Doesnt seem possible but he'd be 80 if he was alive today...now recognized as a country rock pioneer, in this clip he's doing Dylan with post-Poco/pre-Eagles Randy Meisner on bass. If you watched Ozzie and Harriet in black and white as a kid , yer gettin' old!

video: [www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-16 04:00 by roryfaninva.

Nice live version of "I Shall Be Released" from 1969-

[www.youtube.com]

The Ozzie and Harriett show was a fixture regarding television viewing in its day. Rick(y) was a heart-throb for a generation of young girls/women. There's much good music to be found in his 50s/60s sides. James Burton plays guitar on any number of these songs. Many of these are in my ongoing music mix.

Watched all the reruns in the late '60's and in to the '70's, amazing that the series ran for a whopping 14 years between '52-'66!.
I recall Traveling Man as it was one of my dad's favorites in the early-mid '60's, and Garden Party from the '72 was also great - I heard it all the time on the radio.
Tragic ending to his life - I recall it being a pretty big story in the mid-'80's w/ all the gossipy speculation involved.

Cool old clip here from '58 of Ricky jamming with James Burton late in to the night:




And Garden Party:




RIP Ricky Nelson.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-16 05:24 by Hairball.

Quote
dmay
The Ozzie and Harriet show was a fixture regarding television viewing in its day.

It was. Huge.

Amazing how that is mostly forgotten. A few years ago, SNL ran an episode from 1979 that was hosted by Rick (during an attempt at a comeback, pushing a new new retro-rock album).

Prior to the beginning of the rerun they inserted a graphic that explained to the modern audiences who Rick Nelson was...that he had been on this "Ozzie & Harriet" TV show back in the 50's. Otherwise many of the references and jokes would fall flat.

As big as the Ozzie & Harriet show was, how could they now be so obscure??


I was fortunate to see Nelson live in August of '85 at a special show taped at the Universal Amphitheatre, where he opened for Fats Domino. Fats tore the roof off the place...one of best nights ever. Rick joined him for "I'm Walkin'"


My favorite bit of Rick Nelson trivia is that one of the big fans of his early hits whom he inspired was Bob Marley.

Got to see him too when I was quite young, my parents were fans. Remember Garden Party and Hello Mary Lou (my mom's name... probably why they liked him, plus my mom swore my dad looked like him when he was younger).

The other thing I remember was the unique looking Leland Sklar on bass.

On Youtube, Paul McCartney sings Lonesome Town in the show he plays with David Gilmour on guitar and Ian Paice on drums.

Loved Rick.
Traveling Man has the Jordanaires.
Tragic early ending.

It was New Years Eve. I was at a party. Someone came in and turned the radio on to the story. What a shock. Bit of a hard life for such a pretty boy. Probably started doing rock and roll to get girls, and it blossomed into something real.

I saw him and his band open for someone sometime at a little place my friend booked for, almost a real garden party, and I thought they were pretty good, for being someone as uncool as Ricky Nelson. The song Garden Party really put it well I think, and I gained a lot of respect for him that day. I think it was the Turtles they opened for, and I got high with Flo and Eddie that day. 'Course they weren't Flo and Eddie at that time just a couple of goofballs.

jb

One of the best. Hi early stuff was terrific, and his later stuff was so good

A lot of folks credit his Stone Canyon Band for starting the whole Country Rock movement (though of course most credit Gram Parsons)

I really enjoy Ricky Nelson’s recordings with James Burton: Believe What You Say, Stood Up, Travelling Man and, of course, Hello Mary Lou.

His Dylan cover 'She Belongs to Me" was awesome--
Garden Party too

Great post. Ricky gets some love on the Outlaw Country Sirius channel (so do the Stones).

Travellin' Man, forgot about that one! Great song.