Rick James Documentary To Premier On Showtime

Showtime Documentary Films announced today the new documentary feature Bitchin’: The Sound And Fury Of Rick James, directed by Emmy-nominee Sacha Jenkins [Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics And Men, Burn Motherf*cker, Burn!]. Bitchin’ is an intimate yet propulsive look at Rick James, one of rock, funk and R&B’s most legendary and often under appreciated figures. The film will have a World Premiere at the Tribeca Festival tonight as part of the festival’s inaugural Juneteenth programming slate, ahead of the Showtime premiere later this year. Vinnie Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Nonfiction Programming, Showtime Networks Inc made the announcement.

Featuring rare footage of James’ incredible live shows, never-before-seen home video, original interviews with legendary artists, collaborators and friends, and a treasure trove of recorded interviews with James [who died in 2004], the documentary presents a full picture of James’ dramatic rise and fall, focusing in on the “Punk-Funk” music he left behind.

Read More Here:
First Look: Rick James Documentary To Premier On Showtime - [blackfilm.com]

This is in today's NY Post:

New Rick James doc reveals how penis-wielding coke binge helped Lionel Richie

By Chuck Arnold

June 16, 2021 | 9:27am | Updated

Enlarge Image https://nypost.com/wp-content/upload...8&h=410&crop=1
Rick James infamously funked up the legendary label Motown Records. Find out behind-the-scenes secrets in the new documentary "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James."Mark Weiss

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He’s Rick James, bitch — and don’t you ever forget it.
That classic Dave Chappelle catchphrase is exactly the kind of emphatic statement that the late “Super Freak” funkster made in one encounter revealed by his former manager Kerry Gordy in the new documentary “Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James,” which premiered Tuesday night at the TriBeCa Film Festival and will be available to stream on TriBeCa at Home beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Gordy — eldest son of legendary Motown Records founder Berry Gordy — vividly describes how James, frustrated by disappointing sales for his 1982 album “Throwin’ Down” and its accompanying tour, marched into the office of then Motown President Jay Lasker to deliver his next LP. Then he proceeded to pour coke onto Lasker’s desk, snort it, jump on top of said desk, take out his penis — and shove it in Lasker’s face while yelling “Sell my goddamn record!”
Then Gordy reveals that, after the singer left the room, Lasker simply said “Lionel Richie,” effectively signaling that all of Motown’s muscle would now be put behind another one of the label’s stars —and James’ career was never the same.
That’s just some of the juicy tea in the documentary about the artist born James Ambrose Johnson Jr., who died at 56 in 2004 from cardiac and pulmonary failure — with nine different drugs in his system.
Rick James is the subject of a new documentary, “Bitchin: The Sound and Furty of Rick James,” which premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival on Tuesday night.Mark WeissOne big surprise comes early in the film when it is revealed that at the beginning of his music career, after the Buffalo, New York native fled to Toronto to escape the Navy, James — then going by the name Rickie Mathews — was in a ’60s R&B band with Neil Young called the Mynah Birds. That was until their manager dimed him out for deserting and he ended up in the brig.
Then after stints with other bands, he busted out of the Motown mold in the late ’70s, funking up the legendary label with his Stone City Band culled from his favorite Buffalo musicians. But James wanted his crew to be in hair harmony: “He said, ‘If you wanna be a part of this band, you have to get your braids,’ ” says SCB drummer Lanise Hughes of James’ signature style, which was inspired by an African woman from the Maasai tribe who he met on a plane.
Their drug use went as deep as their grooves. “There was plenty of dope around,” says keyboardist Levi Ruffin Jr. “I think I snorted everything on God’s planet Earth when I was in the band.”
Rick James battled drug addiction until his death at 56 in 2004.Getty ImagesSEE ALSO

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Rick James’ insane life of sex, drugs and music

In archival interview footage throughout the documentary — which will premiere on Showtime later this year — James himself reveals just how much debauchery went down: “We were f–king standing on the verge of insanity in those days. Everybody was snorting cocaine. Everybody was taking quaaludes, drinking Cristal and Dom Perignon champagne, and getting butt naked and doing it in the bathroom.”
Although James was indeed a very kinky guy, pushing the boundaries of what women could withstand sexually, he had his own particular limits. “His sexual exploits were more ‘You do that to that person. Let me watch. I wanna orchestrate some s–t over here,’ ” says his ex-wife Tanya Hijazi. “He wasn’t personally involved. He was not that kind of super freak. He didn’t let people touch him. He wasn’t, like, in the orgy — he would watch the orgy.”
Rick James had a royal rivalry with Prince, who opened for his punk-funk predecessor on a 1980 tour.Michael Ochs ArchivesBut James would meet his super-freak match in Prince, who opened for his punk-funk predecessor on tour in 1980 — when the Purple One was just beginning his revolutionary career — and it turned into one royal rivalry.
“Rick definitely had an attitude with Prince. They just was competing with one another,” says Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, who did some shows with them. “They would pull plugs on each other … and [be] getting ready to go to blows.”

FILED UNDER DOCUMENTARIES , DOCUMENTARY , LIONEL RICHIE , MOTOWN , MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES , NEIL YOUNG , PRINCE , RICK JAMES , 6/16/21

Coke truly is a hell of a drug.

I can't wait to watch this documentary. Rick James was one of the most enigmatic personalities in music. His drug-addled mental break that led to his prison stint notwithstanding, there are a lot of people who swear he was as generous as he was creative. Hopefully, we'll learn something about the particular demons that powered his self-destructive behavior. He clearly couldn't outrun them.

I heard some of the Minah Birds songs and they were quite good, would have been great to have seen them in concert.

Wish I had Showtime. I would love to check this out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RanRan79

Wish I had Showtime. I would love to check this out.

Showtime offers a free 30-day trial of their streaming service. I used the free 30 day trial offer to watch the Motown documentary that aired last year and I streamed it on my laptop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SatansBlues

Showtime offers a free 30-day trial of their streaming service. I used the free 30 day trial offer to watch the Motown documentary that aired last year and I streamed it on my laptop.

Thanks for the info SB!

I wish they release the date of the documentary already... I can't wait to see it. Rick James could've definitely be bigger than what he was but the decadence got too much for him. He was Motown's answer to Parliament-Funkadelic and KISS.