Rick Nelson was an American singer-songwriter, who originally emerged out of the rock 'n' roll era as a teen idol, scoring nineteen top-ten hits between 1957 and 1973.
Ricky Nelson had a good head start to his music career, as he was born into a musical family (his father Ozzie was a big band leader, and his mother Harriet a singer). Not only that, but his parents starred in their own radio sitcom, The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet. Ricky joined the show himself in 1949 at age eight, and the show made the move to TV in 1952. In 1957 he told a friend that he was going to make a record to impress her, and then with his father's help he was signed to Verve for a one-record deal. He then made his musical debut on the TV show, performing Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'", and earned himself a host of devoted teenage fans. His single ("A Teenager's Romance" backed with "I'm Walkin'") was released shortly afterwards and made it to #2. His music career had begun!He was then signed to Imperial Records, where he recorded his first album aged just seventeen. He then formed his own band with musicians his own age, including electric guitarist James Burton. He had three more Top 10 hits, and then hit #1 with "Poor Little Fool" (incidentally it was the first #1 single on the newly-created Billboard Hot 100 chart).
Nelson went on to have a total of thirty Top 40 hits from '57 to '62, making him one of the most successful musicians of the rock & roll era. However he began to feel unhappy with his 'teen idol' image, and in 1961 changed his recording name from Ricky to Rick, signalling his growing maturity and desire to be viewed as a 'serious artist' rather than just a pop star. His last big hit of the 60s was 1963's "For You", and from that point onwards his commercial fortunes dwindled as the changes happening in music throughout the decade left him somewhat behind. He spent many years in the wilderness, unsure of his musical direction, until he finally made a comeback of sorts in the early 70s with a maturer country-rock style.
This compilation covers his early years, when he was at his commercial peak and seen as one of the young stars of the rock & roll genre. Includes such classics as "Poor Little Fool", "Hello Mary Lou", "Travelling Man", "It's Late", "Young World" and "Teenage Idol".
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