Rick James

"It's show time," Rick James declares on the album's opening track, and his 1978 debut lives up to that promise. "Mary Jane" is the quintessential marijuana funk anthem, while the eight-minute "You and I" is a monster, interlocking an indelible bassline from Oscar Alston with Danny LeMelle's spastic sax and Tom McDermott's spare but effective guitar embellishments. As with the other great tracks on this album -- "Hollywood" and "Dream Maker" -- the track sounds euphoric without sounding like a sloppy funk jam.