Customer Reviews

I'm Rick James: The Definitive DVD

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Charismatic punk-funkster Rick James helped Motown Records build a new sound and level of success in the 1980's Bridging soul, pop, punk and funk, Tick delivered numerous hits like Super Freak" and "Give It To Me Baby" that continue to rock parties world wide. I'M RICK JAMES THE DEFINITIVE DVD highlights the illustrious career of this award-winning producer, artist & songwriter with 18 exceptional performance clips from popular television shows. Sprinkled throughout are rare interviews and all 8 of his music videos plus three unreleased videos: "Throwdown," "She Blew My Mind," and "Hard to Get."


PERFORMANCES OF:
1. You And I Soul Alive - 1978
2. Mary Jane Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - December 19, 1978
3. Hollywood Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - December 19, 1978
4. Love Gun Dinah! - September 19, 1979
5. Fire It Up Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - October 10, 1979
6. Fool On The Street Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - October 10, 1979
7. Mary-Go-Round Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - August 26, 1980
8. Big Time Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - August 26, 1980
9. Come Into My Life Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - August 26, 1980
10. Give It To Me Baby Rockpalast - April 3, 1982
11. Standing On The Top Rockpalast - April 3, 1982
12. Throwdown Motown Promotional Video - 1982
13. She Blew My Mind (69 Times) Motown Promotional Video - 1982
14. Super Freak Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve - December 31, 1982
15. Ebony Eyes - Rick James Featuring Smokey Robinson 16. Motown Promotional Video - 1983
17. Cold Blooded Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve - December 31, 1984
18. Glow Motown Promotional Video - 1985


BONUS PERFORMANCES:
1. Mary Jane Soul Alive - 1978
2. Sexy Lady Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - December 19, 1978
3. Love In The Night Dinah! - September 19, 1979
4. Summer Love Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - August 26, 1980
5. You And I Rockpalast - April 3, 1982
6. Give It To Me Baby Motown Promotional Video - 1981
7. Super Freak Motown Promotional Video - 1982
8. Hard To Get Motown Promotional Video - 1982
9. Standing On The Top - The Temptations Featuring Rick James

Unfortunately many people remember Rick James for all the WRONG reasons...his crazy life, drug use and early death from the same...HERE we have the part of Rick James that even Rolling Stone Magazine does not seem to acknowledge, given their juvenile review of this dvd....his musical and performance GENIUS!! Most of the clips on this set i have NEVER seen and the production/direction from Joe Lauro at Historic Films and Universal/Motown is the highest quality....this entire Motown artist series that seems to be coming out of Universal is awesome and this one is among the best!!!!

I just finished watching this DVD of one of the true giants in Funk-Rock. Rick James was one bad dude. His antics in his videos were both funny and funky. I will always find time to listen to Rick;and now I can watch him too. The quality of this DVD is awesome,both visually and sound wise. Any fan of the late great Rick James should purchase this DVD,sit back or get up and dance with the Master. Long Live Rick James!!!!!

This is good to see his performances. You more or less get the full idea of what Rick James was about. The only flaws are the quality of the TV show performances. While not bad, they are not pristine either. I comapre it to The Temptations "Get Ready" DVD where you had video from the mide 60's to the mid 70's and they all looked like they were filmed yesterday! The Rick james DVD was from the late 70's to the 80's and it was not the finest quality, but not bad either. The ONLY BAD video was the "Ebony Eyes" video. One of the reason I bought this is because everytime I find a verison on the net, it is an old "Video Soul" VHS low quality copy. Sadly, that is what we get here! The other official videos are DVD quality. Still worth a buy.

This dvd is not the best. Although it allows you to see Rick from a very young musician until he hit the big time, I expected a little more insight on Rick -- maybe a little more upclose and personal. If you need a reason to buy this dvd, then buy it for the mere fact that the Temptations ("Standing On The Top") perform with Rick -- which is the best segment of the dvd. The dvd is worth the purchase simply because of this performance; otherwise, pass it by.

Rick James was always the truth and this compilation showcases his talents and his humor on so many levels. Rick brought the Juice and always took it to you. He was SuperBad back in the day and alot of acts are in his musical debit but haven't always acknowledged what Rick James truly meant. for fans of Rick He was far more than a 15 minute Catch Phrase he was a Brother who Brought it through his music and thensome. Rick James was a Badd Songwriter, Producer and overall instrumentalist. Props to the Last King of the Funk. this is a must have for any Rick James fan.

If you are a fan of Rick's, this will bring back a ton of memories. Even though his lip sincing sucks!

Well im sure like MANY other Rick James lovers out there, you appriciate his Stone City Band and their excellent powerful live performance on the DVD "Live at Rockpalast". This DVD has a huge list of tracks and claims them to all be Live, what youll find is Rick James and the Band captured on various US tv shows etc miming to the album version of the track including the band too. Basically for those of you that dont understand what i mean, its like watching a music video with the song playing in the backround, it is in no way LIVE in the "Concert" form if thats what your expecting. I was quite dissapointed as i really was expecting to see the Stone City Band & RJ rockin the sets with their excellent charisma but o was i sorely wrong!

The audio/picture quality is brilliant tho, this is no scrappy collection.

I've never seen the Dave Chappelle parody of the late Rick James but from what I gather, the comedian plays him as an arrogant version of Little Richard. As we see in the 2009 compilation I'M RICK JAMES: THE DEFINITIVE D.V.D., Rick James had his share of swagger but saved it for the stage, appearing gracious in the interview segments this two-disc set presents. He is unfailingly polite as Dinah Shore interviews him on the DINAH! talk show. In a music awards program acceptance speech Rick James makes via remote video he is all but tongue-tied; rather than appear with groupies, James has his dog with him as he humbly accepts the honor and, picking up an acoustic guitar, recaps his sentiments by improvising a song of thanks.

Someone wore out a pair of shoes compiling the I'M RICK JAMES selections. The D.V.D. presents more than two dozen songs including eight promotional videos, three live concert performances, and numerous television appearances. As Neil Young recalled about his time in a band with him in the 1960s, Rick James takes control, so it may not surprise you to see the three concert songs, where no video director or television producer is telling him what to do, providing the finest moments of I'M RICK JAMES as he leads the audience in call-and-response and shares the spotlight with the musicians of his talented band.

I remember the television show DON KIRSHNER'S ROCK CONCERT allowing groups to play live, but like all such Rick James T.V. appearances on I'M RICK JAMES, they mime to the record in every KIRSHNER performance.

Of the eight promo videos, "Ebony Eyes," "Give It To Me, Baby" and "Super Freak" stand out. The ambitious "Ebony Eyes" sets Rick James and guest vocalist Smokey Robinson marooned on a small island, missing their women. "Give It To Me, Baby" has James and an actress playing out some sort of ritual cat-and-mouse game. And a conventional, typically low-budget early 1980s music video, "Super Freak" commands attention just on the strength of the man's charisma.

Please note that the three concert songs appearing on I'M RICK JAMES are available on another D.V.D., RICK JAMES: SUPER FREAK LIVE 1982, from a show he gave in Germany. If the rest is as good as the three numbers I'M RICK JAMES offers, it is worth seeking.

I'M RICK JAMES presents no music outside of Rick James's Motown career, which ended in 1986. The D.V.D. has at least one song from every Rick James album made for Motown except THE FLAG. However, brief clips of radio interviews include one where James promotes his first Warner Brothers album WONDERFUL in 1988.

Long live the music of Rick James. See I'M RICK JAMES: THE DEFINITIVE D.V.D..

I've recently been jammin' to I'M RICK JAMES: THE DEFINITIVE DVD. I was always a huge fan of RJ and was absolutely thrilled that a more comprehensive video collection of his career was made available. In my opinion, this man was a very underrated talent. Fantastic singer (of funk and slow jams), musician, writer, producer and very charismatic leader of his STONE CITY BAND (who were tight as a musical unit). Historically, just watching the 26 videos is a treat in itself. My two main problems with this DVD are that the actual videos themselves could have been cleaned up a bit to make them look sharper and clearer. Plus, not ALL of the videos are in stereo (the live concert footage sounds compressed). What is totally unforgivable from UNIVERSAL MUSIC is that most of his promo videos are in MONO, not STEREO (GIVE IT TO ME BABY and EBONY EYES to name a few). No excuse for this! This is why I rated the DVD 4-STARS. Overall, if you are a RICK JAMES fan such as I am, it is worth acquiring. I suggest plugging in a good set of headphones to enjoy the DVD even more. Most of the videos like SUPERFREAK and COLD BLOODED sound superb; just don't think all of the DVD is in stereo. In closing, there was actually a time when music was worth listening to and performers worth watching. This DVD video collection will help his fans to remember and appreciate the early 80's RICK JAMES (The Punk/Funk King), not the Dave Chappelle "I'm Rick James, *****!" version.