Ricky / Ricky Nelson

by Rick Nelson

Product Description:

2 LPs on 1 CD: RICKY (1957)/RICKY NELSON (1958).

Personnel includes: Ricky Nelson (vocals, guitar); James Burton, Howard Roberts, Joe Maphis, Bob Bain, James Kirkland (guitar); Ozzie Nelson, Roger Renner, Gene Garf, Don Ferris (piano); George "Bud" DeNaut, Ray Siegel (bass); Earl Palmer, Richie Frost (drums); Jordanaires (background vocals).

Producers: Rick Nelson, Ozzie Nelson, Jimmie Haskell.

Compilation producers: Bob Hyde, James Ritz.

Includes liner notes by James Ritz.

Digitally remastered by Bob Fisher (2001).

True fans of early roots rock & roll are likely to sneer at Ricky Nelson. With little to run on but his teen-idol good looks and his high-profile popularity from his starring role on OZZIE AND HARRIET, Nelson started making records at 17 years of age. Though he didn't show an overwhelming amount of talent at the outset, he proved a quick study, and even his very first album, RICKY, has some strong moments. The fare is rockabilly-styled pop, and while it clocks in hipper than Pat Boone, it doesn't touch the hem of Elvis Presley or Carl Perkins.

Nelson had learned a lot by his self-titled second album, however; the smoking session players, famed Sun Studios guitarist James Burton among them, help a lot. The band pushed the star to rock harder, but what stands out here is Nelson's voice, which comes across with greater confidence, and is already moving toward the dreamy, crooning style he would later perfect. Both albums are collected here in a twofer, and while they shouldn't be placed alongside Jerry Lee Lewis in the annals of early rock & roll, they are fine examples of polished, late-50s pop-rock.