Rick James | Christie's

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Rick James

Details

Rick James
A page of handwritten lyrics in Rick James' hand for the hit single Super Freak, 1981, the 28 lines written in pencil on a single sheet of paper, the lyrics representing the original wording to the song before some words were changed to be more acceptable for radio play, including when she's inbetween two sheets which was later changed to she will never let your spirits down for the released version of the song and when she takes me to the bedroom in the night time which was changed to when I make my move to her room it's the right time; accompanied by a document concerning the provenance (2)

Provenance

Lisa Sarna, Original Background Vocalist (The Colored Girls) with Rick James, 1979 - 1983.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Superfreak was first released on Rick James' album Street Songs and became his signature and most famous song. It features background vocals from The Temptations, in which the bass singer is James' uncle, Melvin Franklin. Superfreak crossed Rick James over into pop audiences and sold over 3 million copies. The song has been widely covered and the riff of the song was most popularly sampled in 1989 by MC Hammer in his best known single, U Can't Touch This, for which James sued him, in order to be credited. Rick James won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song with Hammer for the song, his only Grammy win.

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