Sure, he was the original teenage idol. But Rick Nelson’s place in rock ‘n’ roll history is much more significant than that. By presenting sizzling numbers each week on his family’s TV series, he helped the rebellious musical genre earn acceptance. Later in his career, Nelson pioneered the melding of country with rock.
Few other rockers can match the impact he had. Nelson’s records influenced subsequent stars from George Harrison to Chris Isaak, not to mention his multiplatinum-selling twin sons Gunnar and Matthew.
“Pop was our hero,” says Gunnar Nelson. “My earliest memory was of sitting on an apple crate off to the side of the stage and watching him play at Knott’s Berry Farm. I remember him positively glowing — smiling, laughing, making everybody in the audience happy. I knew then and there that I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.”
The release of “Rick Nelson — Legacy” (Capitol Records), a 100-track, four-CD box set, demonstrates an impressive body of work that spans nearly 30 years. In addition to 54 of his chart hits, this collection contains little-known Nelson gems and previously unreleased tracks discovered by Gunnar and Matthew in their uncle David Nelson’s garage.
“It was like a fairy tale. We found them in a jumble of dusty tape boxes in the pit of Hollywood, long forgotten. I felt like we’d found the Grail,” Gunnar says.
Despite decades of musical magic and integrity, Nelson remains somewhat under-appreciated. That fact rankles John Fogerty. Shortly after Nelson’s death in a New Year’s Eve 1985 plane crash, Fogerty gave the speech inducting the fallen hero into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“A lot of people thought of him as a Frankie Avalon or something. Those first records were not like that at all. He had a great rockabilly band, and, as I said in my speech, he gave Sam Phillips [Sun Records chief who launched Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins] a run for his money. Rick’s first four or five albums are just absolutely classic rock ‘n’ roll,” Fogerty says.
Nelson had idolized the Sun artists, particularly Presley and Perkins. In 1956, when Elvis’ backup singers, the Jordanaires, came to Hollywood to work on the movie “Loving You,” the 15-year-old TV star headed for their hotel suite.
Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires recalls, “I answered the doorbell and he said, `Hi. I’m Rick Nelson.’ I said, `Yes, I know.’ He said, “You know who I am?’ I’ve often thought how cute it was. In the small world that he lived in, he didn’t realize how big the Nelsons were all over the country.
“He told us, `When I get to recording, I want you guys to do some oohin’ and aahin’ behind me.'”
Just a year later, Nelson recorded “I’m Walkin,'” performed it on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” and established himself as a million-selling artist. Far from the Avalon-Rydell-Fabian mold, he convincingly sang a string of scorching rockabilly numbers, such as “Stood Up,” “Waitin’ in School” and “It’s Late.”
He sounded just as natural delivering gentle ballads and breezy pop. The Jordanaires found themselves providing velvety backing vocals on Nelson’s smashes, including “Lonesome Town” and “Poor Little Fool.” “Rick became a very dear friend,” Stoker says. As a youngster, Nelson’s TV catch phrase was, “I don’t mess around, boy.” And, no dilettante, he took music very seriously. “Pop was always the master of his own musical ship. His music was always exactly that: his music,” Gunnar says.
“He was very much in charge of what he wanted musically, which was really a surprise to us,” Stoker says. “But he was always willing to listen to other people’s ideas. He was great to work with, because he had such a super attitude.”
Though the young performer knew what he wanted musically, his dad Ozzie and producer Jimmie Haskell tossed in their own suggestions.
“Ozzie, who was very knowledgeable about music, would put his stamp on what was being done,” Stoker says. “He was the producer and director of the TV show. He would come over and produce and direct Rick’s recording sessions.”
Soon Nelson was rivaling Presley in popularity. “The general public loved the way he presented the songs on that TV show and in his personal appearances too,” Stoker says. “He was an extremely good-looking kid, and he had a mannerism that drove the girls wild.”
Nelson continued to churn out hits in the early ’60s, including “Hello, Mary Lou.” The other side of that single, “Travelin’ Man,” also soared up the charts, and its imaginative TV presentation was essentially the first rock video.
By ’64, however, the TV series was tiring, the heartthrob was married, and the British Invasion was knocking American artists off the radio. Though the spotlight began to fade, Nelson’s musical gifts only shone brighter. He developed his songwriting skills and, with his Stone Canyon Band, forged a new path into country-rock.
Flying Burrito Brother John Beland, once the Stone Canyon Band’s lead guitarist, says, “The people in pop music wanted him to still be the Ricky on TV, and in country music they would rather have had him wear a hat and sing mainstream country. But he just did what felt right to him.”
In addition to his own compositions, Nelson recorded songs penned by Tim Hardin, Eric Andersen, Randy Newman and Bob Dylan. Dylan acknowledged Nelson as one of his finest interpreters.
Nelson had a minor hit with Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me,” but chart success generally eluded him. The year 1972 brought a stunning exception. “Garden Party,” written in response to negative response at a nostalgia concert, became his first million-selling record in a decade. In the song, Nelson stated his fundamental musical philosophy: “You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself.”
“The whole `Garden Party’ experience was a great statement on the kind of person Rick Nelson was,” Gunnar says. “In his darkest hour, he went back to square one — expressing his feelings through his music. `Garden Party’ makes Rick Nelson forever the undisputed comeback heavyweight champion of the world.”
Rick Nelson, who said, “A career is nothing more than a series of comebacks,” never returned to the Top 10. He continued making exceptional music. But record company ineptitude repeatedly thwarted him.
Beland says, “It was funny, because he was getting four encores a night, crowds going crazy and ripping his clothes off, but the record companies never got it. You’d look at the reaction and go, “Why isn’t he selling a ton of records?'”
Nelson recorded Beland’s haunting arrangement of Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover” and sang it while hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 1978. It caused an instant sensation. But the record company delayed its release for weeks to add a conga drum to the mix. Beland says, “The day after the TV show, that record should have been going through the roof. But again they really dropped the ball.”
“He just did what he loved,” Gunnar says. “I don’t think he ever attached his self-worth to his position on the charts. He left that to the one-hit wonders.”
In his last years, Nelson came full circle, returning to his rockabilly roots. Unlike many contemporaries, he never lost any of his energy or enthusiasm for the music. That’s evident by such recordings as “Believe What You Say,” “Back to School Days” and Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night.”
Gunnar recalls hearing a story about his father’s participation in a Sun Records reunion. “They were always the folks he looked up to, especially Carl Perkins. But Pop had always felt like the one on the outside — the `rich kid from Hollywood.’ He was invited to be part of this reunion about six months before he died. He was so nervous and uncomfortable being there. He was worried about being accepted. But at one point in the evening, there he was, left alone in the studio with his all-time idol, Carl Perkins. A calm settled over the room. Carl turned to Pop and said, `Well, Ricky, it looks like we’re the last two real rockabilly cats left.’ That floored my dad. He never got over how good it made him feel.”
The modest and dedicated Nelson inevitably made lasting impressions on his fellow musicians. Beland recalls his years with Nelson fondly. “For a musician, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Ricky was such a great performer and such a wonderful, warm human being. Every day spent with him was a pleasure.”
Stoker, whose final Nelson dates came just three months before the singer’s tragic end, says, “We’ve worked with so many wonderful people over the years. But I don’t think we ever had as much deep love for any other entertainer as we had for Rick Nelson. Music was so important to him, right up till the day he died. When he got on that stage with that band going, he just loved it. It always really turned him on.”
Gunnar hopes the box set will extend and enhance his father’s legacy. “It’s 100 of the greatest Ricky Nelson songs, hand-picked to let listeners know the soul and spirit of Rick Nelson more completely. By the time the listeners get through the box set, they will feel like they have not only touched the heart of the man Rick Nelson was, but they will also empathize with his struggles to remain his own artist and his own man throughout his life — a struggle we should all be willing to face head-on so courageously.”
