Rick Nelson

The Garden Party is usually regarded as Rick Nelson's comeback album, but two years before its release, this live album peaked just below the Top 50, hardly a blockbuster but a lot better than anything he'd issued in three years, and his first charting album in all of that time. The tracks are a mix of the more enduring of his classic hits and some of the newer songs he was adding to his repertory, including a trio of Bob Dylan compositions and Tim Hardin's "Red Balloon." The performance is excellent, Nelson reveling in this newly cultivated audience and sound, which was as up-to-date in 1969 as "I'm Walkin'" had been in 1957, but the real beauty of this record is the debut of the Stone Canyon Band – Randy Meisner on bass and backing vocals, Allen Kemp on lead guitar, Patrick Shanahan at the drums, and Tom Brumley on steel guitar.

Rick Nelson was one of the very biggest of the '50s teen idols, so it took awhile for him to attain the same level of critical respectability as other early rock greats. Yet now the consensus is that he made some of the finest pop/rock recordings of his era. Sure, he had more promotional push than any other rock musician of the '50s; no, he wasn't the greatest singer; and yes, Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and others rocked harder.

Nelson was a child prodigy, born into a showbiz family, his father Ozzie was a bandleader and his mother Harriet was the singer. They had their own radio show & subsequent TV show, The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, in which Nelson featured with his brother David. Nelson appeared in his first film aged 7.A 'Teenage Idol' of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Nelson gained 9 gold records by the age of 21 in 1961. His single, 'Travelin' Man', was a huge #1 hit that year, selling over 2 million copies. The flip-side 'Hello, Mary Lou' went on to be his biggest hit ever, reaching #1 in 32 countries.

Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985), known professionally as Ricky Nelson until his 21st birthday when he officially dropped the "y" and simply became Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter. His discography comprises 24 original studio albums, one original live album, various compilation and archival projects, and 94 singles.
Rick Nelson was one of the very biggest of the 1950s teen idols, so it took awhile for him to attain the same level of critical respectability as other early rock greats. Yet now the consensus is that he made some of the finest pop/rock recordings of his era. Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and others may have rocked harder, but Nelson was extraordinarily consistent during the first five years of his recording career, crafting pleasant pop-rockabilly hybrids with ace session players and projecting an archetype of the sensitive, reticent young adult with his accomplished vocals. He also played a somewhat underestimated role in rock & roll's absorption into mainstream America — how bad could rock be if it was featured on one of America's favorite family situation comedies on a weekly basis?

Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985), known professionally as Ricky Nelson until his 21st birthday when he officially dropped the "y" and simply became Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter. His discography comprises 24 original studio albums, one original live album, various compilation and archival projects, and 94 singles.
Rick Nelson was one of the very biggest of the 1950s teen idols, so it took awhile for him to attain the same level of critical respectability as other early rock greats. Yet now the consensus is that he made some of the finest pop/rock recordings of his era. Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and others may have rocked harder, but Nelson was extraordinarily consistent during the first five years of his recording career, crafting pleasant pop-rockabilly hybrids with ace session players and projecting an archetype of the sensitive, reticent young adult with his accomplished vocals. He also played a somewhat underestimated role in rock & roll's absorption into mainstream America — how bad could rock be if it was featured on one of America's favorite family situation comedies on a weekly basis?

Rick Nelson was one of the very biggest of the '50s teen idols, so it took awhile for him to attain the same level of critical respectability as other early rock greats. Yet now the consensus is that he made some of the finest pop/rock recordings of his era. Sure, he had more promotional push than any other rock musician of the '50s; no, he wasn't the greatest singer; and yes, Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and others rocked harder. But Nelson was extraordinarily consistent during the first five years of his recording career, crafting pleasant pop-rockabilly hybrids with ace session players and projecting an archetype of the sensitive, reticent young adult with his accomplished vocals.

Rick Nelson achieved his first comeback in the spring of 1961 with the double-sided hit "Travelin' Man"/"Hello Mary Lou," and he made it last into 1962 by tapping "Travelin' Man" songwriter Jerry Fuller for the further hits "A Wonder Like You" and "Young World." Nelson did not hold recording sessions for LPs per se, but rather assembled his albums from a series of sessions. In a sense, this meant that a disc like Album Seven by Rick tended to consist of tracks that hadn't already been chosen as singles, presumably because they were deemed weaker than the ones that were picked.