Important Information

Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) — known as Ricky Nelson, later also as Rick Nelson — was an American actor, musician and singer-songwriter.
He starred alongside his family in the television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66), as well as co-starring alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in Howard Hawks's western feature film, Rio Bravo (1959).
He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973 including "Poor Little Fool" which holds the distinction of being the first #1 song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart.
He recorded 19 additional Top 10 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987.
In 1996, he was ranked #49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.Nelson began his entertainment career in 1949 playing himself in the radio sitcom series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
In 1952, he appeared in his first feature film, Here Come the Nelsons.
In 1957, he recorded his first single, debuted as a singer on the television version of the sitcom, and released the #1 album entitled Ricky.
In 1958, Nelson released his first #1 single, "Poor Little Fool", and in 1959 received a Golden Globe nomination for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" after starring in Rio Bravo.
A few films followed, and when the television series was cancelled in 1966, Nelson made occasional appearances as a guest star on various television programs.Nelson and Sharon Kristin Harmon were married on April 20, 1963, and divorced in December 1982.
They had four children: Tracy Kristine, twin sons Gunnar Eric and Matthew Gray, and Sam Hilliard.
On February 14, 1981, a son (Eric Crewe) was born to Nelson and Georgeann Crewe.
A blood test in 1985 confirmed that Nelson was the child's father.
Nelson was engaged to Helen Blair when both were killed in an airplane crash on December 31, 1985.DebutNelson 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 a friend who was an Elvis Presley 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), and "You're My One and Only Love".Before the single was released, he made his television rock-and-roll debut on April 10, 1957, lip-synching "I'm Walkin'" in the Ozzie and Harriet episode "Ricky, the Drummer".
About the same time, he made an unpaid public appearance as a singer at a Hamilton High School lunch hour assembly in Los Angeles with the Four Preps and was greeted by hordes of screaming teens who had seen the television episode."I'm Walkin'" reached #4 on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores chart, and its flip side, "A Teenager's Romance", hit #2.
When the television series went on summer break in 1957, Nelson made his first road trip and played four state and county fairs in Ohio and Wisconsin with the Four Preps, who opened and closed for him.First album, band, and #1 singleIn early summer 1957, Ozzie Nelson pulled his son from Verve after disputes about royalties and signed him to a lucrative five-year deal with Imperial Records that gave him approval over song selection, sleeve artwork, and other production details.
Ricky's first Imperial single, "Be-Bop Baby", generated 750,000 advance orders, sold over one million copies, and reached #3 on the charts.
Nelson's first album, Ricky, was released in October 1957 and hit #1 before the end of the year.
Following these successes, Nelson was given a more prominent role on the Ozzie and Harriet show and ended every two or three episodes with a musical number.Nelson grew increasingly dissatisfied performing with older jazz session musicians, who were openly contemptuous of rock and roll.
After his Ohio and Minnesota tours in the summer of 1957, he decided to form his own band with members closer to his age.
Eighteen-year-old electric guitarist James Burton was the first signed, living in the Nelson home for two years.
Bassist James Kirkland, drummer Richie Frost, and pianist Gene Garf completed the band.
Their first recording together was "Believe What You Say." Rick selected material from demo acetates submitted by songwriters.
Ozzie Nelson forbade suggestive lyrics or titles, and his late-night arrival at recording sessions forced band members to hurriedly hide their beers and cigarettes.
The Jordanaires, Elvis Presley's backup vocalists, worked for Nelson but at Presley's behest were not permitted credit on Nelson's albums.In 1958, Nelson recorded 17-year-old Sharon Sheeley's "Poor Little Fool" for his second album, Ricky Nelson, released in June 1958.
Radio airplay brought the tune notice, and Imperial suggested releasing a single, but Nelson opposed the idea, believing a single would diminish EP sales.
When a single was released nonetheless, he exercised his contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed a picture sleeve.
On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" became the #1 single on Billboard's newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart and sold over two million copies.
Nelson so loathed the song that he refused to perform it on Ozzie and Harriet.
Sheeley claimed he ruined her song by slowing the tempo.
More generally, Nelson statedAnyone who knocks rock 'n' roll either doesn't understand it, or is prejudiced against it, or is just plain square.
– NME – November 1958During 1958 and 1959, Nelson placed twelve hits on the charts in comparison with Presley's eleven (it should be remembered that the latter was then serving in Germany with the U.S.
Army).
During the sitcom's run, Ozzie Nelson, either to keep his son's fans tuned in or as an affirmation of his reputed behind-the-scenes persona as a controlling personality, kept his son from appearing on other television shows that could have enhanced his public profile, American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show in particular.
In the summer of 1958, Nelson conducted his first full-scale tour, averaging $5,000 nightly.
By 1960, the Ricky Nelson International Fan Club had 9,000 chapters around the world.Perhaps the most embarrassing moment in my career was when six girls tried to fling themselves under my car, and shouted to me to run over them.
That sort of thing can be very frightening! – NME – May 1960Nelson was the first teen idol to utilize television to promote hit records.
Ozzie Nelson even had the idea to edit footage together to create some of the first music videos.
This creative editing can be seen in videos Ozzie produced for "Travelin' Man." Nelson finally did appear on the Sullivan show in 1967, but his career by that time was in limbo.
He also appeared on other television shows (usually in acting roles).
In 1973, he had an acting role in an episode of The Streets of San Francisco in which he played the part of a hippie flute-playing leader of a harem of young prostitutes.
In 1979, he guest-hosted on Saturday Night Live, spoofing his television sitcom image by appearing in a Twilight Zone sendup in which, always trying to go "home," he finds himself among the characters from other 1950s/early 1960s-era sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Make Room for Daddy, and I Love Lucy.Nelson knew and loved music and was a skilled performer even before he became a teen idol, largely because of his parents' musical background.
Nelson worked with many musicians of repute, including James Burton, Joe Osborn, and Allen "Puddler" Harris, all natives of Louisiana, and Joe Maphis, The Jordanaires, Scotty Moore, and Johnny and Dorsey Burnette.From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Presley (who had 53) and Pat Boone (38).
Many of Nelson's early records were double hits with both the A and B sides hitting the Billboard charts.While Nelson preferred rockabilly and uptempo rock songs like "Believe What You Say" (Hot 100 #4), "I Got a Feeling" (#10), "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" (#12), "Hello Mary Lou" (#9), "It's Late" (#9), "Stood Up" (#2), "Waitin' in School" (#18), "Be-Bop Baby" (#3), and "Just a Little Too Much" (#9), his smooth, calm voice made him a natural to sing ballads.
He had major success with "Travelin' Man" (#1), "A Teenager's Romance" (#2), "Poor Little Fool" (#1), "Young World" (#5), "Lonesome Town" (#7), "Never Be Anyone Else But You" (#6), "Sweeter Than You" (#9), "It's Up to You" (#6), and "Teenage Idol" (#5), which clearly could have been about Nelson himself.Film actorIn addition to his recording career, Nelson appeared in movies, including the Howard Hawks western classic Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Walter Brennan (1959), plus The Wackiest Ship In the Army (1960) with Jack Lemmon and Love and Kisses (1965) with Jack Kelly.Name ChangeOn May 8, 1961 (his 21st birthday), he officially modified his recording name from "Ricky Nelson" to "Rick Nelson." His childhood nickname proved hard to shake, especially among the generation who had watched him grow up on "Ozzie and Harriet." Even in the 1980s, when Nelson realized his dream of meeting Carl Perkins, Perkins noted that he and "Ricky" were the last of the "rockabilly breed."In 1963, Nelson signed a 20-year contract with Decca Records.
After some early successes with the label, most notably 1964's "For You" (#6), Nelson's chart career came to a dramatic halt in the wake of The British Invasion.In the mid 1960s, Nelson began to move towards country music, becoming a pioneer in the country-rock genre.
He was one of the early influences of the so-called "California Sound" (which would include singers like Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt and bands like the Eagles).
Yet Nelson himself did not reach the Top 40 again until 1970, when he recorded Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me" with the Stone Canyon Band, featuring steel guitarist Tom Brumley and Randy Meisner before the Eagles formed."Garden Party"In 1972, Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with "Garden Party", a song he wrote in disgust after a Madison Square Garden audience booed him, because, in his mind, he was playing new songs instead of just his old hits.
When he performed the Rolling Stones', "Honky Tonk Women," he was booed off the stage.
He watched the rest of the performance on a TV monitor backstage and quietly left the venue without taking a final bow for the finale.
He wanted to record an album featuring original material, but the single was released before the album because Nelson had not completed the entire Garden Party album yet.
"Garden Party" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and was certified as a gold single.
The second single released from the album was "Palace Guard" which peaked at #65.Nelson was with MCA at the time, and his comeback was short-lived.
Nelson's band soon resigned, and MCA wanted Nelson to have a producer on his next album.
His band moved to Aspen and changed their name to "Canyon." Nelson soon put together a new Stone Canyon Band and began to tour for the Garden Party album.
Nelson still played nightclubs and bars, but he soon advanced to higher-paying venues because of the success of Garden Party.
In 1974 MCA was at odds as to what to do with the former teen idol.
Albums like Windfall failed to have an impact.
Nelson became an attraction at theme parks like Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland.
He also started appearing in minor roles on television shows.Nelson tried to score another hit but did not have any luck with songs like "Rock and Roll Lady." With seven years to go on his contract, MCA dropped him from the label.Nelson studied karate, earning a brown belt before going on to learn Jeet Kune Do under Dan Inosanto.
Inosanto described Nelson as a "good martial artist for those times."Personal lifeIn 1957, when Nelson was 17, he met and fell in love with Marianne Gaba, who played the role of Ricky's girlfriend in three episodes of Ozzie and Harriet.
Nelson and Gaba were too young to entertain a serious relationship, although according to Gaba "we used to neck for hours." The next year, Nelson fell in love with 15-year-old Lorrie Collins, a country singer appearing on a weekly telecast called Town Hall Party.
The two wrote Nelson's first composition, the song "My Gal," and she introduced him to Johnny Cash and Tex Ritter.
Collins appeared in an Ozzie and Harriet episode as Ricky's girlfriend and sang "Just Because" with him in the musical finale.
They went steady and discussed marriage, but their parents discouraged the idea.At the age of 45, Nelson said the only girl he ever really loved was involved with him for two years in the late 1950s.
After she became pregnant and had a nearly fatal abortion, she married another man.Kris HarmonAt Christmas 1961, Nelson began dating Sharon Kristin "Kris" Harmon (born June 25, 1945), the daughter of football legend Tom Harmon and actress Elyse Knox (née Elsie Kornbrath) and the older sister of Kelly and Mark Harmon.
The Nelsons and the Harmons had long been friends, and a union between their children held great appeal.
Rick and Kris had much in common: quiet dispositions, Hollywood upbringings, and high-powered, domineering fathers.They married on April 20, 1963.
Kris was pregnant, and Rick later described the union as a "shotgun wedding." Nelson, a nonpracticing Protestant, received instruction in Catholicism at the insistence of the bride's parents and signed a pledge to have any children of the union baptized in the Catholic faith.
Kris Nelson joined the television show as a regular cast member in 1963.
They had four children: actress Tracy Kristine Nelson, twin sons Gunnar Eric Nelson and Matthew Gray Nelson who formed the band Nelson, and Sam Hilliard Nelson.By 1975, following the birth of their last child, the marriage had deteriorated and a very public, controversial divorce involving both families was covered in the press for several years.
In October 1977, Kris filed for divorce and asked for alimony, custody of their four children, and a portion of community property.
The couple temporarily resolved their differences, but Kris retained her attorney to pursue a permanent break.
Kris was contentious and jealous.
Both spent enormous sums of money: Kris on parties, Rick on renting a private Lear jet.
Nelson had a tremendous sexual appetite and a casual attitude toward sex, once estimating he had had sex with thousands of women.
Kris wanted Rick to give up music, spend more time at home, and focus on acting, but the family enjoyed a recklessly expensive lifestyle, and Kris's extravagant spending left Rick no choice but to tour relentlessly.
The impasse over Rick's career created unpleasantness at home.
Kris became an alcoholic and left the children in the care of household help.
After years of legal proceedings, they were divorced in December 1982.
The divorce was financially devastating for Nelson, with attorneys and accountants taking over $1 million.
Years of legal wrangling followed.Georgeann CreweOn May 16, 1980, Nelson met Georgeann Crewe at the Playboy Resort in Great Gorge, New Jersey.
Crewe later claimed she felt "an attachment, an immediate attraction" to Nelson.
Crewe unsuccessfully attempted to contact Nelson several times to let him know that she was pregnant, and on February 14, 1981, she gave birth to Nelson's son, Eric Jude Crewe.
In 1985, a blood test confirmed Nelson was the father, but Nelson was not interested in Crewe or their son.
He declined to meet with them to the point that he avoided playing concerts in Atlantic City.
Although Nelson agreed to provide $400 a month in child support, he did not provide for the child in his will.Helen BlairIn 1980, Nelson met Helen Blair, a part-time model and exotic animal trainer, in Las Vegas.
Within months of their meeting, she became his road companion, and in 1982 she moved in with him.
She was the only woman he dated after his divorce.Blair acted as personal assistant to Nelson, organizing his day and acting as a liaison for his fan club, but Nelson's mother, brother, business manager, and manager disapproved of her presence in his life.
He contemplated marrying her but eventually declined.
Blair died with Nelson in the airplane fire.
Her name was never mentioned at Nelson's funeral.
Blair's parents wanted their daughter buried next to Nelson at Forest Lawn Cemetery, but Harriet Nelson dismissed the idea.
The Blairs refused to bury Helen's remains and filed a $2 million wrongful death suit against Nelson's estate.
They received a small settlement.
Nelson did not provide for Blair in his will.Drug useNelson used marijuana early in his musical career, and became a regular user.
He buried his stash in his yard.
He supported marijuana's legalization.
He tried mescaline and was a regular cocaine user, carrying the drug in an empty ginseng capsule.During the Nelson divorce proceedings, he was accused by his wife's attorney of using cocaine, quaaludes, and other drugs, and of having "a severe drug problem" encouraged by his managers, his entourage, and his groupies.
The attorney noted that Nelson's "personal manager" secured drugs for Nelson, that wild parties took place in his home whether he was present or not, and that his children, aware of his drug use, were in great physical danger from drugged persons entering and exiting the house at all hours.
Following Nelson's divorce, while he was involved with Helen Blair, his drug use grew so dire that friends urged him to seek treatment for substance abuse.Traces of cocaine, marijuana, and the painkiller Darvon were found in Nelson's blood in tests conducted after his death.DeathNelson dreaded flying but refused to travel by bus.
In May 1985, he decided he needed a private plane and leased a luxurious, fourteen-seat, 1944 Douglas DC-3 that had once belonged to the DuPont family and later to Jerry Lee Lewis.
The plane had been plagued by a history of mechanical problems.
In one incident, the band was forced to push the plane off the runway after an engine blew, and in another incident, a malfunctioning magneto prevented Nelson from participating in the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois.On December 26, 1985, Nelson and the band left for a three-stop tour of the Southern United States.
Following shows in Orlando, Florida, and Guntersville, Alabama, Nelson and band members boarded the DC-3 in Guntersville and took off for a New Year's Eve extravaganza in Dallas, Texas.
The plane crash-landed northeast of Dallas in De Kalb, Texas, less than two miles from a landing strip, at approximately 5:14 p.m.
CST on December 31, 1985, hitting trees as it came to earth.
Seven of the nine occupants were killed: Nelson and his companion, Helen Blair; bass guitarist Patrick Woodward, drummer Rick Intveld, keyboardist Andy Chapin, guitarist Bobby Neal, and road manager/soundman Donald Clark Russell.
Pilots Ken Ferguson and Brad Rank escaped via cockpit windows, though Ferguson was severely burned.Nelson's remains were misdirected in transit from Texas to California, delaying the funeral for several days.
On January 6, 1986, 250 mourners entered the Church of the Hills for funeral services while 700 fans gathered outside.
Attendees included 'Colonel' Tom Parker, Connie Stevens, Angie Dickinson, and dozens of actors, writers, and musicians.
Nelson was privately buried days later in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Kris Nelson threatened to sue the Nelson clan for her former husband's life insurance money and tried to wrestle control of his estate from David Nelson, its administrator.
Her bid was rejected by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
Nelson bequeathed his entire estate to his children and did not provide for Eric Crewe or Kris Nelson.
Only days after the funeral, rumors and newspaper reports suggested cocaine freebasing was one of several possible causes for the plane crash.
Those allegations were refuted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).Reports vary as to whether or not the plane was on fire before it crashed.
According to witnesses, the plane appeared to be on fire before it crash-landed.
However Jim Burnett, then-Chairman of the NTSB, said that even though the plane was filled with smoke, it landed and came to a stop before it was swallowed by flames.
The NTSB conducted a year-long investigation and finally concluded that, while a definite cause was still unknown, the crash was probably due to a fire that was caused by the plane's cabin heater "acting up".When questioned by the NTSB, pilots Brad Rank and Ken Ferguson had different accounts of key events.
According to co-pilot Ferguson, the cabin heater was acting up after the plane took off.
Ferguson continued that Rank kept going to the back of the plane to see if he could get the heater to function correctly and that Rank told Ferguson several times to turn the heater back on.
"One of the times, I refused to turn it on," said Ferguson.
He continued, "I was getting more nervous.
I didn't think we should be messing with that heater en-route." After the plane crashed, Ferguson and Rank climbed out the windows, suffering from extensive burns.
They shouted to the passenger cabin, but there was no response.
Ferguson and Rank backed away from the plane, fearing explosion.
Ferguson stated that Rank told him, "Don't tell anyone about the heater, don't tell anyone about the heater."Pilot Rank, however, told a different story: Rank said that he was checking on the passengers when he noticed smoke in the middle of the cabin, where Rick Nelson and Helen Blair were sitting.
Even though he never mentioned a problematic heater, Rank stated that he went to the rear of the plane to check the heater, saw no smoke, and found the heater was cool to the touch.
After activating an automatic fire extinguisher and opening the cabin's fresh air inlets, Rank said that he returned to the cockpit where Ferguson was already asking traffic controllers for directions to the nearest airfield.Rank was criticized by the NTSB for not following the in-flight fire check-list, opening the fresh air vents instead of leaving them closed, not instructing the passengers to use supplemental oxygen, and not attempting to fight the fire with the hand-held fire extinguisher that was in the cockpit.
The board said that while these steps might not have prevented the crash, "they would have enhanced the potential for survival of the passengers." The words of the NTSB seem to echo that of fire-fighter, Lewis Glover, who was one of the first on the scene.
Glover stated, "All the bodies are there at the front of the plane.
Apparently, they were trying to escape the fire."An examination indicated that a fire had originated on the right side of the aft cabin area at or near the floor line.
Some reports said the passengers were killed when the aircraft struck obstacles during the forced landing.
The ignition and fuel sources of the fire could not be determined.
According to another report, the pilot indicated that the crew repeatedly tried to turn on the gasoline cabin heater shortly before the fire occurred, but that it failed to respond.
After the fire, the access panel to the heater compartment was found unlatched.
The theory is supported by records that showed that DC-3s in general, and this aircraft in particular, had a history of problems with the cabin heaters.Tributes, honors, recognitionNelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1515 Vine Street.Along with the recording's other participants, Nelson earned the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for "Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions."In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Nelson #91 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.At the 20th anniversary of Nelson's death, PBS televised Ricky Nelson Sings, a documentary featuring interviews with his children, as well as James Burton and Kris Kristofferson.
On December 27, 2005, EMI Music released an album entitled Ricky Nelson's Greatest Hits which peaked at #56 on the Billboard 200 album chart.Bob Dylan wrote about Nelson's influence on his music in his 2004 memoir, "Chronicles, Vol.
1".Nelson's estate (The Rick Nelson Company, LLC) owns ancillary rights to the Ozzie and Harriet television series, and, in 2007, Shout! Factory released official editions of the show on DVD.
Also in 2007, Nelson was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.The John Frusciante song "Ricky" was inspired by Ricky Nelson.For the 25th anniversary of Nelson's death, Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer, James Burton, Nelson's original guitarist for nearly ten years, spoke about his friendship and experiences with the singer in an extensive series of interviews for Examiner.com.
The first installment is entitled "Remembering Rick Nelson: An Interview With His Friend, Guitarist James Burton."Jamband Phish opened their New Year's Eve show on 12/31/12 at Madison Square Garden with a cover of "Garden Party".