Rick James - Super Freak (Part 1)

I could've sworn I read an interview at one point where he (James) discussed accidentally erasing the end of the track on the multitrack while trying to do overdubs by himself and completely freaking out, and his engineer realizing the only way to save the track was to loop the end. Did I dream this or does anybody else recall it? Mix Magazine maybe?

Edited by vanmeter

Slightly off topic, but my manager at my last job, Lisa
Sarna, was a backup singer for Rick James in the late
'70s and early '80s. One of the "Colored Girls," I think
Rick James called them-- she and Jackie Ruffin. She sang
on "Super Freak" and most of his other songs of the
period. She is actually the "Say whaaaat?" voice on "Give
It to Me Baby."

We're still friends, we still keep in touch. She was
interviewed (briefly) in the Rick James documentary that
aired on HBO or one of those a year or so ago. I always
say "Say whaaaat?" to her, and she laughs.

She also sang backing vocals on Laura Branigan's
"Branigan" album.

Well, I'm not hearing dry drums on Sounds of the Eighties: 1981. But the tambourine is another story.

The database has still not been updated to acknowledge that there are 2 mixes or to say which versions are on which CDs.

Some subtle differences I've noticed:

• Tambourine is louder on the 45, and clearly panned slightly left.
• Tambourine reverb is lighter (almost dry) and less spread out on the 45.
• Clap reverb is lighter on the 45.
• Tambourine & clap reverb kinda smear together on the LP; they're more distinct on the 45.

Easier to spot are differences in the vibraslap (spinner-like sound) and flexatone (saw-like bendy sound):

• 1:05, 2:30, 2:38: vibraslap relatively audible on 45 version, very quiet on LP.
• 1:12: vibraslap plainly audible on 45 version, entirely inaudible on LP.
• 1:23, 2:16, 2:23: vibraslap mono on 45 version, wide stereo on LP version.
• 0:27, 1:28, 1:38, 1:47, 1:54, 1:58, 2:05, 2:19, 2:58: flexatone mostly mono on 45 version, wide stereo/right-panned on LP version.

(As these times get higher, they may be off by 1 second or more due to speed differences.)

If you're wanting to check very quickly, just skip to 1:12, right after "hey hey, hey, HEY!", and if you can hear the vibraslap (spinny noise), it's the 45 version.

Also, in the 45 version, at least on the CD masterings I have, at about 3:12, there's two momentary dropouts of the sax in left channel, so it sounds like the sax pans to the right for a split-second.

And then there's the already noted, very easy to spot edit near the end: at about 3:08.5 on the LP version, there's no "ow, girl", whereas the 45 has that ad-lib, because the 45 mix cuts out 7.3s starting at this point (right before the sax's high note, I believe).


Edited by mjb50