Eric Hilliard "Ricky" or “Rick” Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist.
His fame as both a recording artist and television star also led to a motion picture role co-starring alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Angie Dickinson in Howard Hawks's western feature film Rio Bravo (1959). He placed 54 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and its predecessors between 1957 and 1973, including "Poor Little Fool" in 1958, which was the first number one song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart. He recorded 17 additional top ten hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987. In 1996, Nelson was ranked No. 49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. After recording several albums with mostly session musicians, most of which flopped, he formed the Stone Canyon Band in 1969 and experienced a career resurgence, buoyed by the live album In Concert at the Troubadour, 1969 and had a surprise hit with 1972's "Garden Party", which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. His comeback was short-lived, however, as his record label was bought out and folded, and his followup albums were not well promoted by his new label. He continued to perform live and take small television roles through the 1970s, though his label dropped him by the end of the decade. He released two more albums, with unimpressive results, before his death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve, 1985.
Nelson was married once, to Sharon Kristin Harmon, from 1963 until their divorce in 1982. They had four children: actress Tracy Nelson, twin sons and musicians Gunnar and Matthew, and actor Sam.
Early life
Nelson was born on May 8, 1940, in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Ozzie Nelson was a Rutgers alumnus and keen on college education, but eighteen-year-old Ricky was already in the 93 percent income-tax bracket and saw no reason to attend. At age thirteen, Ricky was making over $100,000 per annum, and at sixteen he had a personal fortune of $500,000 ().
Nelson's wealth was astutely managed by his parents, who channeled his earnings into trust funds. Although his parents permitted him a $50 allowance at the age of eighteen, Ricky was often strapped for cash and one evening collected and redeemed empty pop bottles to gain entrance to a movie theater for himself and a date.
Music career
Debut
Nelson played clarinet and drums in his tweens and early teens, learned the rudimentary guitar chords, and vocally imitated his favorite Sun Records rockabilly artists in the bathroom at home or in the showers at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. He was strongly influenced by the music of Carl Perkins and once said he tried to emulate the sound and the tone of the guitar break in Perkins's March 1956 Top Ten hit "Blue Suede Shoes".
At age sixteen, he wanted to impress his girlfriend of two years, Diana Osborn(e), who was an Elvis fan and, although he had no record contract at the time, told her that he, too, was going to make a record. With his father's help, he secured a one-record deal with Verve Records, an important jazz label looking for a young and popular personality who could sing or be taught to sing. On March 26, 1957, he recorded the Fats Domino standard "I'm Walkin'" and "A Teenager's Romance" (released in late April 1957 as his first single),
- Nelson dies in 1996 in Paul Levinson's 2024 novel It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, chapter 8.
- Hall of Fame baseball player Rickey Henderson was named Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson after Ricky Nelson.
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|1967
|Hondo
|Jesse James
|— "Hondo and the Judas"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1967
|Malibu U.
|Himself (Host)
|recurring role (6 episodes)
|-
|1969
|The Over-the-Hill Gang
|Jeff Rose
|TV movie
|-
|1969
|The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
|Himself (Musical Guest)
|— "Michele Lee, George Lindsey, Rick Nelson"
|-
|1970
|The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
|voice role
|Short Film
|-
|1970
|Swing Out, Sweet Land
|Confederate Soldier
|TV special about U.S. history
|-
|1970
|The Johnny Cash Show
|Himself (Musical Guest)
|— "1.30"
|-
|1970
|The Everly Brothers Show
|Himself
|— "1.9"
|-
|1970
|The Merv Griffin Show
|Himself (Musical Guest)
|— "Pat Pausen, Rick Nelson, Alex Dreier, Charo, Sidney Sheldon"
|-
|1972
|Fol-de-Rol
|The Minstrel
|TV movie<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1972
|McCloud
|Jimmy Roy Taylor
|— "The New Mexican Connection"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1972–74
|Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
|Vic / Gar Kellerman
|2 episodes<br/>— "Victim in the Shadow" (1972)<br/>— "A Foreigner Among Us" (1974)<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1973
|The Streets of San Francisco
|William T. "Billy" Jeffers
|— "Harem"
credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1973
|Easy to Be Free
|Himself
|
|-
|1974
|Petrocelli
|Country Boy White
|— "Music to Die By"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1974
|Sonic Boom
|Jess of the Van
|Short Film<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1977
|Tales of the Unexpected
|Sonny Blue
|— "A Hand for Sonny Blue"
|-
|1977
|The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
|Tony Eagle
|— "The Flickering Torch Mystery"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1978
|The Love Boat
|Ted Wilcox / Alex Fowler
|— "Memories of You / Computerman / Parlez Vous?"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1978
|Three on a Date
|Bob Oakes
|TV movie
|-
|1979
|Saturday Night Live!
|Himself (Host / Musical Guest)
|— "Ricky Nelson / Judy Collins"<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|-
|1981
|CBS Library
|Skeeter
|— "A Tale of Four Wishes"
|-
|1984
|High School U.S.A.
|Principal Pete Kinney
|TV movie<br/>credited as Rick Nelson
|}
Notes
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References
External links
- Rick/Ricky Nelson's official website
- Rockabilly Hall
- Ricky Nelson interviewed on The Pop Chronicles (recorded November 17, 1967)
- Ozzie and Harriet Nelson papers at the American Heritage Center