Ozzie Nelson forbade Ricky from appearing on ‘Bandstand’

Eric Hilliard “Ricky” Nelson was born in 1940 in Teaneck, N.J., the youngest son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, a couple with one of the most popular situation comedies on early television.

 

Ricky Nelson had a teenage crush on a girl, but she wasn’t impressed much…until he told her he was a rock’n’roll singer. That white lie caused a love crisis when she told him to prove it. Ricky convinced his folks that he was a quick learner and to give him a singing part on the show. He and his guitar delivered.

In the rock’n’roll reference book “Dick Clark’s The First 25 Years of Rock & Roll,” coauthors Michael Uslan and Bruce Solomon devote an entire section to the musical influence of Ricky Nelson. They wrote:

“Ricky’s voice and mannerisms were heavily influenced by Elvis Presley (who was five years older than Nelson), but they were promoted and packaged very differently,” Uslan and Solomon said. Elvis was raucous and raw. Ricky was the clean-cut, preppy guy.

Yet, Elvis and Ricky “stand together in rock’n’roll history as two major rock acts who never appeared on Dick Clark’s ‘American Bandstand’ TV show.”

 

Basically, when “American Bandstand” made its big splash in August 1957, Elvis Presley was focusing on making hit movies in Hollywood. Sources said Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker saw no commercial advantage in booking his client to appear on “Bandstand” at that point in Presley’s career.

Music historian Robert Seoane said: “Ozzie Nelson knew he had a goldmine in his hands and would showcase his son Ricky at the end of every few episodes. Being a control freak, Ozzie forbade his son from appearing on any other national television show as a performer.”

Ricky Nelson lacked Elvis’ flair and devilish attitude, but parents of teenage girls said that was OK and gave him two thumbs up. 

Between 1957-62, Ricky Nelson recorded 30 songs that entered the Top 40, more than any other artist except Elvis Presley. Nelson’s Number One hits were “Travelin’ Man” and “Poor Little Fool.” (The latter song was written by 18-year-old Sharon Sheeley after she had broken up with Don Everly of The Everly Brothers.)

 

The “British Invasion” in 1964 changed the playing field, Seoane said, and Nelson experimented with other sounds, hoping to gain traction with future generations. He waded into country music with the Stone Canyon Band

To help pay the bills, Nelson agreed to perform at a nostalgic “Rock & Roll Spectacular” show on Oct. 15, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, along with Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell, The Shirelles, The Coasters, Gary U.S. Bonds and Bo Diddley.

Nelson sported shoulder-length hair and was wearing bell bottoms and a purple velvet shirt. He didn’t look the same. He planned to transition from his oldies into some newer material.

 

Nelson “started out playing some of his chestnuts, including ‘Be-Bop Baby’ and ‘Hello Mary Lou,’ delighting the crowd,” reported Songfacts.com. “He played ‘She Belongs to Me,’ a minor hit from just two years earlier, and then sat down at a piano to go into his cover of ‘Honky Tonk Women’ from his upcoming album.”

Nelson started to hear booing from the audience, so he got up and exited the stage. He did not appear with the other artists in the finale.

Deeply hurt, Nelson opted to make “lemon aid” from the experience, writing the song that he considered to be his “greatest musical achievement” – “Garden Party.”

 

A classic line from the lyrics continues to resonate: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”