Talk:Rick James

Clean up
Added clean-up template for this article. Too much is writing without sources, the layout is choppy and is relationship to Teena Marie. -John in Cinci —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.83.23.189 (talk) 16:59, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

I thought he was American not Canadian
I take exception to having Rick James included as part of WikiProject Canadian music and by default WikiProject Canada. He is not a Canadian citizen and does not have dual citizenship. Sure, he was here for a few years, what was his contribution to Canadian music? The article is not clear with his Canadian connection and is in need of additional citations. Argolin (talk) 04:41, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Filmography
Why isn't there anything about him appearing in the movie "Life"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Branb (talk • contribs) 01:40, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

DOB differences in text and sidebar
Sidebar says 1948, text body says 1938, and they each have different days of February. The early life section also uses 1938 as the starting point. 174.19.143.3 (talk) 21:35, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Punk Funk
Punk funk should be one of the genres. He was the king of punk funk after all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.136.251.74 (talk) 10:17, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

Obvious vandalism in the lede: After failing to report for active duty on the USS Enterprise... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.86.238.129 (talk) 20:53, 5 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Don't know if this removed phrase was correct or not but the Enterprise was an aircraft carrier, before it was a teevee show starship :) So it was possible, if not particularly likely. 203.160.71.88 (talk) 17:36, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

Two birth names?
The sidebar gives a different birth name than the article text. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.69.15.196 (talk) 15:28, 15 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Someone vandalised the page. I've restored the original content. Primefac (talk) 20:17, 15 January 2017 (UTC)

"Legal Troubles" seems like too tame a section name
He was convicted of false imprisonment and assault, can we perhaps have a less euphemistic section title? nhinchey (talk) 14:41, 5 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I agree. Changed to "Kidnapping and assault convictions" (consistent with Mike Tysons) article -- Spacepine (talk) 14:09, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Rick James. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130724021404/http://longform.org/stories/rise-and-fall-of-a-super-freak to http://longform.org/stories/rise-and-fall-of-a-super-freak

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 01:05, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

Military timeline
If he was born in 1948 and lied about his age to join the naval reserve at age 14 or 15 that would have been 1962 or 1963. Although people did join the reserve to avoid being drafted into the infantry during the Vietnam war, this has multiple problems. Was he joining the military to avoid jail or to avoid the draft? There was no Vietnam draft being discussed publicly in 1963. If he was born in 1953, he would have been 15 in 1968 when the Vietnam draft was in the public debate -- but it wouldn't start until December, 1969. What evidence is there that 14 or 15 year old James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. anticipating being drafted in 3-4 years? That is some serious forethought. What is this all based on? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bksmarty (talk • contribs) 12:31, 16 August 2020 (UTC)

The draft was in effect throughout the 50's and 60's. Many draftees served in Vietnam in the 60's. December 1969 is when they made a change to the method of the draft, by devising a lottery system. But they weren't drafting 15 or 16 year old kids, so the premise and timeline doesn't make sense to me. PatConolly (talk) 01:26, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

The Great White Cane
One of you Rick James superfans really needs to say more about The Great White Cane than just a couple of sentences in "Early Career". Their album is an amazing amalgam of rock and funk that should be better known than it is today. Shocking Blue (talk) 15:13, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Punk funk
There is a discussion on Talk:Punk funk that affects this page. Please head over there and participate if you have any knowledge on the subject being discussed there. Thank you! Moline1 (talk) 21:04, 9 September 2023 (UTC)