Post by erik on May 29, 2021 17:46:46 GMT -5
After many years in obscurity because of the British Invasion, former teen idol Rick Nelson made a comeback in the late 1960's and early 1970's in the country-rock genre. One of his most underappreciated songs of that time frame is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
EASY TO BE FREE (Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band; Decca; 1970)—While it may have seemed a little too easy for Rick(y) Nelson to have been a success as a teenage idol, because of his TV success on his parents’ TV show, in fact he wanted to have success apart from it, to prove he could be his own man. Indeed, from 1957 to 1963, his pop/rockabilly style distinguished him from other teen idols of the time in that he was neither as “threatening” as Elvis, nor as bland as, say, Frankie Avalon or Fabian. Hits like “Stood Up”, “It’s Late”, “Traveling Man”, “Poor Little Fool”, “Fools Rush In”, “I’m Walkin’” (a rockabilly-style version of the Fats Domino classic), and the semi-cynical “Teenage Idol” made Nelson a serious contender. But then 1964 came around, and so too did a revolution in rock and roll—one that was coming from Britain, in the form of four lovable mop-tops named The Beatles, and their fellow Brits. Nelson’s career went into something of a tailspin for several years because of that. But one of his long-time backing musicians, guitar guru James Burton, encouraged Nelson to record a series of long-standing country-and-western classics. And while the two albums he made in this genre, 1966’s Country Fever and 1967’s Bright Lights And Country Music, were by no means as big as what he had done prior to the British Invasion, they nevertheless gave Nelson a path forward. These albums were made with such L.A-based musicians as Burton himself, and soon-to-be-superstar Glen Campbell (then a session musician in the famous Wrecking Crew). Inspired by the country-rock of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and Poco, Nelson, with up-and-coming producer John Boylan, formed the Stone Canyon Band to expand on the artistic successes of the previous albums. With a line-up that included future Eagles (and former Poco) bassist Randy Meisner, and pedal steel guitar giant Tom Brumley (of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos), Nelson scored a solid #33 hit in January 1970 with his cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me” (which Dylan heartily approved of). But Nelson’s songwriting acumen also cropped up on the follow-up single, the Byrds-influenced folk/country-rock song “Easy To Be Free”, where he tapped into certain elements of Dylan’s stream-of-consciousness style of writing. While it only peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1970, it nevertheless became a fan favorite right up until his tragic demise on New Year’s Eve 1985.
EASY TO BE FREE (Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band; Decca; 1970)—While it may have seemed a little too easy for Rick(y) Nelson to have been a success as a teenage idol, because of his TV success on his parents’ TV show, in fact he wanted to have success apart from it, to prove he could be his own man. Indeed, from 1957 to 1963, his pop/rockabilly style distinguished him from other teen idols of the time in that he was neither as “threatening” as Elvis, nor as bland as, say, Frankie Avalon or Fabian. Hits like “Stood Up”, “It’s Late”, “Traveling Man”, “Poor Little Fool”, “Fools Rush In”, “I’m Walkin’” (a rockabilly-style version of the Fats Domino classic), and the semi-cynical “Teenage Idol” made Nelson a serious contender. But then 1964 came around, and so too did a revolution in rock and roll—one that was coming from Britain, in the form of four lovable mop-tops named The Beatles, and their fellow Brits. Nelson’s career went into something of a tailspin for several years because of that. But one of his long-time backing musicians, guitar guru James Burton, encouraged Nelson to record a series of long-standing country-and-western classics. And while the two albums he made in this genre, 1966’s Country Fever and 1967’s Bright Lights And Country Music, were by no means as big as what he had done prior to the British Invasion, they nevertheless gave Nelson a path forward. These albums were made with such L.A-based musicians as Burton himself, and soon-to-be-superstar Glen Campbell (then a session musician in the famous Wrecking Crew). Inspired by the country-rock of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and Poco, Nelson, with up-and-coming producer John Boylan, formed the Stone Canyon Band to expand on the artistic successes of the previous albums. With a line-up that included future Eagles (and former Poco) bassist Randy Meisner, and pedal steel guitar giant Tom Brumley (of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos), Nelson scored a solid #33 hit in January 1970 with his cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me” (which Dylan heartily approved of). But Nelson’s songwriting acumen also cropped up on the follow-up single, the Byrds-influenced folk/country-rock song “Easy To Be Free”, where he tapped into certain elements of Dylan’s stream-of-consciousness style of writing. While it only peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1970, it nevertheless became a fan favorite right up until his tragic demise on New Year’s Eve 1985.