Come Get It! 1978 Album

Rick James

Considered to be his debut record, in reality Rick James had 3 or 4 different false starts over a lengthy span - which could have rightly been considered debut records - before the real one came out when he was 30 years old. Ironically, a musician roughly similar to him, but 12 years his junior - Prince Rogers Nelson - came out with his first record in the same time frame. Compared to Prince, James acted as if he had been entrenched as a long time star, deftly employing a wide range of styles from decadent disco to spaced-out ballads to street-wise funk. The dance floor-hungry "You And I" is the centerpiece, while the retro-flavored "Mary Jane" stuck a claim in pot-head territory, which was heady thinking at the time. James had definitely given funk a new look and direction with this one.