Biography of Rick Nelson

Ricky Nelson made it a little safer for "respectable" American teenagers to rock. When 16-year-old Ricky cut his debut single in 1957 -- a timid cover of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'," allegedly on a dare from his girlfriend -- the sneering image of Elvis Presley was still taboo in many households. Nelson, the nonthreatening, cleancut youth, commanded the perfect vehicle for spreading his rocking message -- his family's beloved TV sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. With a genuine passion for Sun-style rockabilly and the searing lead-guitar work of Joe Maphis initially and later the brilliantly inventive James Burton (from "Believe What You Say" on), Ricky signed with Imperial later in 1957. He waxed one incendiary rocker after another, including "Stood Up," "Waitin' in School," and "It's Late." He introduced them via those TV airwaves, thus ensuring gold record status well into the '60s.As the demand for unrelenting rock & roll slowly faded, Ricky's sound softened as well, with smoother material such as "Never Be Anyone Else But You" in 1959 and his 1961 chart-topper "Travelin' Man." A much-publicized name switch to Rick on his twenty-first birthday reflected that maturity.But Nelson never forgot his roots, not even during the lean mid-'60s on Decca, when he ran dry of fresh material and revived too many old Tin Pan Alley standards that should have stayed buried. Returning triumphantly to the top in 1972 with the introspective Garden Party, Rick Nelson proved emphatically that he was more than just another teen-idol hunk, right up to his fatal plane crash on New Year's Eve of 1985.Like his idols at Sun, this kid was born to rock -- and showed America that it was no sin. ~ Bill Dahl