Ricky Nelson The Jasmine EP Collection
Released September 2024 on Jasmine Records - Home - Jasmine Records (jasmine-records.co.uk)
Reviewed November 2024.
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8th, 1940 - December 31st, 1985) was born with rather more than his fair share of “Star Quality”, and seemed pretty much guaranteed success from the getgo. Having also been gifted with an abundance of natural talent, he was an accomplished singer and performer, proficient on guitar and drums long before he began his recording career. He grew up in public, playing himself in the family’s radio sitcom series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from the age of eight, while in 1952 he appeared in his first feature film, Here Come the Nelsons, by which time the family radio sitcom had successfully switched to TV.
During the early 50s Ricky gradually began to emerge as the show’s principal focus, his catchphrase “I don’t mess around, boy!” soon imposing itself on the public’s consciousness. And by the mid-50s, the show was drawing a weekly audience of around 18,000,000 viewers, by which point Ricky was just about America’s favourite teenager. Yet despite his celebrity status he attended regular schools and grew up pretty much like most of the other kids at Hollywood High, which he attended between 1954-58, and whom he represented at basketball, football and tennis.
The game-changer in Ricky’s life was the arrival of Rock & Roll - or more pertinently, Rockabilly - in the mid-50s. Whilst he’d been largely unimpressed by the likes of Pat Boone and Bill Haley, when Elvis turned up at the party, he cranked it all up to a whole new level. And as well as becoming a huge Elvis fan, he loved the rawness and drive of rural Southern Rockabilly - in particular, more or less anything on Presley’s old label, Sun Records, notably Carl Perkins (who remained Ricky’s lifelong idol), Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Of the local Californian rockers, he related most to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, and he was also soon seduced by the rolling R&B rhythms of New Orleans.
Review
The CD kicks off with a couple of fine rockers from Ricky, a cover of “Boppin’ The Blues” (written and originally recorded by Carl Perkins) and another cover, “If You Can’t Rock Me” originally done by the Strikes. Track 3 “Your True Love” is another composition from Carl Perkins that like tracks 1 and 2 come from Ricky’s first LP and feature Joe Maphis on lead guitar. Track 4, “Shirley Lee” was written and first recorded by Bobby Lee Trammell. Ricky’s version is a good rocker and his lead guitarist is now the legendary James Burton. The tempo drops with “I’m Feelin’ Sorry” at track five, but it picks up again with a fine version of “Down The Line” at track six that features some great guitar work from Mister Burton. Track 8, Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” which although is slightly slower than the Dale Hawkins’ version it is hard for me to pick a winner between the two. Most people will know the mid-60s version of “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. Ricky’s voice suits this ballad well and his version comes from his second LP entitled “Ricky Nelson”, from July 1958 that reached number seven on the American album chart. “There Goes My Baby” at track nine kicks off with a fine guitar intro and James Burton’s finger work drives this rocking track along nicely. The history of the song at track 10, “My Bucket's Got A Hole In It” is unclear but what is certain, it was Hank Williams that first had a hit with it. Ricky’s version however is a rocker as opposed to Hanks more sedate country version.
Moving on to 1959 and Ricky’s third LP we have “Be True To Me”, a nice pop ballad and I think there is a more mature sound to Ricky’s voice. Track 12, “One Of These Mornings” kicks of a slap bass intro and is a good pop rocker that Ricky is so well known for. “Restless Kid” is a country track, penned by Johnny Cash that has all the hallmarks of Johnny’s style. It’s back to the pop rock style for track fourteen, “You Tear Me Up”, and track fifteen “Tryin' To Get To You”. Hank Williams wrote “I Can't Help It” and Ricky delivers a fine version albeit in a pop country style thanks to the backing vocals.
1959 saw another LP from Ricky, his fourth so far for Imperial Records. There are five tracks from this LP here and all of them have that classic Ricky Nelson feel and maybe all could have, or should have, been hits. “You'll Never Know What You're Missing”, “I've Been Thinkin'” which was written by Johnny Burnette, “One Minute To One”, “Blood From A Stone” with a blistering guitar solo from James Burton and the Dorsey Burnette composition “Don't Leave Me”. Track 22 “Mighty Good” was a minor hit for Ricky. His version of “Milk Cow Blues” at track 23 really rocks and again the guitar playing of James Burton is top notch.
In 1961 “Ricky” became “Rick” as the record company sought to change his image to appeal to a wider, more mature audience. Also, given that the heyday of Rock ‘n’ Roll had passed it’s no surprise that Ricky’s recordings changed to more pop orientated styles. However the quality remained and the brilliance of James Burton was a constant feature as can be seen from the remaining tracks on this CD.
Summary and recommendation
I have always been a fan of Mr Nelson whether it be rocking Ricky “Waiting In School” or just plain Rick at the “Garden Party”. Roger Dopson has picked a compilation here that shows the quality and range of one of the most successful artists from the rock and roll era. The sleeve note are informative and worth reading too. A real value for money purchase as is so often the case with the Jasmine catalogue.
Reviewed by Jailhouse John Alexander
Track List
1 Boppin' The Blues
2 If You Can't Rock Me
3 Your True Love
4 Shirley Lee
5 I'm Feelin' Sorry
6 Down The Line
7 My Babe
8 Unchained Melody
9 There Goes My Baby
10 My Bucket's Got A Hole In It
11 Be True To Me
12 One Of These Mornings
13 Restless Kid
14 You Tear Me Up
15 Tryin' To Get To You
16 I Can't Help It
17 You'll Never Know What You're Missing
18 I've Been Thinkin'
19 One Minute To One
20 Blood From A Stone
21 Don't Leave Me
22 Mighty Good
23 Milk Cow Blues
24 My One Desire
25 Everybody But Me
26 Mad Mad World
27 Stop Sneakin' Round
28 There's Not A Minute
29 Poor Loser
30 Thank You Darling
31 I've Got My Eyes On You
32 History Of Love
33 Summertime
34 Oh Yeah, I'm In Love
35 I Need You
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