BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981
“Give It to Me Baby” is a song written by American singer Rick James. Taken from his album Street Songs, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100, spending two weeks at #40 and spent five weeks at #1 on the R&B chart. Along with two other tracks from Street Songs, “Super Freak” and “Ghetto Life”, topped the American dance chart for three weeks in the summer of 1981. In the U.K. the song went to #47 on the U.K. singles chart.
SIDE A:
Give It To Me Baby (12″ Vocal) 5:42
SIDE B:
Give It To Me Baby (Instrumental) 6:25
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Give It To Me Baby | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #40 |
| 1981 | Give It To Me Baby | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | #1 |
| 1981 | Give It To Me Baby | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Motown – ZT41592
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1981
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco, Funk
CREDITS:
Photography By – Ron Slenzak
Producer, Arranged By, Written-By – Rick James
NOTES:
Remixed from the LP “STREET SONGS”
Printed in W. Germany
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
I remember I had this on cassette during high school! The music was so good, I couldn’t get enough of it.
I had to play this tape every day, several times a day! I was the only kid in an all-white school who knew who Rick James was, so I was considered ‘weird.’
There’s another track on Street Songs called, “Mr. Policeman.” Many’s the time I wish Mr. Policeman had been released as a single, because it would surely be an anthem during these strange times!
Thanks for your excellent choices in music, Paul ^
I never realized this was only a hit in the US. In LA it got massive radio and club play, even after “Super Freak” kind of eclipsed it. Lots of DJ’s did Rick James megamixes with GITMB, SF, “Mary Jane”, as well as mixing in The Mary Jane Girls and Teena Marie’s 12″ hits.
Looking forward to this bit of funky joy!!
Thanks for this Paul! This is one of those tracks that I always felt needed a more DJ friendly intro, and low and behold, the Instrumental here gave me just enough to create a basic DJ friendly 32/32 intro and 32 exit for easy mixing. If you or anyone is interested I’ll leave a link here to the wav if that’s ok. I did the editing in 24 bit but down-sampled to 16/44.1 and a little remastering. https://mega.nz/#!ILxEEI6R!ynWTtQRljrU37m6OCmjSFj8UaxWPi-3l8ssdzJLZEfQ
OK Paul, 20 minutes later and I’m now officially obsessed with that cover photo. 😀
I wondered where it was, it looks Parisian. I did a bit of googling and found out this Motorcross guy, James Stewart, recreated the sleeve in 2013, and it looks AMAZING:
http://www.espn.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/8915582/image/1/james-stewart-motocross-racer-james-stewart-re-creates-rick-james-iconic-album-cover-espn-magazine-music-issue
(scroll through the full gallery – really cool)
Digging around a bit more I found the location was actually a backlot set at Universal Studios, not a real place at all.
Don’t know this song Paul, but wow what an absolutely awesome sleeve! I love it.
This was one of my first vinyl purchases around 82. I still have it too. Cool memories of hearing the track for the first time on my old Thorens TT.
Cheers Paul 🙂
My favourite RJ track! I have this one ripped from some noisy 12” compilation but of course, it will be replaced with this FLAC featuring DjPaulT’s restoration magic.
Paul!
Thanks so much!
I’m a long time lurker and just wanted to thank you for this and all your meticulous needledrops. I appreciate the broad spectrum of music you post, but if I could persuade you to post just a little more funk I’d be forever grateful!
Thx again!
Wooow what a pleasant surprise to find this today.
Rick James amazing and talented artist, how unfortunate that he is no longer on this planet, Rick James has left us an incredible legacy, what joy I get to hear “Give It To Me Baby 12” many thanks Paul excellent sound, impeccable quality.
Thank you very much Paul for filling my days with sound pleasure.
Rafa
Absolutely astonishing Paul!! You can really pick them!! Geez, I love this jam!! It was my first introduction to Mr. James. WKTU would play this and I even saw the video on nighttime television. Rick had that wild look too. Just take me back. I’m glad you posted this because I can’t wait to hear the flipside as it is much longer than the A-side. I can only imagine how it’s going to sound. Excellent choice Paul. Thanks for one exciting week here on BTG. And again, I’m thrilled you ripped “Funky Nassau” too. That Omar Santana is a hero… Read more »
Another lovely surprise !! Classic track indeed.
I am quite a Rick fan I admit. I think he was a very talented musician.
Not sure I think very much of him as a human being; but he left a great canon of work for us funkpunk lovers 🙂
Many thanks Paul 🙂
As a human being, he did make mistakes. But like you said he left us with an incredible body of work. I just realized we are coming up on the anniversary of his death August 6, 2004.
The king of funk, Rick James was one of the coolest artists and songwriters around. So many good tracks on his name and this is just one of them.Too bad the sex drugs and rock n roll took their toll, but then again, Rick James would not have been the same without it. Truly superior name in the halls of the 80s though.
I agree with you 100& Martijn. Rick is a legend 🙂