Only the Good Die Young-Part V

Ricky Nelson

Eric Hilliard Nelson was born into show business on May 8, 1940 in Teaneck, New Jersey. Not exactly Hollywood. But that would come later.

Eric, who went by Ricky, was the second son of Big Band leader Ozzie Nelson and Big Band vocalist Harriet Hilliard Nelson. The family moved to Hollywood when Ricky's parents were hired to appear on Red Skelton's The Raleigh Cigarette Hour (those were the good ole days, when an entire series encouraged smoking).

As a child, Ricky was described as "an odd little kid", likable, shy, introspective, mysterious and inscrutable. He suffered from severe asthma, sleeping with a vaporizer each night.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio show premiered on Sunday, October 8, 1944. 1952 brought the film Here Come the Nelsons, which led to the television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which first aired on October 3, 1952. It ran until September 3, 1966, becoming one of the longest running television sitcoms in history.

Ricky attended Hollywood High School. His dad wanted Ricky to attend college, but since he was already making well over $100,000 a year, he saw no reason to attend.

Ricky's music career began with the clarinet and drums in this early teen years. He learned basic guitar chords and tried to play the guitar solos in Carl Perkins hit, Blue Suede Shoes.

To impress a friend, with his dad's help, he got a one-record deal with Verve Records, recording Fats Domino's I'm Walkin', A Teenager's Romance, and You're My One and Only Love in 1957. He made his rock 'n roll debut on the Nelson's television show, lip syncing I'm Walkin'  on April 10, 1957. He also played a free lunch hour assembly at a Los Angeles high school. Two of the records hit the top ten, enabling Ricky to play four state and county fairs in Ohio and Wisconsin.

After signing a more favorable record deal with Imperial Records, Ricky scored a hit with Be-Bop Baby, which sold over one million copies. His first album hit number one at the end of 1957. His song, Poor Little Fool, hit number one and sold over two million copies.

During 1958 and 1959, Ricky had twelve hits as compared to Elvis' eleven. He used his television show to promote his records, often performing them at the end of an episode. Although Ozzie kept him off of other television shows to protect the Nelson's series, Ricky eventually appeared on Ed Sullivan's show (1967), The Streets of San Francisco (1973) and Saturday Night Live (1979).

From 1957 to 1962, Ricky had thirty Top 40 hits, more than any other artist except Elvis (who had 53) and Pat Boone (who had 38). Ricky's chart-topping career came to an end with the British Invasion.

In the mid-1960s, Ricky moved to country music, becoming a pioneer in the country-rock genre. He influenced the California sound, including Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles. He did not reach the Top 40 again until 1970, with She Belongs to Me.

In 1972, Ricky reached the Top 40 for the last time with Garden Party, a song he wrote after a Madison Square Garden audience booed him when he played his new songs instead of the old hits. Some say the crowd booed because policemen tried to remove drunk fans in an upper balcony. However, he was booed when he performed Honky Tonk Woman (a Rolling Stones hit). He redeemed himself and got a standing ovation with Travelin' Man. Garden Party reached number six and was certified a gold single. After a short surge in popularity, Nelson became an attraction at theme parks, like Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland.

Nelson was a regular marijuana and cocaine user. He had a tremendous sexual appetite, estimating that he had slept with thousands of women. Drug use, a failed career, and an exorbitant life style, lead to an acrimonious divorce between Ricky and his wife. He fathered an illegitimate boy with one of several women he later dated.

Ricky hated to fly, but he refused to travel by bus. Despite his fears, he bought a 1940s plane which had belonged to Jerry Lee Lewis. The day after Christmas 1985, Ricky and his band left on the plane for a three-stop tour of the Southern United States. Following shows in Florida and Alabama, the group took off for a New Year's Eve show in Dallas. The plane crashed northeast of Dallas at 5:14 p.m. on December 31, 1985. Nelson, his fiancee Helen Blair, his band, and road manager/soundman were all killed. The pilots escaped the burning plane through the cockpit windows. The NTSB conducted a year-long investigation and concluded that the crash was probably due to mechanical problems. The pilots attempted to land the plane in a field after the cabin filled with smoke. The fire probably started when the pilots tried to use the cabin heaters, which were known to be defective on that type of plane.

Ricky Nelson was 45 years old at the time of his death.

Watch a video of Ricky performing Garden Party four months before his death.