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Super Freak: The
Life of Rick James
by Peter Benjaminson
c.2017, Chicago Review Press
$28.99 / $38.99 Canada
354 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Your feet sometimes have a mind of their own.
You see your favorite foods, and they carry you toward lunch
before you even realize you’re hungry. When you’re faced
with danger, they take you in the right direction, away and
safe. And when you read Super Freak: The Life of Rick
James by Peter Benjaminson, your feet just gotta
dance.
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James Ambrose Johnson Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, on
February 1, 1948, into a family filled with talent and
power: little Rick (no explanation for the nickname) was
related to politicians and journalists, actors and
performers. Even his mother had once been a dancer, and was
said to have transferred her desire for fame onto her
talented third-born child.
Though the family was often fatherless, Rick’s mother ran a
tight ship and worked as a numbers runner to feed and clothe
her children, who later remembered being well cared-for. She
also insisted that her children attend Catholic Mass, but
Rick was a perpetual troublemaker. A former alter boy, he
was kicked out of the program for being “too hyper,” started
running away from home at age five, lost his virginity at
age nine, and began experimenting with drugs. As for school,
it was something he “tried to avoid entirely.”
At 16, Rick joined the U.S. Navy, but he skipped out on his
obligation and slipped into Canada in 1964. There, he found
other musicians who let him perform with them, and his
talent “was blazingly obvious.” He founded bands, found
sponsorship, and set his sights on Motown, where he was
turned away at least twice before he was finally accepted to
work as a producer and songwriter.
With his talents so openly on display, Rick began to work
his way toward his goal of having a best-seller with Motown.
He wrote, performed, got that hit, and was hired to produce
for Diana Ross, a gig he turned down to work with Teena
Marie.
Unfortunately, he didn’t turn down the drugs that had become
a part of his life, nor did he turn down the many women who
clamored for his attention on the road.
In the end, it was the former that contributed to his death.
Though it often reads like the combination of a novel and a
supermarket tabloid, Super Freak isn’t bad. It’s not
great, either.
Like so many biographers of music stars, author Peter
Benjaminson includes too much here: too many names dropped,
too much minutiae on performances and, when it comes to Rick
James’ private life, too much information. Indeed,
Benjaminson’s occasional lack of discretion and his
explicitness are cringe-worthy.
And yet, there are some nice surprises here: Benjaminson
doesn’t try to gloss over James’ problems, legally, or with
drugs or women. This book’s early chapters set up a good
story, which is readable even when the telling of it
falters.
Overall, while it may be browse-able by anyone who loved
music, circa 1969-1980, the audience for this book is much
narrower: Super Freak is probably more for super
fans.
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