ALBUM: Process and the Do Rags
MVC Rating: 3.5/$$$
Long before Dave Chappelle’s hilarious I-Am-Rick-James- Dammit, Rick James was a crossover hit at my fully integrated high school in Athens, Ga. It was 55 percent white and 45 percent black in my day “Go 78.’
The back parking lot where students hung out for one more cigarette before running to class, vibrated on most mornings.
Blacks and whites jamming to Super Freak. Power boosted stereos buzzing windows and even some dancing along the way. Other crossover songs included ‘Play that Funky Music White Boy’ by Wild Cherry, and Brick House by the Commodores.
The white kids’ favorites Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, the Outlaws and Wet Willie were Southern Rock and did not cross over as well. Foreigner, Bad Company, Heart and Journey were sort of MOR hard rock that appealed to a mostly white audience.
Pink Floyd, Yes, Led Zeppelin and to a lesser extent King Crimson were on a different plane. One of my black friends was a huge Emerson Lake and Palmer fan.
Parliament Funkadelic and George Clinton were like the heavy metal/Frank Zappa sub-genre of funk/space music. Does that make sense? No.
I got tired of the Southern rock thing and found Elvis Costello my senior year in high school, he had just come out with ‘My Aim is True.’ Had it on cassette for car playing. I pivoted again and it ultimately led me down a very expansive, if not winding, path of music appreciation.
So while there was crossover there was a lot of segregation of the music.
Super Freak was kind of dirty for the radio but it was infectious and a huge dance hit. Rick James, who took off like a lightning bolt got into some big trouble and spent time in prison. He died in 2004.
This group he helped create and produce, Process and the Do-Rags, was a throwback group to the black doo-wop and male vocal groups, like Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters or the Temptations.
They didn’t do well and disbanded after two albums. But they were rediscovered not long ago and there were some albums re-released from Japan.
They were probably ahead of their time as a retro male vocal soul and funk group. Can definitely see the Rick James influence with ‘Stomp and Shout’ and ‘The Bells.’ RIck was writer or co-writer on most songs.