As evidenced by his recent 2-Cd set Anthology, there was a time in the '80s when Rick James could (musically) do no wrong: "You and I," "Give It to Me Baby," "Cold Blooded," and of course "Super Freak" were the essence of melodic funk.
But the one-time bandmate of Neil Young (!) has followed Sly Stone down the dark, dank alley of incorrigibility, blinded, debilitated, dehumanized by drugs and fame. After a respite, he's at it again:
- The 54-year-old '80s funkster is currently under investigation for possibly sexually assaulting a woman at his Woodland Hills, California, home over the weekend. The police searched his house Monday to hunt for evidence following accusations from an unnamed 26-year-old woman that she was attacked in the James homestead.
"They are allegations of a sexual nature," Captain Jim Tatreau of the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division told the Los Angeles Times.
Tatreau said the onetime chart-topper "was cooperative with police." No charges have been filed. James' rep was not available for comment.
James, of course, has an unsavory history in such matters. In 1993, he was sentenced to time in a California prison stemming from two violent, drug-induced rages.
The first attack occurred in 1991, when he tied up a woman and burned her with a hot crack pipe while on a cocaine binge. Then, in 1993, when he was out on bail for the first incident, he invited a woman into a hotel room for a business meeting, bound her and beat her for 12 hours. He was also high on cocaine at the time.
James was convicted of assault and holding the woman against her will, but he was acquitted on a torture charge that could have sent him to prison for life. James' then-fiancee was also charged with assault and locked up.
When James was released from prison in 1996, it looked like he had turned his life around. He released the Urban Rhapsody album in 1997 and planned a tour. But he suffered a stroke in 1998, derailing his comeback.
(via E! online) I'm guessing a drug involvement in this one - I know, I'm sticking my neck way out.
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