1981); The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA (12/1980-01/1981). | | Photographers: John Bellissimo; Ron Slenzak. | | Arranger: Rick James . | | Although he is remembered almost as much for his legal problems and wild image as he is for his music, Rick James laid down some truly unassailable funk in the 1970s and '80s. 1981's STREET SONGS was probably his finest moment, and its 20th anniversary was celebrated by the release of this DELUXE EDITION. James pared away all the fat on this release to give us jams as transcendent as "Super Freak," "Give It To Me Baby," and "Fire and Desire," a duet with Teena Marie. Those three tracks alone should be enough to raise the disc to iconic status. | | The two-disc DELUXE EDITION, however, also includes 12-inch mixes of "Super Freak" and "Give It to Me Baby," which are near-perfect extended dancefloor workouts. | | The second disc presents a wealth of unreleased live material (recorded at a concert in California), which captures James and his band at the peak of their powers. Add to all this meticulously remastered sound and you have a funk classic raised to the level of perfection. | | Rick James had already reached the top of the R&B charts numerous times before STREET SONGS, but this 1981 release was the crossover breakthrough that earned him pop stardom. This is where his mix of P-Funk grooves and Blowfly lyrics hitched its wagon to some surefire pop hooks without losing any of the funk. The album is best remembered for its two enduring hits, "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak," but the action doesn't stop there. James unleashes his inner Barry White on "Fire and Desire," a romance-dripping slow-jam duet with Teena Marie, and the tight, funky grooves of "Below the Funk" and "Call Me Up" are as irresistible as those of the album's better-known tracks. Oh, and just in case anyone wants to stop dancing long enough to think about it, STREET SONGS is supposedly a concept album about the street life of ladies of the night and their, um, business managers. | | Street Songs is one of the definitive R&B/funk albums from the '80s. Although much of the subject matter delves into the seamier and otherwise decadent undercurrent of pop society, Rick James, with his aggressive and no-nonsense style, is the real star of the album. Street Songs garnered the attention that James previous effort, Garden of Love should have received. The album as well as the singles "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak" all hovered in the upper echelons of the R&B and pop charts. The funk that James lays down is drenched in the same high-gloss L.A. synth-pop that dominated the airwaves during this era. That isn't to say he wasn't funky. James exudes the same pure raw sexuality throughout both the up-tempo "Give It to Me" and "Super Freak," as well as the sultry "Make Love to Me" and "Fire and Desire." The deluxe edition includes a remastered version of the original LP, as well as four 12" mixes, and an entire second disc featuring a previously unissued live performance at the Long Beach Arena less than two months after the release of Street Songs. Augmenting Street Songs on disc one are 12" remixes -- both vocal as well as instrumental -- of "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak." A composite of two live sets -- from July 30 and 31, 1981, is contained on the second disc. Although this show was in support of the Street Songs album, there are actually as many tracks from his 1979 release Fire It Up as from his current one. Among the highlights are the contributions from Levi Ruffin, Jr. and Teena Marie on "I'm a Sucka for Love," as well as a solo from Marie on the extended "Square Biz."] ~ Lindsay Planer |
Musical Guests | | Teena Marie | | Narada Michael Walden | | Gerald Albright | | Stevie Wonder | | The Temptations |
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