Rick Nelson Albums (23)
What The Critics Say
Playing to Win was an album of beginnings and endings for Rick Nelson. It was his first LP in more than three years, marking the start of his fifth label affiliation, this one with Capitol Records, and, though it was released just short of five years before his death, it was his last album of new, original material to be released during his lifetime, followed only by 1985's All My Best, a collection of re-recordings of his hits marketed on television. In his bid for yet another commercial comeback, Nelson updated his rock & roll sound to take into consideration the heartland rock of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and Tom Petty, as well as punk/new wave. As always, he had great taste, which allowed him to pick great material: John Fogerty's forgotten 1975 song "Almost Saturday Night"; "Back to Schooldays" from Graham Parker's 1976 debut album Howlin' Wind; John Hiatt's "It Hasn't Happened Yet," which would become a country hit for Rosanne Cash in 1983; and Ry Cooder's lilting "Do the Best You Can." He also contributed two of his own compositions, both of which seemed to have bitter personal meanings: "The Loser Babe Is You," a romantic kiss-off perhaps directed at his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and "Call It What You Want," likely addressed to his last label, Epic Records. He never intended the result to be his final statement, but it will serve. The 2001 CD reissue adds six tracks, including the 1982 one-off single "No Fair Falling in Love"/"Give 'Em My Number"; three tracks that first appeared on the Legacy box set, among them a convincing version of Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and the previously unreleased John Hiatt song "Radio Girl." That makes three Hiatt songs on the disc, and Nelson should have done even more of them. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Windfall was Rick Nelson's killer follow-up to his late-1972 album Garden Party, and it exceeded any creative expectations that the artist or his audience could possibly have had. It also featured a new version of his Stone Canyon Band, and a brace of original songs growing out of that new membership. Nelson, displaying more confidence than he'd had since the mid-1960s, delved not only into some achingly beautiful corners of country-rock, but also harder rocking territory and also more soul and funk-oriented sounds than anyone believed possible. Nelson and company start off with "Legacy," an original by new lead guitarist Dennis Larden, which picks up right where Garden Party left off and ought to have been a hit in its own right; then he pulls off one of the great transformations in rock & roll history, sounding tougher than tough on Nelson's own "Someone to Love," with some of the loudest guitar ever heard on one of his records, and then drifts into a seductive, bluesy country mode with elements of reggae in "How Many Times" (written by bassist De Witt White); Larden's volume-pedal dominated performance on "Evil Woman Child" is something else new to a Rick Nelson record, but no one could have been prepared for Nelson's vocal, bouncing across syllables like the best rappers of the 1980s; and Larden's "Don't Leave Me Here" brings us back to country-rock. Side Two hews closer to country-rock, starting with the superb rocker "Wild Nights in Tulsa" and getting better from there -- "I Don't Want to Be Lonely Tonight" even intersects with Creedence Clearwater Revival, or the Eagles in a harder-rocking moment, and "One Night Stand" is another hit that should have been, and "Windfall" is one of the best originals Nelson ever cut. It's all a pity that nobody was listening, because Windfall was the crowning glory of Nelson's albums for Decca, and as solid a piece of '70s music as any early rock & roller this side of Elvis Presley ever delivered. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Rick Nelson's Garden Party album rocks a lot harder than the title track would lead one to believe, and is also as much of a showcase for the Stone Canyon Band as it is for Nelson. Allen Kemp's lead guitar crunches and grinds its notes on the opening track, the edgy "Let It Bring You Along," before we hear the familiar, laid-back, country-rock strains of "Garden Party." The jaunty "So Long Mama" follows, dominated by Nelson's rhythm guitar and showcasing Tom Brumley's pedal steel guitar, and then Kemp and the rhythm section of Stephen A. Love (bass) and Patrick Shanahan (drums) move to the fore on the pounding "I Wanna Be With You." Nelson slips into a completely different mode on the ethereal, understated "Are You Really Real?" The original's second side opened with a solid rendition of Chuck Berry's "I'm Talking About You," which offers Kemp in a somewhat jazzy and discursive break. The playing is more subdued and lyrical on Nelson's own "Night Time Lady," and the bluesy "Flower Opens Gently By," and the album ends on the soft, bittersweet ballad "Palace Guard." There's a fair amount of melodic invention throughout, though not quite enough to make this album a classic. The domestic CD version from the end of the 1980s offers only fair sound -- those interested in something better should opt for the 2002-vintage BGO two-on-one reissue of Garden Party. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Rick Nelson in Concert (The Troubadour, 1969)'
Release Date 1/1/1970
Tracks 12
Label Decca
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The Garden Party is usually regarded as Rick Nelson's comeback album, but two years before its release, this live album peaked just below the Top 50, hardly a blockbuster but a lot better than anything he'd issued in three years, and his first charting album in all of that time. The tracks are a mix of the more enduring of his classic hits and some of the newer songs he was adding to his repertory, including a trio of Bob Dylan compositions and Tim Hardin's "Red Balloon." The performance is excellent, Nelson reveling in this newly cultivated audience and sound, which was as up-to-date in 1969 as "I'm Walkin'" had been in 1957, but the real beauty of this record is the debut of the Stone Canyon Band -- Randy Meisner on bass and backing vocals, Allen Kemp on lead guitar, Patrick Shanahan at the drums, and Tom Brumley on steel guitar. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Country Fever continued the country direction of Nelson's previous album, Bright Lights & Country Music, and the approach of each record was similarly weighted toward interpretations of country classics. Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Acuff-Rose all get covered here, and his sensitive reading of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" is a standout. There's no denying, though, that the best cut is the one that gets closest to rockabilly (a cover of "Mystery Train"). Nelson's two original compositions weren't much, but on the other hand there was an obscure Bob Dylan tune that the composer had not released ("Walkin' Down the Line"), and "Things You Gave Me," with its steady beat and harmonies, sounded more like a foreshadowing of late-'60s California country rock than anything else Nelson had recorded up to this point. The album has been combined with 1966's Bright Lights & Country Music onto a single-disc CD reissue on Kent. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
