RICK NELSON'S 1ST ALBUM (EXPANDED)

Original Released on LP Imperial IR LP 9048

(US, November 1957)

RICK NELSON (born May 8, 1940; died December 31, 1985)

He was an early teen idol who had a considerable amount of talent to complement his blue-eyed good looks. On television, he and his older brother David acted out their real-life roles as the sons of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. As a rock-and-rolling teenager on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Rick Nelson practically grew up in the nation’s living rooms. For a period of years, beginning in 1957, each episode would conclude with a song by Ricky and his band. Many teenagers tuned into the show because of him, and these performances - a harbinger of the kind of impact MTV would have decades later by bringing popular music to TV - helped keep Ozzie and Harriet on the air until 1966. Nelson was a handsome Fifties teen idol who wore his hair in a fashionable flat-top with a ducktail. For his musical debut, he did an Elvis Presley impersonation on Ozzie and Harriet in order to impress a high-school sweetheart who had a crush on Presley. Thereafter, Nelson became a self-contained rock and roller in his own right. His principal influences were Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. On Presley’s side, the feeling was apparently mutual, as he told guitarist James Burton that he never missed an episode. For his first recording, Ricky cut a double-sided smash: “A Teenager’s Romance” backed with Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’". Both songs made the Top Five shortly after the single’s release in April 1957, instantly launching Nelson’s musical career. He was all of sixteen years old, and this was just the beginning.

All totaled, Nelson would score three dozen hits, making him one of the most successfully prolific of all rock and rollers. Even though his role on TV had been the launch pad, he more than made the grade as a rock and roller. As unlikely as it may seem, he turned out to be the real thing: a mellow-voiced singer/guitarist with an instinctive feel for the country-rooted side of rockabilly. Moreover, he had good taste in musicians, hiring guitarist extraordinaire James Burton as the mainstay of his band. With his arsenal of expert rockabilly licks, Burton brought serious credibility to Nelson’s musical endeavors. His less frantic brand, more poppy brand of rockabilly went down easily with America’s suburban teenagers. After the success of his first two singles on Verve, Nelson quickly signed to the Imperial label, where his hit streak extended into the early Sixties. This is Rick Nelson's first album for the new label with 11 bonus tracks, which includes the singles he recorded for Verve.

DANIEL BACELAR: His Song Of Life

RICK NELSON: "LONESOME TOWN"

Foi exactamente com um single que me mandaram da América com “Lonesome Town / I Got a Feeling” que esta desgraça começou. Rick Nelson foi um dos mais importantes expoentes e produtivos exemplos do bom pop rock americano. Tinha todas as condições para ser um grande "chacha" e um "one hit wonder" devido ás suas origens, mas transformou-se num icon admirado e respeitado pelos seus pares pela sua contribuição á musica americana e não só. Esteve sempre em constante evolução até ao dia em que o seu avião se "espetou" na fronteira do Texas e toda a gente foi para o "galheiro"com muita pena minha pois estava previsto conhecê-lo pessoalmente cerca de dois meses depois. AZARES!!!

*

There's a place where lovers go

To cry their troubles away

And they call it Lonesome Town

Where the broken hearts stay

[Lonesome town]

*

You can buy a dream or two,

To last you all through the years

And the only price you pay

Is a heart full of tears

[Full of tears]

*

Goin' down to lonesome town,

Where the broken hearts stay,

Goin' down to lonesome town

To cry my troubles away.

*

In the town of broken dreams,

The streets are filled with regret,

Maybe down in lonesome town,

I can learn to forget.

[To forget]

*

Maybe down in lonesome town,

I can learn to forget,

[Lonesome town]

RICKY NELSON: EP "Lonesome Town"

Original released on EP Polydor 27 701 Med

(FRANCE, 1958)

RICK NELSON - Young Emotions (1960)

EP Verve EPV 5048 (US, 1957)

RICK NELSON:

"A TEENAGER'S ROMANCE"

Inicialmente foi editado um single, o 1º single do Rick Nelson, com os temas “I’m Walkin’” e “A Teenager’s Romance”. Mas naquela sessão de gravação de 26 de Março de 1957, realizada entre as 19.00 e as 22.30, na Master Recorders, 535 Fairfax Avenue, Hollywood, California, foi ainda gravado mais um tema, “You’re My One And Only Love”. Dado o grande sucesso do single, a editora resolveu “alargá-lo” para um EP. Como só tinham aqueles três temas resolveram completar o disquinho com um instrumental, “Honey Rock”, fabricado pelo produtor Barney Kessel, que tinha produzido os outros temas. A mesma editora, Verve, lança simultâneamente um LP intitulado “Teen Time”, com vários artistas e onde incluem também os citados três temas.
Entretanto Rick muda de editora assinando contrato com a Imperial Records, a qual pretende adicionar ao seu catálogo os primeiros temas interpretados pela sua nova estrela. Cria-se deste modo um diferendo, só resolvido em tribunal a favor da Imperial Records. Resultado: a Verve viu-se obrigada a retirar do mercado tanto o EP como o LP, além de ter sido obrigada a pagar uma choruda indemnização à Imperial e ao próprio Rick Nelson.
Este EP, cujas capas aqui reproduzidas foram gentilmente cedidas pelo Daniel Bacelar, é portanto um autêntico collector’s item, do qual existem muito poucos exemplares em todo o mundo.