The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (Nelson) was a popular radio show in the 1940s, and an even more popular television show in the 1950s. It was a family affair. Their son Ricky was a beautiful child, and he grew up famous, or at the very least, well-known. He was talented and pretty. So I suppose it “made sense” he would be a teen idol, but … “teen idols” were a brand new thing when Nelson “hit”. He was the Platonic Ideal of the Teen Idol. The love for him was intense. Like, Leif Garrett intense. IYKYK. He grew up wealthy but his eventual wealth far surpassed his parents.
He was a teenager when Elvis hit, when the Sun rose from Memphis, and young Ricky was heavily influenced by all those people, especially Carl Perkins. He was musically inclined. He played multiple instruments. He thought he’d like to strike out on his own. In 1957 he did. He recorded an album. (This is the Nepo Baby part of the story. He said, “I’d love to record an album” and his dad hooked him up.) He recorded a couple of songs, including Fats Domino‘s “I’m Walkin'”. There were a couple of other songs which hit – like “Teenager Romance” but “I’m Walkin'” hit the charts first – AND he performed it on his parents’ show.
He was just so BEAUTIFUL. The built-in audience for Ozzie and Harriet expanded tenfold, with the teenagers now tuning in by the droves, flipping OUT about this boy they grew up with, who suddenly was this cool ROCK AND ROLL STAR. I’m sure all of this seemed a little bit silly to “real” music fans at the time, fans of, say, Carl Perkins or Johnny Cash. Nelson was “manufactured”, built for the teens, etc. True, sure. But, as he himself expressed in the quote making up the title of this little tribute, his VOICE wasn’t manufactured. His voice is so smooth, liquidy, beautiful to listen to. There’s no strain in his voice. It’s very pure.
Bob Dylan loves Ricky Nelson: Nelson makes a couple of appearances in Dylan’s autobiography:
“He sang his songs calm and steady, like he was in the middle of a storm, men hurling past him. His voice was sort of mysterious and made you fall into a certain mood.”
— Bob Dylan
Cosign, Bob.
The other song “A Teenager’s Romance” seemed programmed to be mainlined into actual teenagers’ veins. And it was. He ALSO performed it on his parents’ television show.
This is just speculation but I think Nelson – even with his talent and his outrageous good looks – even being famous – seemed fairly regular. A kid who went to high school. Played high school football. Had two recognizable parents. Middle-class vibe (even though they were rich). Elvis was exotic. Elvis was Southern. Elvis grew up poor. Elvis was remote, by comparison. He was from the Great Depression. Nelson was strictly post-WWII. Nelson was “one of us”, but with a California gleam. He was a peer. And the teenage girls went absolutely BANANAS.
These couple of hits did so well that Ricky the Rock Star was woven into Ozzie and Harriet, and he performed in almost every episode. He was still only 16-17 years old. A huge star. But still … kind of under his parents’ wing. An “employee” rather than an artist standing on his own two feet. So he put together his own band (cue: James Burton), where he could do more “rock” stuff, where he could hang out with peers, not grown adults looking to capitalize on him. He and James Burton were both teenagers. And hungry. Burton ended up playing with Ricky for the next decade (and played with everyone else too, including, famously, Elvis). Nelson sold more than Elvis in 1958-9. He was huge.
It was the late 50s. Elvis was a movie star. (We always have to state what HE was doing, since he both set the tone and departed from the group.) The Sun guys were branching out into their own thing. Buddy Holly arrived. It was a good time for young hot pop stars, inspired by rockabilly, it was still close to the source in 1957-9. Nelson had good material, too. For the time.
His fan base was super loyal and lasted until his untimely death in 1985. His daughter was on Square Pegs, and I was more aware of her than her dad, of course. I did know “Garden Party” because it was omnipresent on lite-radio. But it made no impression. I just wasn’t aware of the history, although I did somehow absorb the fact that he was famous. I remember the headlines when he died. But remained unaware of who the hell he was.
Then I watched Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks. I can’t remember when I saw it. It was on television. So I was probably in high school. The real start of my intentional movie-watching. I was already a Hawks fan. I had seen His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby, and so I watched Rio Bravo. And fell madly in love with it. And it was then I put it all together. I was like, “ohhhhh so that’s Ricky Nelson. I get it now.” He wasn’t famous because of boring “Garden Party”. He was famous because of stuff like THIS. Hawks had him sing in the film, and it’s a beautiful scene. Everything pauses so we can listen and get pleasure from his voice.
Hawks said in a 1976 interview
People said, “You’re nuts for putting Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo.” He added about two million to the gross. Over in Japan they had Ricky Nelson in the middle of the posters, great big ones, over at the side were Wayne and Dean Martin.
This is the thing with Howard Hawks. I don’t believe anyone said to him, “You’re nuts for putting the biggest Teen Idol in the Western World into your movie.” I just don’t believe it. Hawks always positioned himself as a bold loner, surrounded by naysayers whom he always proved wrong. He’s my favorite director but … Of COURSE Ricky Nelson added to the gross. Of COURSE it pulled the teenagers in. The teenagers weren’t flocking to movies starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. I think it was in one of the interviews Hawks gave to Peter Bogdanovich where he said, “I put him in the movie because I liked listening to him sing. And if you have a good singer in your movie, why wouldn’t you let him sing?” That sounds more like it, at least more believable than a chorus of “You’re nuts”! Come on, Howard.
Probably Nelson’s biggest hit was “Mary Lou”, with a great guitar lick by teenage James Burton.
This reminds me of Keith Richards’ comment:
“I didn’t buy a Ricky Nelson record. I bought a James Burton record.”
Hopeful guitarists paid very close attention to what was going on with the guitarist always hovering at Nelson’s left.
The ’60s left Ricky Nelson behind. He tried to branch out into other styles, he tried to shake off the Teen Idol thing. But in the era of auteurist singer-songwriters, or bands like The Beach Boys … Nelson just couldn’t compete. People wanted him for only one thing. His “persona” was set in stone by the time he was 17 years old. He couldn’t “grow up”. Nobody would let him. Or, at least, that’s how he perceived it.
Ricky Nelson’s heyday so far pre-dates me it feels like ancient history, or at least so far removed from my time I am on the outside looking in. It’s weird: Elvis “rose” just a couple years before Nelson hit – and I have even LESS in common with Elvis, but he doesn’t feel as far away as Nelson does. Somehow. Elvis transcended. He certainly transcended – or at least seriously undercut – the Eisenhower ’50s. And so maybe, along with other rebels like James Dean, I related to his rebellion, his “fuck THIS” about … everything. Nelson didn’t have that. He had artistic ambitions and he put together a great band – obviously – when he was still a teenager, which means he wasn’t just an obedient employee or a lucky son of a celebrity. But … it lacks the edge of danger which Elvis brought, and I was always drawn to danger. And I might not have been an Elvis fan in my teens, but I knew who he was. I didn’t know Ricky Nelson. I knew his KID. Besides, I had my own Teen Idols to track. Loving Ralph Macchio was a full-time job.
But when I hear “I Wanna Be Loved”, basically his “Fever”, I get it completely. I completely understand why his numbers rival/surpass Elvis’, I understand why – for a time – he was one of the biggest stars in the world.
“I Wanna Be Loved” needs no translating, it needs no context. It’s a great track. Spare, stripped away. James Burton doing his thing. The little echo on the track. The perfect sound of Nelson’s voice. Calm and steady, “men hurling past him”. It still puts you in “a certain mood”.
Along with his daughter Tracy, Nelson has twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew, also musicians, devoted to carrying on their dad’s legacy.
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