Ricky Nelson

Rick Nelson ranked among the most prominent teen idols of the 1950s, which meant critical regard comparable to other foundational rock figures arrived only gradually. Over the years, however, agreement has formed that he produced some of the era’s strongest pop and rock recordings. Although Elvis, Gene Vincent, and Carl Perkins delivered more aggressive performances, Nelson maintained remarkable steadiness across his opening five years in the studio, shaping agreeable pop-rockabilly blends with top session musicians while conveying the image of a thoughtful, reserved young man through his polished singing. He also contributed in an often underappreciated way to rock & roll’s integration into mainstream American culture, since its regular presence on one of the nation’s most beloved family sitcoms softened perceptions of the music’s potential risks.

Nelson’s entry into show business occurred before he turned ten, when he joined father Ozzie, a former jazz musician, mother Harriet, and brother David on a radio comedy program centered on the family. By the early 1950s the program had moved to television, placing Ricky in the public eye throughout his adolescence. At precisely the right moment, rock & roll transformed his path in 1956, and he began recording almost by chance the next year. Accounts have sometimes suggested he lacked professional singing goals until he cut his first single to impress a girlfriend. That debut, a version of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’” that reached number four, benefited greatly, as did his early releases, from repeated exposure on the Ozzie & Harriet television series.

What followed proved commercially predictable yet musically rewarding. Nelson favored the rockabilly styles of Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley over those of most contemporary teen idols, and during the next five years he developed his own take on rockabilly, incorporating occasional smooth Hollywood production elements and pure pop ballads. He enlisted premier early rock guitarist James Burton to deliver authentic solos, while another skilled player, Joe Maphis, appeared on several initial tracks. Some of his strongest and edgier numbers, including “Believe What You Say” and “It’s Late,” came from Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, formerly of the Johnny Burnette Rock ’n Roll Trio. Nelson could deliver up-tempo rock, as heard on “Be-Bop Baby” and “Stood Up,” yet he excelled most consistently with mid-tempo pieces and ballads that suited his composed delivery and limited range. Between 1957 and 1962 he ranked as one of the top-selling vocalists in the United States behind only Elvis, placing roughly thirty singles in the Top 40. “Poor Little Fool” and “Lonesome Town,” both from 1958, signaled his emerging ballad approach, while early-1960s successes such as “Travelin’ Man,” “Young World,” and “Teen Age Idol” pointed toward a more countrified, adult orientation as he approached his twenty-first birthday, at which point he shortened his professional name from Ricky to Rick. He returned to rockabilly on occasion, most memorably with “Hello, Mary Lou,” co-written by Gene Pitney and featuring striking James Burton guitar work.

A lucrative twenty-year agreement with Decca lured Nelson from Imperial in 1963, although the contract ended earlier than planned in the mid-1970s, and hits persisted for roughly another year at a slower rate. “For You,” released early in 1964, proved his final major success of the decade. He maintained appearances on Ozzie and Harriet until the program’s declining popularity led to its cancellation in 1966.

Country influences had colored much of Nelson’s output from the start, and by the late 1960s they grew more pronounced. He interpreted straightforward country songs by artists such as Willie Nelson and Doug Kershaw, then assembled one of the first country-rock ensembles, the Stone Canyon Band, drawing musicians who had worked or would work with Poco, Buck Owens, Little Feat, and Roger McGuinn. A rendition of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me” entered the Top 40 in 1970, yet his country-rock releases generally earned stronger reviews than sales until “Garden Party” in 1972. That rare self-written track, inspired by the cool reception his newer material received at a rock & roll revival show, became his final Top Ten hit.

Nelson continued intermittent recording and steady touring over the following twelve years, but he never fully leveraged his strengths. A central obstacle was his limited songwriting at a time when rock performers after the Beatles were expected to compose most of their own material. He died at age forty-five, along with his fiancée, in a private plane crash on December 31, 1985, while traveling to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas.