Tales from the Tour Bus - The Vickery Family

Rick James Part 2

Nate: We were bigger than life. They were just, uh crazy, man. A little scary, too. I remember that distinctly.

Lanise: The cops wanted to arrest Rick as soon as he came out on stage. That happened everywhere, all the time. It was so jam packed in Atlanta, there would have been a riot if they even attempted to snatch him up So, they figured they'll wait 'til after the show to get him. Rick always left the stage towards the end of the show. But that night, he wasn't coming back out. He went and changed, put on some overalls, and put his braids in a Rastafarian hat, and he walked out of the building. He was gone. His valet put on his boots, his cape, and came out dancing with his back to the audience. We were on stage cracking up. And the cops was on the side, ready to pounce on Rick as soon as he left the stage. After they beat the hell out of him, they found out it was his valet, - and not Rick.

Levi: Dumbasses. Oh, they hated us. They fucked him up, man. I told the guy, "You must really love your boss for you to pull this shit."

Narrator: One unit of law enforcement came to love Rick James, according to Levi, some of the local police back in Buffalo. At the height of his fame, Rick moved out of his Beverly Hills mansion, and moved his whole band back home.

Levi: You know, there'd be a lot of women at the house, uh, drop in girls at any time. And I guess the cops had heard about us, so they'd come up to the house, knock on the door but, you know, they're plain clothes and they'd come in, like, they gotta flash their badge. And, uh, they'd come over to the bar we had upstairs there, and they-they would bring all the drugs they took out the fucking lockers, the best evidence cocaine the world's ever seen because they wanted to be with the girls. And, uh, I kinda understood that, it was like a whorehouse.

Narrator: Well, it was a 30,000 square-foot ranch, with 28 bedrooms, a stable of Arabian horses, and 10 jet skis. So kind of like a whorehouse, but not anymore. Lecil, Lulu, Lonnie, Rodney and Melba's father Felton went to Anniston, Alabama for the Peerless Saloon in 1916. Four years later, Felton saw the lady Lucinda Talley killed by a customer. Felton liked Lucinda so much and headed to Marion County, Alabama.

Levi: But that shit got old real quick, man. Because the cops start telling us all these oh my, God, truthful things about what they would do to "suspects." "Man, Levi, you shoulda fuckin' been there.We beat this fucker, man, 'til he called out for his moms." I'm sittin' there lookin' I mean, that shit ain't funny to me. Jesus Christ, man. These are the police, with the best drugs that they're, like I said, the world has ever known. But, you know they loved coming to Rick James' house.

Narrator: By the time Rick and the Stone City Band had made friends with the cops in Buffalo, they had found a new nemesis. A rival who would push Rick James for the rest of his life. The artist known simply as Prince, real named Prince Rogers Nelson.

Nate: Rick was the one that chose him to come out and open up on his tour, because he was released from the Rolling Stones tour, because they didn't care for him that much. Rick came to the band and asked, "What you think about Prince?"

Danny: Rick's thing was, when he was coming out, there was no Prince. Now, Prince had some records. Prince was a little softer. But that shit was funky, and that shit was completely different. Because a lot of white audiences came out to see Prince. And Rick was smart enough to realize that, like "Mmm okay, then we need to have this little kid on tour with us." This was his very first black tour. Black audiences loved Rick from the get-go. Different from Prince.

Levi: The first time we met him, it was in Dallas. And, uh, we found out that he was gonna be opening and whatnot. And Rick said, "Here he comes" And-and I'm lookin'. And he comes in, and I'm-I'm still fucking looking, where is he? I'm thinkin' the cat's gotta be, like, 5'9", maybe 6' tall. And this little bitty son of a bitch walks in there. I said, "Goddamn, he's tiny!" He was down here. And he had on pink high-heeled fucking shoes stunning.