Hey my 'lil rockers!  We're still in the 1950's, the First Decade of Rock And Roll and talking about the early pioneers of rock music.  This next artist was born Eric Hilliard Nelson on May 8th, 1940 to Ozzie and Harriet Nelson of Teaneck, New Jersey.  We would come to know this Jersey Boy as 1950's teen idol, Ricky Nelson.  Ricky was the second son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson (nee Peggy Louise Snyder).  Ricky, his mother and older brother David moved to Englewood, NJ while father Ozzie toured with The Nelson Orchestra.  The Nelsons moved to Hollywood after living in Tenafly, NJ for about six months when Ozzie got the family a spot on the famed Red Skelton Show (aired from 1937-1971).  Ricky stayed behind to live with his paternal grandmother but was sent for a few months after the family settled in Camino Palmeroin in Los Angeles, CA.  As a child, Ricky suffered from severe asthma which made his early life difficult. Ricky was most known for appearing and singing on his family's show, "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet".  "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet" first aired on 10/8/44 as a radio show.  At first, David and Ricky were played by child actors until 12 year old David and 8 year old Ricky made their debut as well, themselves on 2/20/49 in the episode entitled "Invited To Dinner".  Ozzie became the head writer for the show and based all the episodes on the fraternal exploits and eminity of his sons.   In 1952, Ricky appeared in his first film called "Here Come The Nelsons" also starring his father, mother and brother David.  After the film, Ozzie Nelson was convinced that he and his family could easily make the transition from being a radio show to a television show.  So, on 10/3/52 "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet" aired on television.  By 1957, "The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet" was now a hit television show which was among the craze for families of the 1950's.  Families were so facinated by television and all the new shows that they were glued to it constantly and with that came the advent of "T.V. Dinners" which families religiously ate while watching all of their favorite shows.  In 1958, Ricky had the #1 selling album simply entitled "Ricky".  One of his first hit singles was "Poor Little Fool" which was written by 17 year old Sharon Sheely (future song writer for and girlfriend of rocker Eddie Cochran) was on that album and would prove to be among one of his most famous songs.  In 1959, Ricky received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Male Newcomer after starring in the western "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne and Dean Martin.  At this time Ricky made appearances in other movies as well.  "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet" was canceled on 9/3/66 and became the longest running sitcom ever.  As Ricky grew more famous not only as an actor but as a musician, he would close the show with musical performances about two to three times a week.  Well, you can imagine how this made the teenage girls of the day just go wild for young Ricky with his dreamy looks and combination of acting and singing talent. Ricky attended Hollywood High School and was a stand out football player and tennis player.  Twenty-five years later, Ricky told L.A. Weekly that he "hated school because it smelled of pencils and I had to wake up early in the morning"! (1).  At Hollywood High, Ricky was blackballed by the Elksters.  The Elksters were a fraternity of about a dozen conservative sports loving teens who thought Ricky was too wild ("Well alright", Ricky!).  Many of these "Elksters" were friends of Ricky's who would always be at the Nelson home playing basketball and lounging around the pool.  Um, users much?!  It was then in retalliation that Ricky joined "The Rooks", a greaser car club (remember, that was the "P.C." term for a gang in the '50's) who were side burned sporting high school teens clad in leather jackets and motorcycle boots.  This makes me picture Fonzie from "Happy Days" here!  Ricky followed suit and tattooed his hands, wrist and shoulder with India Ink and a sewing needle.  He also slicked his hair back with oil and went out at night with The Rooks to Hollywood Boulevard and randomly harassed and beat up passers by!  Ricky was jailed twice for being involved with The Rooks and their juvenile deliquent antics as well.  Ricky escaped arrest for assault on an officer through the intervention of his father.  His parents became concerned about his juvenile deliquency and what it would do to the image of the show if it ever came out into the open.  The Nelsons made certain that Ricky was no longer a member of the gang.  Ozzie was a Rutgers alumni and wanted Ricky to attend college.  At this time, 18 year old Ricky was already in the 93% income bracket and so Ozzie changed his mind about Ricky going to college.  At 13 years old, Ricky made over $100,000 and at 16 he had $500,000 in his personal bank account which was a fortune at that time for anyone!  His parents took Ricky's money and put it into trust funds so that their son could not be the typical teenager and spend his money all over the place. They gave him an allowance of $50 a week at 18 years old (Oh golly gee, a whole $50 for Ricky!)!  Ricky was always strapped for cash and even once collected soda bottles to get into a movie for himself and a date!  Ricky never did learn to effectively manage his money.

Ricky learned to play the clarinet and drums in his early teen years on his own and through lessons.  He also learned basic guitar chords at this time and proved to be a good guitarist as well.  He taught himself to sing by immitating his favorite Rockabilly artists in his bathroom at home or in the shower of the Los Angeles Tennis Club.  I guess the acoustics really are better in the shower!  His earliest influence was Rockabilly singer, Carl Perkins.  It was said that Ricky first tried to imitate the sound and tone of the guitar break in Perkins' 1/56 hit, the original version of "Blue Suede Shoes".  Of course, we would come to know the popular version sung by Elvis.  With his father's help, Ricky got a recording deal with Verve Records.  Verve Records was an important jazz label that was looking for a young and popular individual personality who could sing or who could be taught to sing.  On 3/26/57, Ricky recorded Fats Domino's song "I'm A Walkin'", "A Teenager's Romance" as well as "You're My One And Only Love".  All three songs were released in 4/57 as his first singles.  Before the singles were released, Ricky made his singing debut on his parent's television show on 4/10/57 lip synching "I'm A Walkin'" on an episode entitled "Ricky The Drummer".  At the same time Ricky made an unpaid public performance at Hamilton High School in L.A. as a singer for a school lunch assembly with a local group called The Four Preps.  Ricky was greeted by hoards of screaming teens who saw the episode he made his singing (well, lip synching) debut on.  A Rock And Roll lunch assembly at a high school?!  The '50's must have been awesome because we didn't have that at West Orange High School were I graduated from in 1997!  "I'm A Walkin'" reached #4 on the Billboard Best Sellers In Stores Chart.  The flip side, "A Teenager's Romance" hit #2.  On the summer break of the T.V. series in '57, Ricky made his first road trip and played for state and county fairs in Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  He played with his group The Four Preps who also opened and closed for him.

Early in the summer of 1957, Ozzie pulled Ricky from the Verve label after disputes over royalties.  This seems to have been a common problem between managers/producers and performers in the '50's, huh?!  Ricky was then signed to a five year deal with Imperial Records that gave him complete say over the song selections, artwork on the record sleeves and other production details.  His first Imperial Records single was "Be-Bop Baby" which generated 750,000 advanced orders and sold over a million copies.  It reached #3 on the charts at that time as well.  I think I'm in the wrong business!  His first album "Ricky" that was released in 10/57 and it hit #1 before the end of the year.  After these first successes, he was given a more prominent role on his parent's show which led him to end every two or three episodes with musical numbers.  Ricky grew dissatisified with his performances with older jazz session musicians who openly hated Rock And Roll.  After his Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin tours of '57, he formed his own band with members of his own age.  He first hired James Burton (then 18 years old) an electric guitar player.  Burton is a now a famous guitarist who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001 as well as into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame.  He could be heard playing back up for such artists as Bob Luman, Dale Hawkins, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Denver, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis, Claude King, Elvis Costello, Joe Osborn, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, Vince Gill and Allen "Puddler" Harris.  When Burton was first signed, he lived with the Nelson family for two years.  Next hired were bassist James Kirkland, drummer Richie Frost and pianist Gene Garf to complete Ricky's band.  Ozzie forbade suggestive lyrics and titles for songs and made it known to his son and his band.  Many late night recording sessions were interrupted by Ozzie which led to a lot of hiding beer and cigarettes before he could see what they were up to!  Elvis' back up singers, The Jordanaires also worked for Ricky on some of his releases but by Elvis' orders were not to be permitted credit on Ricky's albums.

In 1958 Ricky recorded 17 year old Sharon Sheeley's "Poor Little Fool" for his second album "Ricky Nelson" released in June of that year.  Radio airplay brought the song notice and Imperial suggested releasing it as a single.  Ricky opposed the idea believing that a single would dimminish EP sales.  When a single was released nonetheless, he had contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed pictures for record sleeves or anything else involving his music.  On 8/4/58 "Poor Little Fool" became #4 on the newly instituted Hot 100 Singles Chart.  It sold over 2 million copies.  Ricky hated the song so much that he refused to perform it on his parent's show.  Sheeley claimed he ruined her song by slowing the tempo(2).  Rock And Roll music was virtually unaccepted with the adult members of society.  It has been discussed in past articles that adults thought that Rock And Roll music was the music of the Devil. Parents were also afraid it would make their teenagers more inclined to experiment with sex with the new dance called the bop which was associated with this new sound and the "suggestive" (well, what they deemed suggestive for the time) lyrics.  Ricky stirred the pot by stating, "Anyone who knocks Rock And Roll either doesn't understand it, or is prejudiced against it or is just plain square"!(3).

In 1958 and 1959 Ricky placed 12 hits on the charts in comparison to Elvis' 11.  Remember, Elvis was in Germany at this time serving in the U.S. Army.  During the sitcom's run, Ozzie Nelson, either to keep his son's fans tuned into their show or as an affirmation of reputed behind the scenes persona as control personality kept Ricky from appearing on other T.V. shows that could have enhanced his career even more.  American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show were two shows in particular that Ozzie did not want Ricky to perform on.  That's all good and well because our friend Ed Sullivan hated Rock And Roll so much that he probably would have pulled out Ricky's connection to his amp just as he did to Buddy Holly when he performed the hated Rock And Roll on his show!  To quote Ricky, I guess old Ed was a "square"!  In the summer of '58 Ricky had his first full scale tour and averaged $5,000 nightly.  By 1960, the Ricky Nelson International Fan Club had about 9,000 chapters around the world!  "Well, alright" Ricky!  Ricky was then quoted as saying that, "The most embarrassing moment in my career was when six girls tried to fling themselves under my car and shouted to me to run over them!  That sort of thing can be very frightening"!(4).  Ricky was the first teen idol to utilize T.V. to promote hit records.  Ozzie Nelson even had the idea to edit footage to create some of the first music videos (after The Big Bopper's idea of course!).  You can see the creative editing in videos Ozzie produced for "Travelin' Man" on YouTube.com by clicking:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0janfcZ8LUw&feature=related.

On 5/8/61, his 21st birthday he officially changed his recording name from Ricky Nelson to Rick Nelson.  Excuse us, Rick!  In 1963 he signed a 20 year contract with Decca Records (the same company whose early producers tried to ruin Buddy's big break with trying to make "That'll Be The Day" a country song instead of the Rock And Roll they hated, smart company huh?!). After early successes with the label, most notably with 1964's "For You" (Hot 100 #6), Rick's career came to a dramatic halt in the wake of the British Invasion.  In the mid 60's he moved mosltly toward country music and became a pioneer in the Country-Rock genre.  He was an early influence of the "California Sound" which included Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and bands like "The Eagles".  Rick didn't reach the Top 40 again until 1970 when he recorded Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me" with his Stone Canyon Band. In 1972 he reached the Top 40 once more with "Garden Party", a song he wrote in disgust after a performance at Madison Square Garden where he was booed for performing his new songs instead of his old hits! He was asked to do an encore despite the boos and he came back out and performed "Travelin' Man" and received a standing ovation!  "Garden Party" reached #6 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart.  The song was certified as a gold single and the second release from his album, "Palace Guard" reached #65 on the charts.  At this time, Rick played mostly in nightclubs and was backed by my cousin's orchestra, The Glen Ross Orchestra when he played the Jersey Shore.  "Well alright", cousin Glen!  

Rick finally appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967 and no, Ed did not pull out the connection to Rick's amp like he did to Buddy about 9 years before!  He also appeared on other T.V. shows usually in acting roles.  In 1973 he had an acting role on the show "The Streets Of San Francisco" in which he played the part of a hippie flute-playing leader of a harem of prostitutes!  In 1979 he guest hosted on Saturday Night Live in which he spoofed his sitcom image by appearing in a "Twilight Zone" send-up in which he was always trying to "go home" and finds himself among other characters from other '60's/ early '60's era sitcoms like "Leave It To Beaver", "Father Knows Best", "Make Room For Daddy" and "I Love Lucy".  From 1957-62 Ricky had 30 Top 40 hits, more than any other artist besides Elvis (53) and Pat Boone (38).  Many of his early records were double sided hits with both the A and B sides hitting the Billboard Charts.  Rick preferred Rockabilly and up tempo rock songs like his "Believe What You Say" (Hot 100 #4), "I Got A Feeling" (Hot 100 #10), "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" (Hot 100 #12 and my most favorite song title! Okay, Ricky!), "Hello Mary Lou" (Hot 100 #9), "It's Late" (Hot 100 #9), "Stood Up" (Hot 100 #2), "Waitin' In School" (Hot 100 #18), "Be Bop Baby" (Hot 100 #3) and "Just A Little Too Much" (Hot 100 #9).  

At this time, Rick was now with MCA who dropped him because he failed to have any more hits after "Garden Party" and "Palace Guard".  As a result, Rick began to get very involved in drugs.  He was a regular user of marijuana in his early career and buried his stash in his yard and was an avid supporter of its legalization!  He then tried  mescaline (a type of acid), became a regular cocaine user and carried the drug in an empty ginseng capsule.  Rick could never manage his money.  He and his soon to be ex wife Sharon Kristin Harmon (daughter of football star Tom Harmon and actress Elyse Knox as well as older sister of Kelly and Mark Harmon) bought Errol Flynn's (another relative of mine- I guess we can play the Six Degrees Of Rick Nelson to Classic Rock Examiner Kristen game here!) estate for an estimated $750,000!  Rick and Kristin (her middle name she went by) divorced in 1982.  He divorced Kristin and had four children: Tracy, identical twins Matthew and Gunnar and Sam.  Matthew and Gunnar, you would remember as the band Nelson in the early '90's who had hits with the songs "I Can't Live Without Your Love And Affection", "After The Rain" and "Only Time Will Tell".  After the divorce he got involved with cocaine addict Helen Blair.  They both entered the classic pattern of codependency of typical addicts.  It grew so bad that friends and family urged Rick to get help.  On 3/25/81 Rick had another son born named Eric Jude Crewe by another girlfirend, Georgeanne Crewe.  In 1985 a paternity test was called for and it was proven that little Eric was indeed Rick's son.  Rick refused to make anymore Jersey Shore appearances due to Georgeanne Crewe following him to a concert date with the child and pressing for the test.  Rick agreed to give her $400,000 a month in child support and sadly wanted nothing to do with the child because he thought of Georgeanne as psychotic.  In his final years he got involved with Helen Blair who was a part time model and exotic animal trainer at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.  Miss. Blair was originally from South Orange, NJ.  I guess once a Jersey boy always a Jersey boy! I guess Rick went back to his roots with a Jersey girl!  She became his live in girlfriend in 1982 just after his divorce from Kristin Harmon.

It has been said that Rick hated to fly but refused to travel by bus (who could blame him, apparently bus tours proved to be terrible back then huh?).  In 5/85 he purchased a private plane which was a luxurious 14 seat DC-3 that belonged once to the DuPont family and then to Jerry Lee Lewis.  The plane was plauged with annoying mechanical problems.  In one incident, the band had to push the plane off a runway after the engine blew!  Another incident in September of '85 a malfunctioning spark plug kept Rick and his band from performing at the first Farm Aid Concert in Champainge, Illinois.  There were rumors that the band dreded boarding the $138,000 aircraft which were later refuted howerver, Rick's personal co-pilot, Ken Ferguson stated there "were no areas of major safety concerns" with the plane (5).  The day of Christmas in1985, Rick and his band left for a three stop tour of the Southern U.S.  Following shows in Orlando, FL and Guntersville, AL, Rick and the band boarded the plane for a New Year's Eve Extravaganza in Dallas, TX. Eeirly, the last song that Rick ever sang before leaving for Dallas was Buddy Holly's "Rave On".  His last words said publicly were to his audience at the end of the show when he told them to "Rave On For Him". The plane crashed north east in DeKalb, TX at approximately 5:14 p.m. CST on 12/31/85.  Seven were killed: Rick, his fiancee Helen Blair, bassist Patrick Woodward, drummer Rick Intveld, keyboardist Andy Chapin, guitarist Bobby Neal and road manager/soundman Donald Clark Russell.  Pilots Ken Ferguson and Brad Rank escaped via the cockpit windows though Ferguson was severely burned.  I was just 6 years old when the crash occurred.  I remember being at a family friend's New Year's Eve party when the news broke.  All the adults called the kids into the T.V. room and I remember seeing pictures of the burned plane.  I also remember the adults becoming upset because Rick Nelson was a part of their childhoods, especially for my father.  He was a big Rick Nelson fan and also because Rick was sort of affiliated with our family by my cousin Glen Ross and his orchestra at the Jersey Shore.  Although I never met Rick or never saw him perform, I remember being sad as well because I knew how much my father respected him as an artist.  Rick's remains were lost in transit from Texas to California delaying the funeral for several days.  On 1/6/86 250 mourners entered the Church Of The Hills for services for Rick while 700 gathered outside.  Attendees included "Colonel" Tom Parker (Elvis' manager), Connie Stevens, Angie Dickinson and dozens of actors, musicians and writers.  Rick was buried privately in the Forest Lawn Hollywood HIlls Cemetary in Los Angeles by his family.  

The National Transportation Safety Board performed a year long investigation into the fatal crash and finally stated that the crash was due to mechanical problems.  The pilots attempted to land in a field after smoke filled the cabin.  Examination of the plane indicated that the fire originated in the right hand side of the aft cabin (cabin towards the back/ tail region) area or near the floor line.  The passengers were killed when the aircraft struck obsticles during the forced landing.  The ignition fuel sources of the fire could not be determined.  The pilot indicated that the crew tried to turn on the gasoline cabin heater repeatedly before the fire occurred but that it failed to respond.  After the fire, the access panel to the heater compartment was found unlatched.  The theory supported by records that DC-3's in general and this DC-3 in particular had a previous history of problems with the cabin heaters.  It was said that some of the passengers survived the forced landing and that their bodies were found near the exit door and Rick's body was huddled over the body of his fiancee seeming that he was trying to protect her from the fire.  You can view the report of the crash by going to:  http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X38383&key=1.

Let's discuss Rick's musical style, shall we?  Rick had lessons on the clarinet and drums as a kid but was a self taught guitarist.  Like Buddy Holly, he was shown basic chords and took it from there.  Rick, like so many other rockers of the day had a tenor voice.  Like Elvis he was perfect for singing ballads and could do opera if he chose with having a tenor voice.  A tenor's voice is the highest of all the male singing voices.  The typical tenor voice lies between (C3), the C one octave below middle C to the A above middle C (A4) in choral music, and up to high C (C5) in solo work. The lowest extreme for tenors is about B flat 2 (two B flats below middle C).  The highest extreme, some tenors can reach up to is two F's above middle C (F5).  You can hear Rick's vocal range in his ballads such as "Travelin' Man", "A Teenager's Romance", "Poor Little Fool", "Young World", "Lonesome Town", "Sweeter Than You", "Never Been Anyone Else But You", "It's Up To You" and "Teenage Idol" (which was most likely written about Rick himself).

Rick was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987 and as well as the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame located at 1515 Vine Street in Hollywood.  Along with music recording's other participants, Rick earned an '87 Grammy Award for "Best Spoken Word Album" for "Interviews From The Class Of '55 Recording Sessions".  On the 20th anniversary of Rick's death, PBS did "Ricky Nelson Sings", a documentary featuring interviews with his children, James Burton and Kris Kristofferson. This video can be found at Amazon.com by clicking:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ricky+nelson+sings&x=0&y=0.   On 12/27/05 EMI Music released the album entitled "Ricky Nelson's Greatest Hits" which peaked at #56 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.  This album and other Rick Nelson albums can be found at Amazon.com.

On New Year's Eve of 1985, some claimed it was "The Day The Music Died...Again".  Ever since Don McLean made this statement in his song "American Pie", it has become more and more of a falicy.  The music only dies when the artist and his/her music are completely forgotten.  Just like Buddy, Ritchie, The Bopper, Elvis and many more, Rick will never be forgotten.  Whenever his music is played, he is remembered.  Whenever someone watches one of his movies, he is remembered.  Whenever someone watches reruns of "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet", he is remembered. Whenever someone buys one of his albums, he is remembered.  Whenever someone sees his daughter Tracy acting on televison, he is remembered.  Whenever someone sees or hears his twins Matthew and Gunnar's songs or their appearances on televison, he is remembered.  Whenever I hear my dad swear that he was the next  "King Of Rock And Roll" and how he accidentally stepped on my father's foot when he was 10 years old at a Jersey Shore concert, he is remembered!  This original Jersey boy will never be forgotten because Rick is still "A Travelin' Man".

 You can check out a headline news story on Rick the day after the fatal crash on YouTube.com by clicking:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZxYAB2Wcg&feature=related.

Okay my 'lil rockers!  Until next time, "Rave On"!

(1) Credit from Selvin53

(2) Credit from Bashe91

(3) Credit from "New Musical  Express" Pop Music Magazine 11/58

(4) Credit from "New Musical Express" Pop Music Magazine 5/60

(5) Credit from Bashe261