Rick Nelson

Rick Nelson was so much more than a ’50s TV star/teen idol – he was a man with multiple musical personalities, even in the early days. Sure, he lit a flame in young girls’ hearts across the nation with his photogenic mug and perfectly crafted pop hits like “Hello Mary Lou,” but he was also the proto-Chris Isaak, his haunted croon and solitary-man sorrow spilling out onto the streets of “Lonesome Town.” Nelson was a rockabilly cat too — one of his biggest hits was the fierce, rockin’ rave-up “Stood Up,” a minute and 52 seconds of raw electricity. And that’s not even counting his later days of turning early Dylan (“She Belongs to Me”) into classy country-rock and getting a bit Dylanesque himself on his 1972 comeback pop smash “Garden Party.”

Hear Nelson grow up before your very ears — evolving from heartthrob to heavyweight — in Next Steps.

It was a long journey from Ricky Nelson, teen-dream pinup boy, to Rick Nelson, grown-up balladeer, but every step along the way was a worthwhile one. You can bet Rick picked up a thing two from Dean Martin when he acted and sang alongside him in Howard Hawks’ 1959 classic Rio Bravo — just listen to him croon with Dino on the lonesome-cowboy song “My Rifle, My Pony and Me.” Hearing Nelson’s boyish bravado as he rips into the ’50s rockabilly romp “Waitin’ In School,” it’s hard to predict that he’d grow into the mature songsmith behind the sophisticated 1970 country-pop ballad “Easy to Be Free,” a tune on par with anything Jimmy Webb was penning in his peak period.

Listen in as Rick Nelson gets knee-deep in country-rock, in Deep Cuts.

As if all his other accomplishments weren’t enough, Rick Nelson was also a country-rock pioneer, leading his Stone Canyon Band through a series of sessions that blended early-’70s SoCal mellow with an earthy twang and a peerless pop knack. Nelson was no cowboy-come-lately either — he’d already cleared a path by cutting straight-country albums in the ’60s, turning out terse, tight two-steps like the bayou-bound “Louisiana Man.” Moving into the ’70s, the pealing steel guitar and sweet, sunny harmonies on “One Night Stand” can stand up proud next to anything from the Poco/Eagles crowd, and Nelson even opens up the window to let in a little light from above on the gospel-tinged “Thank You Lord.”

Sadly, Rick Nelson didn’t stick around long enough to show the world everything he was capable of, but boy, did he make the most of his 45 years on this Earth. He was just a teenager when he achieved all most kids would want from life — multi-media pop stardom. But that couldn’t satisfy Nelson’s seeking artistic soul, and he pushed forward in an awe-inspiring musical evolution that found him moving from pop and rockabilly to country, folk-rock, and more, all in the time it takes most men to master just one style. His was a dizzying trail to keep track of, but you’re in luck — we’ve assembled the ultimate Rick Nelson experience, tapping into everything from his ’50s teen-pop blockbusters to his ’70s country-rock nuggets. These are the crucial moments in the career of a man whose final hit, “Garden Party,” said it all with hard-won wisdom: “You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself.”