Ricky Nelson was never a threat to Elvis. He was the “approved” version of rock n roll. He had the talent and the looks for sure. He acted on the show his parents had, called Ozzie and Harriet. He had some great songs and some charted very high. Sadly he died quite young in a private plane crash. He was in his 40s at the time and was on his way to do a New Year’s concert down south. Thanks for the great reaction on Ricky Nelson. 👏👏
I saw Rick Nelson in concert about two years before he was killed in the plane cash. He was a wonderful performer and musician who was very handsome and talented! During his act he played the rhythm guitar, electric guitar, base guitar, banjo, piano, and saxophone and was expert on all those instruments! Such a shame he died so young!
Ricky was never an Elvis. He was no threat of any kind. Ricky grew up in front of our eyes in the '50s and early '60s, thanks to his parents' TV show, the Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, which heavily featured their sons, David & Ricky. When Ricky began his singing career around '57, the TV show began reserving the last 2-3 minutes of each show for one of his songs -- either a current hit or a song from one of his albums. Brilliant marketing and Ricky became a massive singing star. Rick was a sweet, humble, polite & handsome young man. He never frightened parents the way Elvis did. Thanks to the weekly TV show, Rick was a fully accepted member of ALL our families.
Ricky Nelson was a true Teen Idol, but he was also one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Kids would watch him do his song at the end of their program " The Ozzie and Harriet Show." It was fantastic to us kids. His father Ozzie was a big band leader in the 30's and 40's, his mother was a singer too, so he had pull with all the best producers and engineers, plus he could get musicians too. Ricky had a great young electric guitarist named James Burton who went on to play with Elvis after Ricky died. Ricky had 20 top ten hits. He was elected into the rock and roll hall of Fame in 1987. Elvis and his Posse would play football with Ricky and his gang. Elvis was a big fan of Ricky more from his TV show. What a sight that would be. Elvis's team against Ricky's. Great reaction Harri. One of the biggest stars of Rock and Roll. 🤴🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦👍🙃
Correction: Burton played guitar for Elvis on tour starting around 1969 through Elvis's death in 1977. Rick was VERY much alive until New year's eve 1985, when he died in the plane crash. I'm sorry , but I really had to correct that statement. everything else you said was very true as far as I have read before..
@@thomastimlin1724 Sorry I just always assumed James played with Ricky until he died. He truly loved Rick. Of course I am sure he loved Elvis too. Sorry for my error and thanks for the correction. Both died way too early. At least James is still around after a lifetime of great music and collaborations. Thanks again. ☹️ 🙃👍
I really enjoyed your reaction to Ricky Nelson. I think “safe Elvis” is fairly on point as parents trusted Ricky’s parents enough to give Ricky’s music a try. Another post has listed many of Ricky’s hits, but I would like to add one more that was not so much a radio hit as it was a song from the movie “Rio Bravo” which starred John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Walter Brennan. Ricky had a rather substantial supporting role in the movie, but my favorite part was a duet with Ricky and Dean Martin. It’s called “My Rifle, My Pony, And Me” and their voices blended so well. Even if you don’t do a reaction to it, I think you would enjoy giving it a listen. Thanks for sharing this one! Take care.
"Poor Little Fool", released on June 23, 1958, was the first song written by Sharon Sheeley, and the success of Ricky Nelson's recording made her the youngest woman to write a number one hit. Sheeley had had a brief relationship with Don Everly (of the Everly Brothers) when she was fifteen, and the song was a reflection on that. Almost exactly thirty years later (June 21, 1988), Guns n' Roses's "Sweet Child o' Mine" was released, and also hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That song was written about Don Everly's daughter, who was at the time in a relationship with Axl Rose.
Ricky Nelson ,s guitarist on this track is James Burton who was Elvis's guitarist for the last 7 years of Elvis's life .I got to meet James and chat with him in Toronto What a Life.
@@dav22 You're one lucky guy, he is one of the most influential guitarists underappreciated. He is on hundreds of studio recordings that have nothing to do with Rick or Elvis too. He was a studio musician in demand.
I'm a huge fan of guns and Rose's and Axl spoke about sweet child o mine being directly about Erin I always love knowing that cuz I love every generation of music esp my mom's favorite songs and singers 🙂👍💯
I remember watchng his parents show (Ozzie and Harriet) when I was a kid. I think Ricky started out singing a song at the end of the show. "Travelin" Man was always my favorite of his songs.
Ricky Nelson was a singer, musician & actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio & television series "The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet". In 1957, he began a long & successful career as a popular recording artist. He was considered a teen idol & heart throb. He had so many hits such as "I'm Walkin'", "A Teenager's Romance", "You're My One & Only Love", "Be-Bop Baby", "Believe What You Say", "I Got A Feeling", "Hello Mary Lou", "It's Late", "Stood Up", "Waitin' In School", "Just A Little Too Much", "Young World", "Lonesome Town" "Never Be Anyone Else But You", "Sweeter Than You", "It's Up To You", "Teen Age Idol", "Garden Party" etc. Sadly Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1985 at the age of 45.
I believe he was a good singer. He was in the family show Ozzie & Harriet long time 14 yrs 52 to 66.. He sang, his brother and his parents. Oz and Harriet. Believe his last song was Garden Party in 72, good song.
Nelson was more than a teenage idol, although he was that too for a while. "Poor Little Fool", "Lonesome Town", "Travelin' Man", "Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart" are all catchy tunes. He tells a good story of his life in the song "Garden Party" -- "Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air" -- great company, great message too I suppose. Ricky Nelson teenage idol parlayed his fame into a role in the 1959 Howard Hawks classic Rio Bravo alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond. Martin sings "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me". Nelson sings "Get Along Home, Cindy" and the closing theme "Rio Bravo".
Ricky's lead guitarist was the legendary James Burton. When Elvis put together his Las Vegas band in the late '60s, Elvis made sure he had James as the leader of his TCB (Taking Care of Business) Band. Ricky was certainly marketed as the clean-cut opposite of Elvis. Ricky's parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson had a TV sitcom for many years and a fun part of the show was when their young son Ricky would perform a song. I saw Dylan at Madison Square Garden in '86 not long after Ricky died in a plane crash. Midway in the show, Dylan looked up to the sky (although it was indoors of course) and said to Ricky up in heaven, "Ricky, you did a lot of my songs. I'm going to do one of yours now." Dylan then played the beautiful Rick Nelson ballad "Lonesome Town'. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience.
Ricky was a tv star and a singer but never was an Elvis rival. In fact he loved Elvis and there is a video of Ricky actually visiting Elvis birthplace after he died. When Elvis came out there was a 10 year span when Elvis had absolutely no competition Nobody was ever Elvis. I am from the 50's Elvis broke racial barriers and culture barriers. The Beatles were inspired by him. Guitarist Jimi Hendricks love him, Led Zeppelan, Tom Jones, To many to name. See some of the video's of people who loved Elvis.. "Muhammad Ali meets Elvis", " Celebrities that met Elvis". But most of all see the generous humanitarian he was "Elvis Presley King of Kindness". And " Elvis Presley a Generous Heart". Thanks, Be Blessed.
Ricky Nelson was one of the best things ever we watch him grow into a lovely man ozzieand harriet show his sons are the nelsontwins they had hit songs in late 80s show biz family tfs
Ricky or "Rick" as he preferred, was friends with Elvis actually. Elvis would come out to do a Movie in Holly wood, and they had football teams who would play each other. There were rumors that Elvis used to call him "little brother," and yes, the thing that Rick did unintentionally, was bring Rock and Roll into the living room with parent approval thanks to his parents, Ozie and Harriet going along with it, and obviously increasing the sitcom's ratings. His parents at one time were big band stars, Ozzie having his own band and Harriet was the singer. His parents actually had the right approach to it because they appeared to view it as a teenager thing to let off steam, and viewed it as harmless dance music for teenagers, at least as they portrayed it in one episode, thus giving parents some reassurance. Rick was called a Teen Idol, the first time anyone had used that phrase, and he appeared on the cover of Life Magazine, with that title, and with an article. Poor Little Fool is really quite an innocent and lame song, but Rick's Rockabilly songs and covers were great, he was a great singer in many styles, knew how to phrase each line in a song, had a great sounding voice and was very handsome. Actually in my opinion his singing voice became better and better as he aged. His album recording of Since I Don't Have You is outstanding. He was also an actor in his parents' sitcom, could be quite comedic when allowed to, and in big films like Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and The Wackiest Ship in the Army with Jack Lemon.
Another plane crash tragedy. Dec.31, 1985. My friends and I were partying NYE and we heard the sad news on the radio. He was only 45 yrs old 😓 Travelin Man is my favourite song of his!
Many of those parents who at f8rst detested Elvis, loved and respected him after the army. When they realized that he wasn't given preferential treatment, that he wasn't in the entertainment department of the army, that he was 8n trenches etc they respec5ed and loved h8m.
Thank you for the coverage in regards to this great song. It's a total classic and I would say you're spot on with the laid back look and sound of Elvis but with a much cleaner grounded image. This song is a mix of Americana folky/western-rock. It's the epitome of that era.
Bob Dylan wrote in his new book that Nelson was more instrumental in rock going mainstream than Elvis simply because he was in people’s living rooms on tv playing it every week.
On New Years Eve 1985 we went to see George Strait in concert. While we were outside standing in line to be admitted inside there was an announcement over the PA system announcing Ricky Nelson had been killed in a plane crash. It was so very sad
A "safer" Elvis. That's a perfect description! He was very white bread. Rock n roll was new and scary to America. Ricky Nelson was a sanitized version on his parents' popular TV show. He loosened up in later years, but always had to fight that early image to be taken seriously as a musician. He wrote a song called Garden Party about the struggle to be a true rocker.
His dad Ozzie was a band leader, actor, singer, filmmaker. His mother sang with the band. O ne brother David and is the father of actress Tracy Nelson two sons Gunner and Matthew both are musicians.
Ricky started acting on the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio show, in 1949 with his older brother David and his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Ozzie was actually a bandleader and Harriet was the singer for his orchestra until the boys were born. The show was highly successful and became more so when it was moved to television in 1952. Ricky's biggest early influence was Carl Perkins. He first sang on the TV show in April, 1957. He sang the Fats Domino hit "I'm Walkin" and played the drums. It was the flip side of his first single, "A Teenager's Love", which hit #2 on the charts. He also released his first album that year, which reached #1. "Poor Little Fool" as release as a single in 1958 and became his first #1 hit single. After that he would sing a song at the end of every few of the TV shows. He had 35 top 40 hits in his career. As others have mentioned, he got frustrated later on when he wasn't taken seriously because of his teen idol image, and wrote a very good song about it called "Garden Party. A "safer Elvis" is an apt description, especially from the record company's point of view. A lot of areas of the country were very anti rock and roll, especially in the south. There were mass public burnings of Elvis and other rock and roll records. The familiarity and clean wholesome images of singers like Ricky and Pat Boone allowed them to sell rock and roll records that people in those areas found less threatening.
Elvis and Ricky were good friends. In fact, during a 'live' concert recording by Ricky in the 1980s, when he was doing an 'Elvis tune', he introduced it saying, "Here's a song by a reaaly good friend of mine."
In 1977, I attended a performance by Ricky Nelson and his band at the "Exit In" in Nashville, TN. We were seated at a table for 4 less than 3 feet away from a small, elevated stage where Ricky sang, adjacent to the stage where the band performed. I could reach out and touch him. He sang all of his old and new songs but I would say the featured song was "Garden Party". What I remember most is that he wore Silver Lame shoes with elevated heels. The opening performer before Ricky was a young women I had never heard of before that night. Her Name was Jennifer Warnes. You may know her from the movie and song "Officer and a Gentlemen - Up Where We Belong". On that night she brought the house down with her number one hit song "Right Time of the Night". It was a great night in Nashville; we finished up at the "Old Fashioned Pickin Parlor" with some of the best musician in country music. Although no one can compare to Elvis, I consider Ricky Nelson to be a great singer who sounded the same live and in person has he did in a studio. Believe me there can be a huge difference.
Rick Nelson Rocks! He is an all around good versatile singer. He has a good singing voice. He plays good guitar & can sing about anything. He definitely has a large collection of albums & songs throughout his short life.
The careers of Elvis and Ricky were both sort of divided by eras. We have the "young Elvis" and the "Older Elvis". We also have the "young Ricky" and the "Older Rick" (with the y dropped from his first name. For the older, more mature Rick, check out his awesome band, "The Stone Canyon Band" and his classic self-penned "bio" song, "Garden Party". I think he and the Stone Canyon Band could have done great things had Rick not perished in the plane crash.
Rick's parents were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Ozzie was a famous band leader and married one of his lead singers, Harriet Hilliard. They were very popular on radio. So popular that in 1952 Ozzie persuaded the ABC tv network to create a weekly comedy series where they would appear as themselves - "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet". Their real-life sons, 15 year old David and 12 year old Ricky appeared as themselves and for the next 14 years (1952 - 1966) the entire country watched David and Ricky grow up and become teenagers and eventually young married men. And we all watched and listened to Ricky becoming a rock and roll star - just about each week he would sing a new song that would be incorporated into that episode's plot. On occasion Ozzie and Harriet would sing as well. The 14 seasons is a record for a situation comedy.
Memories of the last family holiday in 1958 to Brightlingsea. Either there or Clacton, I fell in love with a juke box which played 78s. What a rich sound this record had played through those huge speakers 🤩🤩🤩
I think his last hit was Garden Party. My favorite. It's about a concert he did at Madison Square Garden some time after his teen idol phase and how he was dissed by the other, more current performers who didn't take him seriously.
My favorite from Ricky was later in his career, 1969; his cover of Bob Dylan's She Belongs to Me. Bob called Ricky when it became a hit and congratulated him. Dylan was a fan!
Ricky Nelson is probably one of the most underrated singers in American music history. He was the youngest singer ever to have a Number 1 album. From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Presley and Pat Boone. His video of Travelin` Man is considered the first ever music video. He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and its predecessors, between 1957 and 1973, including "Poor Little Fool" in 1958, which was the first number 1 song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart. He recorded 19 additional Top 10 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987. Nelson is widely credited as a forerunner of the California-based country-rock scene of the 1970s. Ricky/Rick sold in excess of 500 million albums, and even today he is ranked the 4th biggest singles seller of all time. The Nelson family (Ricks Father Ozzie Nelson, rock legend Rick Nelson, and Ricks twin sons Matthew & Gunnar) are in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ONLY family in Entertainment with 3 successive generations of #1 hitmakers.
Yes, I guess you could say he was safer. He was part of a long standing musical family. His father Ozzie Nelson was a band leader and Rick and his older brother David grew on on first the families radio show and later the TV show, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" Rick convinced his dad to let him play some songs to see if they could attract younger viewers. Another "family" duo you might consider is "The Collins Kids". Lori Collins played Rickys girlfriend in a number of programs and She sang on the show as well as her little brother, Larry. They were popular in the mid 50's into the 1960's. Sadly Lori passed away a year or so a go. Collins Kids: th-cam.com/video/1Ur7br6Y5CE/w-d-xo.html
The anti elvises were created by our great racists so they would hear the music copied from these great southern black artists.example.pat Boone singing toothy frooty,and a vast array of Bobby's in suits and clean cut .Bobby dee,bobby v.,Bobby darin, he kinda threw a wrench into things,didn't he.😮.
Fun fact: The vocal backing group are the Jordanaires, Elvis' group. Though Ricky Nelson was in Los Angeles far from Nashville, where the Jordanaires had their base.
His dad, Ozzie Nelson, was one sharp businessman. The Ozzie and Harriet Show was a long running and popular show on both radio and television. Once their son Ricky Nelson showed talent, Ozzie came up with music videos years before MTV. Every week, Ozzie made sure that Ricky sang one of his songs on their television show. This video is just one example.
Yes he was the all American Boy ! Very clean cut . The whole family were TV stars in the early 1960s . The Nelson Family . The show was very popular . Died Young in a private plane crash . Two of his later songs were very good ! Traveling Man , and Garden Party . Garden Party may have been his last song !
Lonesome Town would a terrific song to review. It has the best of use of reverb of any song which also adds appropriate atmosphere to the song and its lyrics.
My mother talks about that exact thing Elvis and Ricky Nelson were rivals in the way rock band's were in the 80s except with respect also Conway Twitty was in the same league with them he wrote songs for Elvis Presley all the time even some of the big hits check it out 💯👍
At 4:34 into your video that gentleman on the screen was David Nelson, Ricky's older brother. He never had a desire to go into the entertainment business that I am aware of.
Ricky was gorgeous...but he was pretty tame. The entire Nelson family had a squeaky clean image because of the show. I think he carried that over into his music career -- at least in the '50's and '60's.
Elvis was in the Army when Ricky Nelson reached the top of his stardom. He felt like he stole his dress style and hair style. Elvis resented in his absence he stole his style in hair clothes and attempted to resemble his singing style.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO HARRI: Listen to the song, My Rifle, My Pony, And Me. Believe it or not, it's a great duet with Ricky Nelson & Dean Martin!! The duet is actually from the movie, Rio Bravo, a 1959 western, critically acclaimed & a huge hit that many consider Dean's best performance as an actor. And for it's place in the film, the song is quite unexpected, but it works beautifully!!!
Rick was a "safer alternative", in that he that he ushered in an acceptance, if not respectability, for rock 'n roll by the adult public. Some of this was carefully orchestrated but some of it was natural. Many American households had watched Ricky grow up on his parents popular television show, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. The Nelsons' All-American values, along with Ricky's familiarity meant that the majority of viewers were at least willing to give his music a listen. That gave Ricky's version of rock 'n roll a toehold with a huge audience. As a youth Ricky had been quite outgoing, but was quite shy among unfamiliar faces after puberty. While he had a genuine interest in rock 'n roll and becoming a musician, this shyness resulted in very reserved performances, especially when compared to the flamboyant Elvis. His stage presence, with minimal movement, little facial expression and conservative attire was more akin to popular crooners than rock 'n rollers. He didn't gyrate, sneer or play the audience like Elvis. This was undoubtedly a relief to many parents viewing the TV show and made him more palatable than many other rock 'n roll stars. Still, there was a lot of outcry, to the point where his father created specific episodes to address the impact of rock 'n roll on the nation's teenagers. Ozzie and Harriet's calm, rational approach to the new music convinced many that it would not be the path of destruction for teenage morals. Ricky's early release tended to emphasize his preference for up-tempo songs. All that changed with the subject song, Poor Little Fool. While Ricky liked the song, he didn't consider it's softer, shuffle beat to be true rock 'n roll and it was originally released only as an EP/LP track. However, when DJs started giving the song significant airplay, his record company retro-actively released it as a single, with Ricky showing his displeasure by exercising his contractual artwork control and having it released in a plain sleeve, rather than the typical picture sleeve. Still, it became his first #1 single, skewing future releases towards more softer songs and even further acceptance by the general public. Today, Golden Oldies radio features primarily Ricky's softer tunes, on the premise that his original audience are now senior citizens. It has done a lot to foster the modern view that Ricky was only a tame Teenage Idol. Finally, there's the "Monkees Syndrome", with Ricky being an early sample of a pre-fabricated music star. He was good looking and popular, even before entering the record business. If he could sing or be taught to sing, he would be a sure-fire success, especially with the exposure afforded by the TV show. Americans tend to favour musical heroes that work their way up from the bottom and not be handed it overnight, on a silver platter, like Ricky. This stigma has tainted Ricky's reputation, especially since the late 1960s. To many, he's not a true rock 'n roller, and this allocates him to the "safer" category, though at heart he was just as much a rock 'n roller as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis or any of the other seminal rock 'n rollers. His original musical influence was Carl Perkins.
In the end, Ricky and Elvis are distinct personalities and artists. They were friends with each other and did not consider the other to be rivals. However, it's the American way to compare everything, so it's inevitable to compare the two most successful acts of the R'nR genre during the late 1950s. Bill Haley created the spark, Elvis fueled it into a high school bonfire and Ricky brought it into the cozy fireplaces of American homes. But if you needed more heat there was always an up-tempo Ricky Nelson track that could raise the temperature. Just make sure you manage that fire. You just might burn the house down. When given the chance, Ricky could rock with the best of them.
People tend to remember Ricky as one of the sons on the TV series OZZIE AND HARRIET, but they tend to forget that he came from such a musical background. Prior to the TV series (and an earlier radio series which starred pro actors as the children as opposed to the real children on TV) Ozzie Nelson was a fairly major Big Band leader and the lead singer of his band was Harriet Hiliard, later his wife Harriet Nelson.
After his “TV heartthrob” period, Ricky became a “rockabilly” musician. At one point he played a nostalgia gig in Madison Square Garden (in New York City). He was booed, because he didn’t look or sing like his heartthrob days. John Lennon was in the audience. Check out the song Ricky wrote about it called “Garden Party”. Highly recommended!
Neat stuff.... 'Hello Mary Lou' is probably Rick's most remembered song. Perhaps check out the video of the song, make sure tho it's the one that includes the James Burton ( Elvis' future guitar player) super cool guitar solo....
Ricky was a rival of Elvis. I liked Ricky then Elvis. They were friends, they played football against each other. Ricky was born in 1940 and Elvis was born in 1935. Ricky died in a plane crash when he was 45yrs old. His twins song and look and sound like Ricky. Matthew and Gunner. Play them!!!
Ricky Nelson at one time was second in popularity only to Elvis. This is a 50's song written by Sharon Sheeley the girlfriend of another tragic rocker Eddie Cockran. It was the first song I played in public because it has an easy chord progression. Ricky Nelson along with Dean Martin acted in one of John Wayne's more palatable movies Rio Bravo. He was also in a movie with Jack Lemon - The Wackiest Ship In The Army. I believe he was in a movie with Kirk Douglas as a child. Despite this Hollywood background he was a sincere performer and is credited with pioneering country rock later made famous by people like The Eagles. He was upset at a reception he got in New York; he felt people wanted him to be the same as his 50's period but he was trying to move on and progress musically. He wrote a song about it - Garden Party and the most telling line is ''If memories are all I sang I'd rather drive a truck.'' The guitar player in his original band James Burton ended up playing for Elvis in all those phoney Las Vegas gigs. My favourite song Ricky wrote is Don't Leave Me This Way - James Burton is very cool on that.
He and his family was on a tv series-Ozzie and Harriet that was seen by 50 million people a week. Ricky was a major singing star also. You should check out “Travelin’ Man”.
A very talented man and family. Rick Nelson had twins that also became rock stars ✨ in the 90s. My oldest son was a fan when he was 13. We took him to a couple of their shows. They were definitely the pretty boys of rock with their long blonde hair and Nelson family good looks. They had a couple of songs that were popular After the Rain, Love and Affection and More than Ever. It would be fun to see you react to one of the songs that made the twins popular. I came back when I found a video of the twins Matthew and Gunnar and their younger brother Sam singing their dad's song Garden Party as a tribute to him it looks like 13 yrs ago. It's a beautiful tribute. th-cam.com/video/ShwSZtDdl3M/w-d-xo.html
When he was called Ricky as opposed to Rick, he was a "safe Elvis" who, despite recording a fair amount of regrettably insipid stuff, had forged a productive partnership with an all-time-great guitarist, occasionally surprised himself as well as the rest of us by recording a surprisingly tough or serious song, and got a lot of his songs written by a gifted guitar/bass team...now, does all this remind you of a British singer from the same era? As Rick Nelson he has at least two worthwhile country-style albums to his name - Garden Party and the all-original Rick Sings Nelson (if you disbelieve me, try We've Got Such A Long Way To Go and Let It Bring You Along).
Rick was the one who gave a 17 year old James Burton his start. He recognized great talent. Glen Campbell toured with Rick for some time. Randy Meisner was with him later in The Stone Canyon Band. Paul McCartney wanted to produce an album with Rick but it never happened.
Burton was a well respected and established musician before he met Ricky. Prior to his association with Nelson he had been the house guitarist for the Louisiana Hayride and had recorded with both Dale Hawkins and Bob Luman. While with the latter's back-up band, The Shadows, he had rec'd national exposure in an early rock 'n roll movie, Carnival Rock. Ricky ended up poaching Burton and bassist James Kirkland from Luman, when they were both contracted to Imperial records.
@@t-mar9275"Poached"? Burton continued to play for Luhman during his time with Rick Nelson. Appearing on the Ozzie & Harriet Show, and playing in Nelson's band, gave James the national recognition he deserved.
@@doloreskrisky1670 Burton could work for other people when Ricky didn't need him. However, the Nelsons had him on a $350 per week retainer, so he was at Ricky's beck and call. He got paid a $450 bonus for every TV show appearance. Burton even lived with the Nelsons for about two years, so it's pretty clear where his priorities and loyalty laid at the time.
Ricky Nelson grew up in a musical family. He was signed to the Imperial Records (US) label, which was historically a Blues/ R & B record label. “Fats” Domino was signed to the label during the 1950s, and had a lot of major Rock music hits during that period. Signing Nelson to Imperial Records (US) was an attempt by the record label to get more white mainstream music listeners to buy their records.
He was a bit tame compared to Elvis..but they both have one thing in common..his lead guitar player was James Burton, which during the 70's he became Elvis's lead guitar player for his live concerts..
I think it was a more a matter of nepotism than being safer that Elvis. With his parents and his looks, he didn't need talent. Luckily he had it. But he was a huge fan of Elvis'. That's why he wanted to be a musician. There was one scene where he was singing, I remember, his lip started curling up like Elvis'. I think he realizes it was a little obvious, and he just laughs at himself.
Ricky admired Elvis, and Elvis Admired Ricky Nelson, but during that time the Other Record. Company wanted a Cleaner , clean cut Singers , Because of Elvis Presented himself as Rebel like James Dean Character, they presented other Singer like Fabian, who couldn’t barely Sing, Pat Boone, Bobby Vinson, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Goldsboro and a bunch of other Bobbles , and clean Cut Singers.
Ricky Nelson was never a threat to Elvis. He was the “approved” version of rock n roll. He had the talent and the looks for sure. He acted on the show his parents had, called Ozzie and Harriet. He had some great songs and some charted very high. Sadly he died quite young in a private plane crash. He was in his 40s at the time and was on his way to do a New Year’s concert down south. Thanks for the great reaction on Ricky Nelson. 👏👏
I saw Rick Nelson in concert about two years before he was killed in the plane cash. He was a wonderful performer and musician who was very handsome and talented! During his act he played the rhythm guitar, electric guitar, base guitar, banjo, piano, and saxophone and was expert on all those instruments! Such a shame he died so young!
Check out his later stuff
Garden party is a good start
Ricky was never an Elvis. He was no threat of any kind. Ricky grew up in front of our eyes in the '50s and early '60s, thanks to his parents' TV show, the Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, which heavily featured their sons, David & Ricky. When Ricky began his singing career around '57, the TV show began reserving the last 2-3 minutes of each show for one of his songs -- either a current hit or a song from one of his albums. Brilliant marketing and Ricky became a massive singing star. Rick was a sweet, humble, polite & handsome young man. He never frightened parents the way Elvis did. Thanks to the weekly TV show, Rick was a fully accepted member of ALL our families.
In my mind and my ear's Ricky was the tops.
Ricky Nelson was a true Teen Idol, but he was also one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Kids would watch him do his song at the end of their program " The Ozzie and Harriet Show." It was fantastic to us kids. His father Ozzie was a big band leader in the 30's and 40's, his mother was a singer too, so he had pull with all the best producers and engineers, plus he could get musicians too. Ricky had a great young electric guitarist named James Burton who went on to play with Elvis after Ricky died. Ricky had 20 top ten hits. He was elected into the rock and roll hall of Fame in 1987.
Elvis and his Posse would play football with Ricky and his gang. Elvis was a big fan of Ricky more from his TV show. What a sight that would be. Elvis's team against Ricky's. Great reaction Harri. One of the biggest stars of Rock and Roll. 🤴🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦👍🙃
Correction: Burton played guitar for Elvis on tour starting around 1969 through Elvis's death in 1977. Rick was VERY much alive until New year's eve 1985, when he died in the plane crash. I'm sorry , but I really had to correct that statement. everything else you said was very true as far as I have read before..
@@thomastimlin1724 Sorry I just always assumed James played with Ricky until he died. He truly loved Rick. Of course I am sure he loved Elvis too. Sorry for my error and thanks for the correction. Both died way too early. At least James is still around after a lifetime of great music and collaborations. Thanks again. ☹️ 🙃👍
.........he is considered the first rock n roll teen idol , even before Elvis
Ricks brother was in the audience. That’s the way we dressed back then. He grew up on tv and eventually started singing and became a rock star. ❤
I really enjoyed your reaction to Ricky Nelson. I think “safe Elvis” is fairly on point as parents trusted Ricky’s parents enough to give Ricky’s music a try. Another post has listed many of Ricky’s hits, but I would like to add one more that was not so much a radio hit as it was a song from the movie “Rio Bravo” which starred John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Walter Brennan. Ricky had a rather substantial supporting role in the movie, but my favorite part was a duet with Ricky and Dean Martin. It’s called “My Rifle, My Pony, And Me” and their voices blended so well. Even if you don’t do a reaction to it, I think you would enjoy giving it a listen. Thanks for sharing this one! Take care.
Hi Sarah! I LOVE the song that you suggested! It was one of my favourites!you obviously have VERY good taste! Peace and Blessings from Australia.
@sarah Weers I've looked it up. Thanks. You were right. It was very nice indeed.
Great pic, thanks 👍
Wonderful voice amazing talent and musician.
He was great for the teeny boppers
Elvis & Ricky were friends and often visited one another.
"Poor Little Fool", released on June 23, 1958, was the first song written by Sharon Sheeley, and the success of Ricky Nelson's recording made her the youngest woman to write a number one hit. Sheeley had had a brief relationship with Don Everly (of the Everly Brothers) when she was fifteen, and the song was a reflection on that.
Almost exactly thirty years later (June 21, 1988), Guns n' Roses's "Sweet Child o' Mine" was released, and also hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That song was written about Don Everly's daughter, who was at the time in a relationship with Axl Rose.
Ricky Nelson ,s guitarist on this track is James Burton who was Elvis's guitarist for the last 7 years of Elvis's life .I got to meet James and chat with him in Toronto What a Life.
@@dav22 You're one lucky guy, he is one of the most influential guitarists underappreciated. He is on hundreds of studio recordings that have nothing to do with Rick or Elvis too. He was a studio musician in demand.
I'm a huge fan of guns and Rose's and Axl spoke about sweet child o mine being directly about Erin I always love knowing that cuz I love every generation of music esp my mom's favorite songs and singers 🙂👍💯
No shame in being played a fool by Don Everly.
I remember watchng his parents show (Ozzie and Harriet) when I was a kid. I think Ricky started out singing a song at the end of the show. "Travelin" Man was always my favorite of his songs.
Ricky Nelson was a singer, musician & actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio & television series "The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet". In 1957, he began a long & successful career as a popular recording artist. He was considered a teen idol & heart throb. He had so many hits such as "I'm Walkin'", "A Teenager's Romance", "You're My One & Only Love", "Be-Bop Baby", "Believe What You Say", "I Got A Feeling", "Hello Mary Lou", "It's Late", "Stood Up", "Waitin' In School", "Just A Little Too Much", "Young World", "Lonesome Town" "Never Be Anyone Else But You", "Sweeter Than You", "It's Up To You", "Teen Age Idol", "Garden Party" etc. Sadly Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1985 at the age of 45.
TV show Ozzie and Harriet. The Nelson family. Mark Harmon from NCIS related to this family by marriage, one of his sisters I think married Ricky.
As a young teenager we couldn't wait for Ozzie & Harriet every Friday Night, just to hear Ricky Sing!! 🙏🥲 R.I.P. Thanks for the Memories Ricky!!
I believe he was a good singer. He was in the family show Ozzie & Harriet long time 14 yrs 52 to 66.. He sang, his brother and his parents. Oz and Harriet. Believe his last song was Garden Party in 72, good song.
He was a great singer, one of my favorite songs
I concur
Ricky was never a threat to Elvis. He was the clean-cut altered that helped Rock be accepted by adults.
Nelson was more than a teenage idol, although he was that too for a while. "Poor Little Fool", "Lonesome Town", "Travelin' Man", "Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart" are all catchy tunes. He tells a good story of his life in the song "Garden Party" -- "Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air" -- great company, great message too I suppose. Ricky Nelson teenage idol parlayed his fame into a role in the 1959 Howard Hawks classic Rio Bravo alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond. Martin sings "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me". Nelson sings "Get Along Home, Cindy" and the closing theme "Rio Bravo".
Ricky's lead guitarist was the legendary James Burton. When Elvis put together his Las Vegas band in the late '60s, Elvis made sure he had James as the leader of his TCB (Taking Care of Business) Band. Ricky was certainly marketed as the clean-cut opposite of Elvis. Ricky's parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson had a TV sitcom for many years and a fun part of the show was when their young son Ricky would perform a song. I saw Dylan at Madison Square Garden in '86 not long after Ricky died in a plane crash. Midway in the show, Dylan looked up to the sky (although it was indoors of course) and said to Ricky up in heaven, "Ricky, you did a lot of my songs. I'm going to do one of yours now." Dylan then played the beautiful Rick Nelson ballad "Lonesome Town'. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience.
You had to grow up w "Ozzie
and Harriet" to understand
the full love of this guy...!!!
Ricky was a tv star and a singer but never was an Elvis rival. In fact he loved Elvis and there is a video of Ricky actually visiting Elvis birthplace after he died. When Elvis came out there was a 10 year span when Elvis had absolutely no competition Nobody was ever Elvis. I am from the 50's Elvis broke racial barriers and culture barriers. The Beatles were inspired by him. Guitarist Jimi Hendricks love him, Led Zeppelan, Tom Jones, To many to name. See some of the video's of people who loved Elvis.. "Muhammad Ali meets Elvis", " Celebrities that met Elvis". But most of all see the generous humanitarian he was "Elvis Presley King of Kindness". And " Elvis Presley a Generous Heart". Thanks, Be Blessed.
Ricky Nelson was one of the best things ever we watch him grow into a lovely man ozzieand harriet show his sons are the nelsontwins they had hit songs in late 80s show biz family tfs
Garden Party would be his screw the industry song its probally one of the best and he was in movie with john wayne elvis cant say that
You should listen to Ricky sing "Lonesome Town."
That's one of the first 45s that I remember my dad buying and it was my introduction to Ricky Nelson.
Ricky was an Elvis fan but was a television star who went into music years after Elvis, be assured he was no competition or Rival to Elvis.
Ricky or "Rick" as he preferred, was friends with Elvis actually. Elvis would come out to do a Movie in Holly wood, and they had football teams who would play each other. There were rumors that Elvis used to call him "little brother," and yes, the thing that Rick did unintentionally, was bring Rock and Roll into the living room with parent approval thanks to his parents, Ozie and Harriet going along with it, and obviously increasing the sitcom's ratings. His parents at one time were big band stars, Ozzie having his own band and Harriet was the singer. His parents actually had the right approach to it because they appeared to view it as a teenager thing to let off steam, and viewed it as harmless dance music for teenagers, at least as they portrayed it in one episode, thus giving parents some reassurance. Rick was called a Teen Idol, the first time anyone had used that phrase, and he appeared on the cover of Life Magazine, with that title, and with an article. Poor Little Fool is really quite an innocent and lame song, but Rick's Rockabilly songs and covers were great, he was a great singer in many styles, knew how to phrase each line in a song, had a great sounding voice and was very handsome. Actually in my opinion his singing voice became better and better as he aged. His album recording of Since I Don't Have You is outstanding. He was also an actor in his parents' sitcom, could be quite comedic when allowed to, and in big films like Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and The Wackiest Ship in the Army with Jack Lemon.
He was great in Wackyist Ship in the Army a true story of an operation in the South Pacific
Another plane crash tragedy. Dec.31, 1985. My friends and I were partying NYE and we heard the sad news on the radio. He was only 45 yrs old 😓 Travelin Man is my favourite song of his!
Many of those parents who at f8rst detested Elvis, loved and respected him after the army. When they realized that he wasn't given preferential treatment, that he wasn't in the entertainment department of the army, that he was 8n trenches etc they respec5ed and loved h8m.
The Jordanaires are doing the backup vocals. The Jordanaires did a lot of backing vocals for Elvis. So there's that similarity, for sure.
yup, I'd say Ricky was viewed as slightly safer than Elvis and Pat Boone was WAY safer than both of 'em.
A very good looking guy! Clean cut and talented!👏🎶♥️
Thank you for the coverage in regards to this great song. It's a total classic and I would say you're spot on with the laid back look and sound of Elvis but with a much cleaner grounded image. This song is a mix of Americana folky/western-rock. It's the epitome of that era.
Bob Dylan wrote in his new book that Nelson was more instrumental in rock going mainstream than Elvis simply because he was in people’s living rooms on tv playing it every week.
Dylan's book is really interesting. I loved how he wrote about so many different types of artists and music.
On New Years Eve 1985 we went to see George Strait in concert. While we were outside standing in line to be admitted inside there was an announcement over the PA system announcing Ricky Nelson had been killed in a plane crash. It was so very sad
A "safer" Elvis. That's a perfect description! He was very white bread. Rock n roll was new and scary to America. Ricky Nelson was a sanitized version on his parents' popular TV show. He loosened up in later years, but always had to fight that early image to be taken seriously as a musician. He wrote a song called Garden Party about the struggle to be a true rocker.
His dad Ozzie was a band leader, actor, singer, filmmaker. His mother sang with the band. O ne brother David and is the father of actress Tracy Nelson two sons Gunner and Matthew both are musicians.
Ricky started acting on the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio show, in 1949 with his older brother David and his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Ozzie was actually a bandleader and Harriet was the singer for his orchestra until the boys were born.
The show was highly successful and became more so when it was moved to television in 1952. Ricky's biggest early influence was Carl Perkins. He first sang on the TV show in April, 1957. He sang the Fats Domino hit "I'm Walkin" and played the drums. It was the flip side of his first single, "A Teenager's Love", which hit #2 on the charts. He also released his first album that year, which reached #1.
"Poor Little Fool" as release as a single in 1958 and became his first #1 hit single. After that he would sing a song at the end of every few of the TV shows. He had 35 top 40 hits in his career. As others have mentioned, he got frustrated later on when he wasn't taken seriously because of his teen idol image, and wrote a very good song about it called "Garden Party.
A "safer Elvis" is an apt description, especially from the record company's point of view. A lot of areas of the country were very anti rock and roll, especially in the south. There were mass public burnings of Elvis and other rock and roll records. The familiarity and clean wholesome images of singers like Ricky and Pat Boone allowed them to sell rock and roll records that people in those areas found less threatening.
Elvis and Ricky were good friends. In fact, during a 'live' concert recording by Ricky in the 1980s, when he was doing an 'Elvis tune', he introduced it saying, "Here's a song by a reaaly good friend of mine."
In 1977, I attended a performance by Ricky Nelson and his band at the "Exit In" in Nashville, TN. We were seated at a table for 4 less than 3 feet away from a small, elevated stage where Ricky sang, adjacent to the stage where the band performed. I could reach out and touch him. He sang all of his old and new songs but I would say the featured song was "Garden Party". What I remember most is that he wore Silver Lame shoes with elevated heels. The opening performer before Ricky was a young women I had never heard of before that night. Her Name was Jennifer Warnes. You may know her from the movie and song "Officer and a Gentlemen - Up Where We Belong". On that night she brought the house down with her number one hit song "Right Time of the Night". It was a great night in Nashville; we finished up at the "Old Fashioned Pickin Parlor" with some of the best musician in country music. Although no one can compare to Elvis, I consider Ricky Nelson to be a great singer who sounded the same live and in person has he did in a studio. Believe me there can be a huge difference.
Rick Nelson Rocks! He is an all around good versatile singer. He has a good singing voice. He plays good guitar & can sing about anything. He definitely has a large collection of albums & songs throughout his short life.
He was wonderful. By virtue of growing up on a TV show, when he started singing, that was the first music video.
The careers of Elvis and Ricky were both sort of divided by eras. We have the "young Elvis" and the "Older Elvis". We also have the "young Ricky" and the "Older Rick" (with the y dropped from his first name. For the older, more mature Rick, check out his awesome band, "The Stone Canyon Band" and his classic self-penned "bio" song, "Garden Party". I think he and the Stone Canyon Band could have done great things had Rick not perished in the plane crash.
Rick's parents were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Ozzie was a famous band leader and married one of his lead singers, Harriet Hilliard. They were very popular on radio. So popular that in 1952 Ozzie persuaded the ABC tv network to create a weekly comedy series where they would appear as themselves - "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet". Their real-life sons, 15 year old David and 12 year old Ricky appeared as themselves and for the next 14 years (1952 - 1966) the entire country watched David and Ricky grow up and become teenagers and eventually young married men. And we all watched and listened to Ricky becoming a rock and roll star - just about each week he would sing a new song that would be incorporated into that episode's plot. On occasion Ozzie and Harriet would sing as well. The 14 seasons is a record for a situation comedy.
Not so much Ricky's music,but those dreamy eyes were so captivating.He was Cuuute.
Memories of the last family holiday in 1958 to Brightlingsea. Either there or Clacton, I fell in love with a juke box which played 78s. What a rich sound this record had played through those huge speakers 🤩🤩🤩
Watched Ozzie & Harriet as a kid just for Ricky’s singing. I consider these the first music videos on TV.
Yeah, pretty sure I saw Richy Nelson on TV before I was introduced to Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show.
I found this in a post: "From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 top 40 hits, which was more than any other artist at the time, except Elvis.
I think his last hit was Garden Party. My favorite. It's about a concert he did at Madison Square Garden some time after his teen idol phase and how he was dissed by the other, more current performers who didn't take him seriously.
My favorite from Ricky was later in his career, 1969; his cover of Bob Dylan's She Belongs to Me. Bob called Ricky when it became a hit and congratulated him. Dylan was a fan!
Ricky Nelson is probably one of the most underrated singers in American music history. He was the youngest singer ever to have a Number 1 album. From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Presley and Pat Boone. His video of Travelin` Man is considered the first ever music video. He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and its predecessors, between 1957 and 1973, including "Poor Little Fool" in 1958, which was the first number 1 song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart. He recorded 19 additional Top 10 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987. Nelson is widely credited as a forerunner of the California-based country-rock scene of the 1970s. Ricky/Rick sold in excess of 500 million albums, and even today he is ranked the 4th biggest singles seller of all time. The Nelson family (Ricks Father Ozzie Nelson, rock legend Rick Nelson, and Ricks twin sons Matthew & Gunnar) are in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ONLY family in Entertainment with 3 successive generations of #1 hitmakers.
Yes, I guess you could say he was safer. He was part of a long standing musical family. His father Ozzie Nelson was a band leader and Rick and his older brother David grew on on first the families radio show and later the TV show, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" Rick convinced his dad to let him play some songs to see if they could attract younger viewers. Another "family" duo you might consider is "The Collins Kids". Lori Collins played Rickys girlfriend in a number of programs and She sang on the show as well as her little brother, Larry. They were popular in the mid 50's into the 1960's. Sadly Lori passed away a year or so a go. Collins Kids: th-cam.com/video/1Ur7br6Y5CE/w-d-xo.html
The anti elvises were created by our great racists so they would hear the music copied from these great southern black artists.example.pat Boone singing toothy frooty,and a vast array of Bobby's in suits and clean cut .Bobby dee,bobby v.,Bobby darin, he kinda threw a wrench into things,didn't he.😮.
Fun fact: The vocal backing group are the Jordanaires, Elvis' group. Though Ricky Nelson was in Los Angeles far from Nashville, where the Jordanaires had their base.
His dad, Ozzie Nelson, was one sharp businessman. The Ozzie and Harriet Show was a long running and popular show on both radio and television. Once their son Ricky Nelson showed talent, Ozzie came up with music videos years before MTV. Every week, Ozzie made sure that Ricky sang one of his songs on their television show. This video is just one example.
the pretty Great Great Grand Mums!?😎😋😁😍😘
Great and underrated singer
My Mama loved Ricky Nelson she was never an Elvis fan. I believe later in his career, Ricky actually wrote his songs which Elvis never did
Yes he was the all American Boy ! Very clean cut . The whole family were TV stars in the early 1960s . The Nelson Family . The show was very popular . Died Young in a private plane crash . Two of his later songs were very good ! Traveling Man , and Garden Party . Garden Party may have been his last song !
His brother David was my heart throb.
Lonesome Town would a terrific song to review. It has the best of use of reverb of any song which also adds appropriate atmosphere to the song and its lyrics.
My mother talks about that exact thing Elvis and Ricky Nelson were rivals in the way rock band's were in the 80s except with respect also Conway Twitty was in the same league with them he wrote songs for Elvis Presley all the time even some of the big hits check it out 💯👍
Nice, Rick's and Elvis's lead guitarist James Burton is outstanding!
Joe Osborn on bass & James Burton on guitar
At 4:34 into your video that gentleman on the screen was David Nelson, Ricky's older brother. He never had a desire to go into the entertainment business that I am aware of.
Ricky was gorgeous...but he was pretty tame. The entire Nelson family had a squeaky clean image because of the show. I think he carried that over into his music career -- at least in the '50's and '60's.
Elvis was in the Army when Ricky Nelson reached the top of his stardom. He felt like he stole his dress style and hair style. Elvis resented in his absence he stole his style in hair clothes and attempted to resemble his singing style.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO HARRI:
Listen to the song, My Rifle, My Pony, And Me. Believe it or not, it's a great duet with Ricky Nelson & Dean Martin!! The duet is actually from the movie, Rio Bravo, a 1959 western, critically acclaimed & a huge hit that many consider Dean's best performance as an actor. And for it's place in the film, the song is quite unexpected, but it works beautifully!!!
Rick was a "safer alternative", in that he that he ushered in an acceptance, if not respectability, for rock 'n roll by the adult public. Some of this was carefully orchestrated but some of it was natural.
Many American households had watched Ricky grow up on his parents popular television show, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. The Nelsons' All-American values, along with Ricky's familiarity meant that the majority of viewers were at least willing to give his music a listen. That gave Ricky's version of rock 'n roll a toehold with a huge audience.
As a youth Ricky had been quite outgoing, but was quite shy among unfamiliar faces after puberty. While he had a genuine interest in rock 'n roll and becoming a musician, this shyness resulted in very reserved performances, especially when compared to the flamboyant Elvis. His stage presence, with minimal movement, little facial expression and conservative attire was more akin to popular crooners than rock 'n rollers. He didn't gyrate, sneer or play the audience like Elvis. This was undoubtedly a relief to many parents viewing the TV show and made him more palatable than many other rock 'n roll stars.
Still, there was a lot of outcry, to the point where his father created specific episodes to address the impact of rock 'n roll on the nation's teenagers. Ozzie and Harriet's calm, rational approach to the new music convinced many that it would not be the path of destruction for teenage morals.
Ricky's early release tended to emphasize his preference for up-tempo songs. All that changed with the subject song, Poor Little Fool. While Ricky liked the song, he didn't consider it's softer, shuffle beat to be true rock 'n roll and it was originally released only as an EP/LP track. However, when DJs started giving the song significant airplay, his record company retro-actively released it as a single, with Ricky showing his displeasure by exercising his contractual artwork control and having it released in a plain sleeve, rather than the typical picture sleeve. Still, it became his first #1 single, skewing future releases towards more softer songs and even further acceptance by the general public. Today, Golden Oldies radio features primarily Ricky's softer tunes, on the premise that his original audience are now senior citizens. It has done a lot to foster the modern view that Ricky was only a tame Teenage Idol.
Finally, there's the "Monkees Syndrome", with Ricky being an early sample of a pre-fabricated music star. He was good looking and popular, even before entering the record business. If he could sing or be taught to sing, he would be a sure-fire success, especially with the exposure afforded by the TV show. Americans tend to favour musical heroes that work their way up from the bottom and not be handed it overnight, on a silver platter, like Ricky. This stigma has tainted Ricky's reputation, especially since the late 1960s. To many, he's not a true rock 'n roller, and this allocates him to the "safer" category, though at heart he was just as much a rock 'n roller as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis or any of the other seminal rock 'n rollers. His original musical influence was Carl Perkins.
In the end, Ricky and Elvis are distinct personalities and artists. They were friends with each other and did not consider the other to be rivals. However, it's the American way to compare everything, so it's inevitable to compare the two most successful acts of the R'nR genre during the late 1950s. Bill Haley created the spark, Elvis fueled it into a high school bonfire and Ricky brought it into the cozy fireplaces of American homes. But if you needed more heat there was always an up-tempo Ricky Nelson track that could raise the temperature. Just make sure you manage that fire. You just might burn the house down. When given the chance, Ricky could rock with the best of them.
Try "I will follow you"by Rick Nelson, you will enjoy 😎 thanks 👍
People tend to remember Ricky as one of the sons on the TV series OZZIE AND HARRIET, but they tend to forget that he came from such a musical background. Prior to the TV series (and an earlier radio series which starred pro actors as the children as opposed to the real children on TV) Ozzie Nelson was a fairly major Big Band leader and the lead singer of his band was Harriet Hiliard, later his wife Harriet Nelson.
After his “TV heartthrob” period, Ricky became a “rockabilly” musician. At one point he played a nostalgia gig in Madison Square Garden (in New York City). He was booed, because he didn’t look or sing like his heartthrob days. John Lennon was in the audience. Check out the song Ricky wrote about it called “Garden Party”. Highly recommended!
Elvis on Xanax.
Neat stuff.... 'Hello Mary Lou' is probably Rick's most remembered song. Perhaps check out the video of the song, make sure tho it's the one that includes the James Burton ( Elvis' future guitar player) super cool guitar solo....
Ricky was a rival of Elvis. I liked Ricky then Elvis. They were friends, they played football against each other. Ricky was born in 1940 and Elvis was born in 1935. Ricky died in a plane crash when he was 45yrs old. His twins song and look and sound like Ricky. Matthew and Gunner. Play them!!!
Ricky Nelson at one time was second in popularity only to Elvis. This is a 50's song written by Sharon Sheeley the girlfriend of another tragic rocker Eddie Cockran. It was the first song I played in public because it has an easy chord progression. Ricky Nelson along with Dean Martin acted in one of John Wayne's more palatable movies Rio Bravo. He was also in a movie with Jack Lemon - The Wackiest Ship In The Army. I believe he was in a movie with Kirk Douglas as a child. Despite this Hollywood background he was a sincere performer and is credited with pioneering country rock later made famous by people like The Eagles. He was upset at a reception he got in New York; he felt people wanted him to be the same as his 50's period but he was trying to move on and progress musically. He wrote a song about it - Garden Party and the most telling line is ''If memories are all I sang I'd rather drive a truck.'' The guitar player in his original band James Burton ended up playing for Elvis in all those phoney Las Vegas gigs. My favourite song Ricky wrote is Don't Leave Me This Way - James Burton is very cool on that.
He was a safe version of Elvis
Oh it’s called Neil Young Love and War .. profound recording by Daniel Lanois who produced Dylan’s and U2 great albums
He and his family was on a tv series-Ozzie and Harriet that was seen by 50 million people a week. Ricky was a major singing star also. You should check out “Travelin’ Man”.
I remember watching ozzy and harriet so we could hear ricky at the end
A very talented man and family. Rick Nelson had twins that also became rock stars ✨ in the 90s. My oldest son was a fan when he was 13. We took him to a couple of their shows. They were definitely the pretty boys of rock with their long blonde hair and Nelson family good looks. They had a couple of songs that were popular After the Rain, Love and Affection and More than Ever. It would be fun to see you react to one of the songs that made the twins popular.
I came back when I found a video of the twins Matthew and Gunnar and their younger brother Sam singing their dad's song Garden Party as a tribute to him it looks like 13 yrs ago. It's a beautiful tribute.
th-cam.com/video/ShwSZtDdl3M/w-d-xo.html
My older brother had the 45 of this.
See if you can find his traveling man from his folks TV show. Many people consider it the first tv video
James Burton on guitar also played for Elvis
When he was called Ricky as opposed to Rick, he was a "safe Elvis" who, despite recording a fair amount of regrettably insipid stuff, had forged a productive partnership with an all-time-great guitarist, occasionally surprised himself as well as the rest of us by recording a surprisingly tough or serious song, and got a lot of his songs written by a gifted guitar/bass team...now, does all this remind you of a British singer from the same era?
As Rick Nelson he has at least two worthwhile country-style albums to his name - Garden Party and the all-original Rick Sings Nelson (if you disbelieve me, try We've Got Such A Long Way To Go and Let It Bring You Along).
Rick was the one who gave a 17 year old James Burton his start. He recognized great talent. Glen Campbell toured with Rick for some time. Randy Meisner was with him later in The Stone Canyon Band. Paul McCartney wanted to produce an album with Rick but it never happened.
Burton was a well respected and established musician before he met Ricky. Prior to his association with Nelson he had been the house guitarist for the Louisiana Hayride and had recorded with both Dale Hawkins and Bob Luman. While with the latter's back-up band, The Shadows, he had rec'd national exposure in an early rock 'n roll movie, Carnival Rock. Ricky ended up poaching Burton and bassist James Kirkland from Luman, when they were both contracted to Imperial records.
@@t-mar9275"Poached"? Burton continued to play for Luhman during his time with Rick Nelson. Appearing on the Ozzie & Harriet Show, and playing in Nelson's band, gave James the national recognition he deserved.
@@doloreskrisky1670 Burton could work for other people when Ricky didn't need him. However, the Nelsons had him on a $350 per week retainer, so he was at Ricky's beck and call. He got paid a $450 bonus for every TV show appearance. Burton even lived with the Nelsons for about two years, so it's pretty clear where his priorities and loyalty laid at the time.
Golden oldies Ricky nelson looks so young,Eddie Cochrane the best, we had Billy fury, joe Brown, cliff Richard 🎶😁
He's smooth, but he could rock as well. Try Boppin' The Blues, or Believe What You Say
Ricky Nelson grew up in a musical family. He was signed to the Imperial Records (US) label, which was historically a Blues/ R & B record label. “Fats” Domino was signed to the label during the 1950s, and had a lot of major Rock music hits during that period. Signing Nelson to Imperial Records (US) was an attempt by the record label to get more white mainstream music listeners to buy their records.
Bob Dylan loved Ricky
He was an Elvis rival.
Elvis was actually a fan of Ricky. There are several times that you can find where it's documented.
Totally agree...he was a tamer Elvis!! Think that guy on guitar to his left is James Burton who played for Elvis also!!!
Elvis lent out the Jordonaires back up group to Ricky. He really liked Ricky.
Rick had James Burton on guitar..James went to Elvis in the 60$
He was a bit tame compared to Elvis..but they both have one thing in common..his lead guitar player was James Burton, which during the 70's he became Elvis's lead guitar player for his live concerts..
I think it was a more a matter of nepotism than being safer that Elvis. With his parents and his looks, he didn't need talent. Luckily he had it. But he was a huge fan of Elvis'. That's why he wanted to be a musician. There was one scene where he was singing, I remember, his lip started curling up like Elvis'. I think he realizes it was a little obvious, and he just laughs at himself.
Ricky Nelson was an Elvis rival.
Ricky admired Elvis, and Elvis Admired Ricky Nelson, but during that time the Other Record. Company wanted a Cleaner , clean cut Singers , Because of Elvis Presented himself as Rebel like James Dean Character, they presented other Singer like Fabian, who couldn’t barely Sing, Pat Boone, Bobby Vinson, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Goldsboro and a bunch of other Bobbles , and clean Cut Singers.