I'm Rick James... Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Rick was born on February 1, 1948, in Buffalo, New York.

Answer: Catholic

Rick said that his mother raised him and his seven siblings as strict Catholics.

Answer: Ambrose

Rick James was born James Johnson, Jr. His middle name was Ambrose.

Answer: Naval Reserve

After dropping out of Bennett High School at age 16, Rick joined the US Naval Reserve. However, he started missing required weekend trainings due to his budding musical career and was declared AWOL. He fled to Canada in 1964 and stayed there until 1966 when he turned himself in to the FBI. Rick spent a year in the Brooklyn brig before being released in 1967.

Answer: True

During his time in Canada, when he was AWOL from the Naval Reserve, Rick formed a band with future "grunge" godfather and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young member, Neil, as well as future Steppenwolf member, Nick St. Nicholas, in late 1964. They recorded a single for the Canadian branch of Columbia Records, but it did not do well.

After a few changes in the membership of the band and a change of label to Motown, the band dissolved in 1966 due to James' incarceration for being AWOL from the Naval Reserve.

After a year in jail, Rick re-formed the Mynah Birds and returned to Motown to record a new version of the song, "It's My Time", which he and Neil Young had done in Canada. The Mynah Birds finally broke up for good in late 1967.

Answer: Come Get It

Now on the Motown subsidiary label, Gordy, Rick released his album, "Come Get It", in 1978. The album included the hits "You and I" and "Mary Jane", which was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Rick's love of marijuana.

Answer: False

Rick released a grand total of 11 albums of original music from '78-'99. They are:
1) Come Get It (1978)
2) Bustin' Out of L7 (1979)
3) Fire It Up (1979)
4) Garden of Love (1980)
5) Street Songs (1981)
6) Throwin' Down (1982)
7) Cold Blooded (1983)
8) Glow (1985)
9) The Flag (1986)
10) Wonderful (1988)
11) Urban Rhapsody (1997)

Answer: The Temptations

The Temptations lent Rick their golden throats for his hit, "Super Freak", in 1981. It was probably a pretty easy task to get them to join him in doing the song considering the fact that Temptations' bass vocalist, Melvin Franklin, was Rick's uncle.

Answer: False

On February 11, 2004, on Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show", during one of the show's most famous skits entitled "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories", Rick James made a special guest appearance which was incredibly funny. The skit was a take-off on "E" television's "True Hollywood Stories", but was told from the perspective of Eddie Murphy's older brother, Charlie. The stories were supposedly true events that Charlie had experienced while hanging out with his famous brother during Eddie's rise to stardom during the 1980's.

From Charlie's account, he and Rick James had a love-hate relationship going on during the 1980s, hence the basis for the sketch. Rick James actually appeared on the show in various snippets to either confirm or refute different parts of Charlie's story. James said, "Cocaine is a helluva drug" several times throughout the skit in reference to several accusations by Murphy that he had behaved in a certain way. One instance involved Rick dropping by Eddie Murphy's home and stomping on his brand new couch with muddy shoes on. When this was mentioned to James, he flatly denied doing it. Then, three seconds later, he admitted to doing it. This was his statement:
"Now, why would I go and do something as stupid as stomping on someone's couch. That's crazy. I wouldn't do nothin' like that. Are you kidding me? Hell, yeah I did it! Cocaine's a helluva drug."

Answer: True

Rick was found dead in his L.A. home on August 6, 2004 due to a heart attack. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Buffalo, New York, his hometown.