 What has always been fascinating to me is how "The Teena Marie Sound" was born. When Berry Gordy signed Teena to Motown in 1976, he obviously recongized her talents, but had no idea how to channel them. The story is infamous of how Teena had worked with various producers in the 1976-1978 period and none of them were able to capture any truly magical moments. Enter Rick James.
When Rick heard Teena playing in that rehersal studio, he was hooked. In their own words, it was kismet. He recognized her talent (even ones she didn't see yet) and knew exactly what to do. The musical relationship between Rick James and Teena Marie goes much further than "Fire and Desire." One cannot truly appreciate the music of Teena Marie without studying the music of Rick James and vice versa.
Teena's first album Wild and Peaceful was produced and (for the most part) written by Rick James. On top of introducing a new and exciting voice to the world, Wild and Peaceful was a very interesting look into the talent of Rick James. Looking back twenty years later and comparing Wild and Peaceful to the rest of the Teena Marie library, it seems the perfect introduction. There are no drastic differences between this first album and her last. Rick managed to capture Teena's essence. Who knew that Rick could write such deep, spiritual pieces like "De Ja Vu?" Who knew he had such a sensitive side to write "I Can't Love Anymore?" After this album, their names were inevitably locked together . . . Rick James had produced a protegee.
Teena's second album Lady T begins with an instant tribute to Rick. The "La la la"s in "Behind The Groove" are directly borrowed from Rick's "Cop N Blow" from the Bustin' Out of L Seven album.
Rick and Teena's next direct work was in 1981 with the dual releases of Street Songs and It Music Be Magic, respectively. On It Must Be Magic, Teena borrowed Rick's concept of squares (from "Bustin' Out") and wrote her own track "Square Biz". Rick may have been bustin' out of the square, but Tee was talkin' square biz. On the same album, Teena wrote a track based on her relationship with Rick titled "Portguese Love," one of the most explosive love songs ever written. Rick made a cameo on the track (as he also did on "Square Biz").
On Rick's Street Songs, the couple created three sexy tracks. The first of which was the funky "Give It To Me Baby", which Teena did background vocals (the famous "Say What?"). "Mr. Policeman" was an interesting socio-political track, but it was "Fire and Desire" that created the true steam on the album. "Fire and Desire" established Teena and Rick as the new Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Rick also borrowed Teena's saxophone concept (from the poem on Lady T and also from "Aladdin's Lamp") and wrote "Make Love To Me."
Teena's last duet with Rick on Motown ("Happy") was on Rick's follow-up album, Throwin' Down. The tracks seems to speak directly into their personal relationship ("There'll be times when I'll be down and I'll be troubled/Trying to be that rising star/but don't worry, I will never in our lifetime/Burst your bubble or bring you down from where you are.") which had still not been publicly confirmed.
When Teena filed suit against Motown, they prohibited Teena and Rick from working together, but their influence on each other continued. Teena's next album, Robbery has been rumored to be a full exploration into their relationship. While the album's concept cannot be confirmed, at least one track can be attributed to Rick. Robbery contained several situational songs that seem to definately apply or allude to Rick ("Playboy" and "Shadow Boxing"), but "Cassanova Brown" was a full-blown declaration of their affair. "Standing room only/the concert's sold out/Everyone's there for the party/When hush turns to a shout", "Throwin' down my love/was just about all I could do/Wasn't I the one who said/I'd have my cake and eat it too", and then the final "Let it end and let's still be friends". Rick later confirmed on his 1997 Urban Rapsody album that he was, in fact, Cassanova Brown.
Rick came back with the Cold Blooded album. The title track, which was the album's first single, took Teena's "baby, baby, baby" from "Fix It" and put in on his single ("Baby, baby, baby, don't be so cold blooded"). When listening to Rick's line from his single and comparing it to Teena's, it was obviously a take on her track, continuing the correlative work.
Starchild was released in 1985 as was Rick's The Glow. Teena dedicated Starchild to Rick and had written "We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This" as a duet for them. Rick was unable to record the track due to the legal problems with Motown. The album had a very cosmic concept and sound and it apparently rubbed off on Rick. The Glow contained a track called "Moonchild," which was an obvious take on the title track from Teena's album.
Emerald City (1986) was a concept album which Teena released as a follow-up to Starchild. "You So Heavy" was chillingly dedicated to Rick. The track was very personal and shed an interesting light on their relationship ("Call on me I'm your pacifier/When you need some company/Sister can't fly on one wing/So just give her what she needs" and "I'll surrender/I need a little sympathy/When there's no one you can trash."). The song was a thrilling rock-edged track full of aggression. The same year, Rick released an odd concept album titled The Flag. The album was full of political ideas and concepts. Rick wrote a tone poem and love song for Teena called "Slow and Easy." Rick seemed to answer "You So Heavy" in the poem when he stated that "All those times and all those lyrics between the lines became the very pain that would someday seperate us." The track was dedicated to Mary Christine (Teena's birth name).
The last collaboration between Rick and Teena was on her 1988 Naked To The World album. "Call Me" and "Once and Future Dream" were two delights for their fans. "Call Me" was a funk-edged track that once again seemed to speak into their situation ("I hate to go/but this is life on the road/You knew it when you met me/You said it was no problem/You said that you could deal"). "Once and Future Dream" is the same grade of lyric as "Dear Lover." Perhaps one of Teena's most stunning lyrics and definitely one of their finest individual vocal performances. The chemistry could still be felt, even through the pain of the years.
Also on Naked to the World, Teena borrowed Rick's concept from the Bustin Out track "Jefferson Ball" and wrote "The Ball." Jefferson was where Rick grew up and, apparently, where Teena had gone with Rick during the course of their relatioship. The line "Can I, May I, Can I, May I take you to the ball" is directly borrowed from Rick's track and she dedicates it to Rick "with Jefferson in mind."
1990's Ivory (Teena's last Epic album) featured another R.J. dedicated track, "Mr. Icecream." The track borrowed several moments form the past. The "I was only seventeen" line was borrowed directly from 1979's "Turnin' Me On," written by Rick for her debut album. The whole concept of "You're too cold" is derrived from Rick's "Coldblooded."
Teena's last release, Passion Play, is perhaps her most intimate album to date (one press release considered it a "romantic autobiography"). On it, perhaps Teena remembered how Rick borrowed her saxophone concept because she took it one step further. On "Slow Grind," Teena lifts a line from the hook of Rick's 1979 single "Love Gun" and says in the verse "Put your finger on my trigger and when you pull it back I'll figure that you are ready to fire on me." Then she borrows from Rick's 1981 single "Make Love to Me" (and herself) and says "When we're rolling around to a saxophone sound sassy slow." Teena then chants another line from "Make Love to Me:" "you were on the bottom and I was on the top."
Rick's last album, Urban Rhapsody, didn't borrow any of Teena's concepts, but her presence in Rick's life was definately a factor. On the track "Good Ole Days", Rick reminisced about their days together ("Live on stage in 81/Teena Marie and I had just begun/I was starting to get higher and higher/We were burning up with fire and desire/but I just couldn't hang around/Guess that's why she called me Cassanova Brown").
However, Teena was supposed to record the track "Never Say You Love Me" with Rick for Urban Rhapsody, but a much publicized dispute between them prevented the recording. Rick's notes on the album coldly dedicate the song to Lady T herself. And according to Rick's liner notes on the album, he and his sister Penny had gotten into a fight. (Penny, who is known affectionately to Lady T fans as "PJ," also happens to be Teena's manager.) Teena got wind of the fight and refused to record her part until the two had reconciled. Rick was offended by Teena's ultimatum and asked Jo-Jo from the Mary Jane Girls to sing her part. In an interview with The Arizona Republic in November of 1997, Rick stated that he did not "talk to Teena Marie anymore. She acts like a (expletive) diva. One day she talks to you like a person, the next day she doesn't know who you are." Rick has since changed his tune. During an interview with Tavis Smiley in 1998, Rick assured viewers that he and Teena would certainly record again and that their disagreements were just part of their relationship.
No two artists have ever had as strong of an influence on each other as Rick James and Teena Marie. Their names will forever be linked in the history of R&B music. Although they consistently borrow each other's ideas, the sharing is done with a fresh take on old ideas. One can only dream of the music they will (hopefully) make together in the future. Maybe that's why it's not just the music that fascinates us, but they themselves are also an intriguing pair of artists.
Maybe it truly was kismet . . . and that's why they made history.
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