Rick Nelson
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I was a wierd kid. Even at three years old, I loved nothing more than listening to my mom and dad's records. My parents liked a variety of musical styles, but one album made a very strong impression on me that has never left me - "Rick is 21" by Rick Nelson. I played that so much until i wore it out (it's okay, when i grew up, i got another copy for mom).
"Rick is 21". That album title is significant. The world knew him as teen idol Ricky Nelson, the younger brother to David on a tv sitcom; but with this album, Rick was announcing to the world that he was growing up. Some people still have not accepted that the little boy they saw on tv every week became an adult. I see dozens of posts on Facebook every week about teen idol Ricky Nelson, the crew cut teenager playing a four string guitar, and singing songs like "Be Bop Baby" and "A Teenager's Romance". Every few years, his record company puts out a new hits collection - always with a pic of 16 year old Ricky on the front and back. If Rick has failed to receive the recognition and respect he deserves, I blame a lot of it on the continued promotion of Ricky as the wise cracking kid from a black and white tv show, a cute teen singing cute little songs for the little girls.
Rick Nelson may have grown up in Hollywood as a child star, first on radio, and then television, on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", but one listen to his records confirms that his heart was always in Memphis, Tennessee. That's right, Memphis, the home of Sun Records, where Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison all began their recording careers. One biography even called Rick the "Hollywood Hillbilly", a term Rick disliked. When interviewers in the 1980's would call his music "rockabilly", Rick would politely respond that "rockabilly is a new term, back in the 50's it was rock 'n' roll. I remember the first rock 'n' roll record I heard was "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins. Carl Perkins was my idol, I always wanted to sound like him, and tried to copy that sound as much as I could."
Everyone recognizes Elvis Presley as one of the originators of rock 'n' roll, but Perkins was there right with him. Perkins had been playing his hard driving mix of blues and country in honky tonks all over the south before signing with Sun in 1955. Perkins was a genius songwriter and guitar picker, but of course Elvis had the looks and the moves, and consequently Elvis became a legend while Perkins labored in relative obscurity most of his life. The Beatles recorded many of his songs - "Honey Don't", "Matchbox", "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", "Glad All Over", and "Sure to Fall", among others, and George Harrison in particular was a fan of Perkins. George also admired the picking style of Rick's guitarist James Burton, often praising him in interviews. For a few years in the 70's, George even lived next door to Rick and they became friends. Unfortunately, Rick only got to meet Perkins twice, the last time being just a few months before his death in 1985. Carl approached Rick and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Carl Perkins", and Rick responded "You don't have to tell me who you are, it's an honor to meet you". Rick told Carl he would like to open some shows for him in the coming year, but Perkins corrected him: "I would like to open some shows for YOU!" Rick became friendly with Johnny Cash much earlier, and Cash, wrote "Restless Kid" for him, which turned up on "Ricky Sings Again" in 1959. The Burnette brothers, Johnny and Dorsey, who wrote many of his biggest hits - "Believe What You Say", "Waitin' in School", and "It's Late" among them.
In the late 50's and early 60's, Rick sold more records than anyone except Elvis. Most of them were double sided hits. "Travelin' Man" and "Hello Mary Lou" were 'a' and 'b' sides of the same record. Ditto for "It's Late" and "Never Be Anyone Else But You". He was the only rock artist besides Elvis to chart a #1 album in the 50s'. His performances at the end of each week's "Ozzie and Harriet" shows may have been the first rock videos. Roy Orbison once said that he waited for each Rick Nelson record "just like I would a Fats Domino or Chuck Berry record". Elvis Presley even told Rick that he never missed an episode of "Ozzie and Harriet", and later hired his guitarist, James Burton, to lead his 70's stage band.
Rick had hit after hit right up until the British Invasion of 1964. The next few years, he tried various styles, from MOR pop to straight country, but nothing he recorded received much attention. The 60's teens just weren't interested in first generation rockers with short hair. Rick could have quit then. Instead, he began writing his own songs, and pioneered the California country rock sound with his Stone Canyon Band. Their material ranged from the soft, reflective "Life" and "Last Time Around" to the hard rocking "Gypsy Pilot" and "Promises".
"She Belongs to Me" was a top forty hit in 1970, and "Garden Party" followed it in 1972, yet much of Rick's music in this period went overlooked. It's hard to understand why. "Rick Nelson In Concert" (aka "Live at the Troubadour") is one of the best live albums ever released by anybody. Pat Shanahan is an incredible drummer, not just a timekeeper, with great 'feel' and really creative fills. Randy Meisner (a founding member of both the Eagles and Poco) plays solid bass and sings those high harmonies better than anybody. Allen Kemp makes his guitar ROCK! Tom Brumley (formerly of Buck Owens' Buckaroos) takes the pedal steel guitar into a whole new area, this is not country music, strictly speaking, it is rock with a country influence. Rick never sang better than he did in the early 70's - smooth, clear, but with a bit of edge when the song needs it.
If you put Rick's 70's output up against others working in similar musical areas - Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Michael Nesmith, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Poco - I think you will find his stuff holds up very well, if not better, than most of those. Rick admitted to being heavily influenced by Bob Dylan (especially "Nashville Skyline"), but he never forgot his roots, either. Along with his own songs, and those of contemporary writers like Dylan, Eric Anderson and Tim Hardin, he continued to perform the songs that made him a rock 'n' roll idol in the first place. In 1979, Rick recorded an album in Memphis that again mixed songs by new writers with classics from the 50's, such as Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover". Unfortunately, the powers that be failed to recognize the genius at work in these recordings, and only released one single and an extended play.
Rick's last band was one of his best, featuring the great Bobby Neal on guitar. Neal's guitar work on Rick's 80's albums "Playing to Win", "All My Best" and "Live 1983-1985" makes them worth checking out. Rick's last sessions from 1985 have yet to be officially released, although a few tracks have turned up on bootleg CD's. Rick's untimely death prevented him from completing most of the songs, but "One After 909", "So Long", and "Singin' the Blues" offer a good hint at the direction he was taking on these final sessions.
Much rumour and innuendo has surrounded the crash that took Rick's life. Many people still believe the plane caught fire due to Rick and his band freebasing cocaine in flight, despite the FAA's investigation that determined it was a faulty heater that caused the fire. Maybe it is simply more exciting for people to imagine the former "teen idol" and boy next door dying a because of drug abuse. Whatever the case, the facts state otherwise. Many fans believe Rick ended his life addicted to cocaine and marijuana, although the Jordanaires, who backed him up on the 50's hits and toured with Rick and the band in the 80's, insist they never saw any signs of drug abuse. Rick's producer/musical arranger, Jimmie Haskell, also stated in a 2004 interview that he never saw Rick or the musicians using illegal drugs - even on those final sessions in 1985. Rick's brother David also stated that he never saw his brother use dope, but still the gossip about his private life persists. It's easy to talk the trash when the person is no longer around to defend themselves, but many of Rick's friends have attested to the kind of person he really was - gentle, considerate, thoughtful of others, and even spiritual in his own way. It must have meant a lot to Rick to know he had the respect and admiration of peers like Elvis, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, John Fogerty and Waylon Jennings. At one point in time, Rick had to fight an uphill battle for respect because of his teen idol image. In death, the drug rumours tarnished his image further. Only now, many years later, does he seem to be earning the respect he deserves. This web page is my own small contribution to that, and a thank you to Rick for inspiring me with many years of great music. I don't think I've ever done a show without playing at least one of his songs. "I'm Walkin", "Never Be Anyone Else But You", "Lonesome Town", "Last Time Around", "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" and "Easy to Be Free" are just a few of Rick's songs I've performed, and I will continue to sing them till my dying day. God bless you, Rick.