“You see, ya can't please everyone,
so ya got to please yourself”

Rick Nelson – “Garden Party”

As one of the earliest products of pop culture, Ricky Nelson practically had ‘Teen Idol’ stamped on his forehead at birth.  His role on his parents’ hit sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, was the perfect platform for the young Nelson to parlay his success on screen into a successful career in music.  Though he suffered an untimely death in 1985, Ricky Nelson remains as one of the best-loved and most fondly-remembered of the teen idols. 

With his natural good looks, Ricky caught the attention of many a girl around the U.S.  Though he hadn’t considered following his father with a career in music, legend has it that his girlfriend’s infatuation with Elvis Presley caused him to record a cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’” just to impress her.  Lo and behold, the cover became a hit, peaking out at #4 on the charts, and fans demanded to see more.  At the end of every Ozzie and Harriet episode, Ricky would perform a song, ensuring that the girls would keep tuning in each week.  Throughout the next five years, Nelson would rack up thirty Top 40 hits, including hits such as “Be Bop Baby” and “Hello Mary Lou,” as well as some softer ballads like “Poor Little Fool,” “Travelin’ Man,” “Teenage Idol” and of course, the sparse and haunting “Lonesome Town.”

Just after the start of the 60s, a more mature Ricky dropped the “y” from his name – though fans didn’t always comply.  Later in the decade, Nelson found continued success on pop hits like the shimmy-inducing “Fools Rush In” and the mid-tempo hit “For You.”  He also turned a corner, musically, by adding in some country flavor of his own, and with the help of others, eventually recording alongside the likes of Willie Nelson and Buck Owens. 

In 1966, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ended its 14-year television journey, and the following year, Ricky appeared for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show.  In addition to his outstanding recording career, Ricky Nelson went on to appear in a number of films and television programs, including the TV legend Saturday Night Live, and the films Rio Bravo, The Wackiest Ship in the Army and Love and Kisses. 

Nelson’s unique country-rock sounds inspired what would later be known as the ‘California Sound,’ influencing the works of Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and bands such as The Eagles.  Though he proved himself influential, during this time he wasn’t having the easiest time with being commercially successful.  In 1970, he recorded a cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me” and in 1972, following an incident at Madison Square Garden when he was booed by audiences that disagreed with his choice to play his new songs, rather than his old hits of the previous two decades, he wrote his last big hit, “Garden Party.”  Ironically, “Garden Party” went into the Top 10, and Nelson continued recording and performing whatever he wanted to. 

His fans were saddened by the sudden death of Ricky Nelson, who was killed in a plane crash while he was on tour in the South.  Though he is missed by fans the world over, he left behind a body of work to be enjoyed for generations to come.