FOR MY BRO GARY

THE NELSONS

I have a West Point classmate named Gary. He was and is “a good shit.” I have many fond memories of him from back in the day. About two years ago we started having extended conversations on the phone. The topics ranged from stories about our young days at the academy to religious philosophy. He is the one who suggested I start doing these blogs. For that I am extremely grateful.

During one of those conversations, I was expounding on my idol from back in the day; Elvis. He recalled the time I took out a piece of paper and wrote down the title of 100 Elvis songs. Then he told me that his idol from those days was Ricky Nelson. Frankly, I too loved his work.

ANYWAY, MY BROTHER THIS BLOG AND THE NEXT ARE FOR YOU AND ARE DEDICATED TO YOU!! We used to assume a silly posture and challenge each other’s knowledge by saying, “here’s one and if you know it, then you will know it”. Well, here’s one!

In my research I found that Ozzie Nelson (Ricky’s dad) started his entertainment career as a band leader. He formed and led the Ozzie Nelson Band and had some initial limited success. From 1930 through the 1940s, Nelson’s band recorded prolifically. Nelson’s records were consistently popular, and in 1934, Nelson enjoyed success with his hit song, “Over Somebody Else’s Shoulder”, which he introduced. Nelson’s calm, easy vocal style was popular on records and radio and quite similar to son Rick’s voice, and Harriet’s perky vocals added to the band’s popularity.

In 1935, Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra had a hit with “And Then Some”, which was number one for one week on the U.S. pop singles chart. Nelson wrote and composed several songs, including “Wave the Stick Blues”, “Subway”, “Jersey Jive”, “Swingin’ on the Golden Gate”, and “Central Avenue Shuffle”.

In October 1935, he married the band’s vocalist Harriet Hilliard. The couple had two children; the older, David (1936–2011), became an actor and director, and the younger, Ricky (1940–1985), became an actor and singer.

In the 1940s (before TV), Nelson began to look for a way to spend more time with his family, especially his growing sons. Besides band appearances, Harriet and he had been regulars on The Raleigh Cigarette Program, Red Skelton’s radio show. Nelson developed and produced his own radio series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The show originally aired in 1944, with their sons played by actors until 1949. In 1952, it moved to television, where David and Ricky appeared on camera. The radio version continued for another two years, and the last television episode aired in 1966.

The TV show starred the entire family, as America watched Ozzie and Harriet raise their boys. Nelson was producer and director of most of the episodes, and he co-wrote many of them. Nelson’s brother, Don, was also one of the writers. Ozzie was hands-on, involved with every aspect of both radio and TV programs. Throughout the 1950s Ozzie’s prior bandleading career and Harriet’s singing, acting, and dancing careers were seldom mentioned. The younger audience would have had no idea that Ozzie and Harriet had previously been involved in music.

Eric Hilliard “Ricky” or “Rick” Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was a musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist.

He placed 54 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and its predecessors between 1957 and 1973, including “Poor Little Fool” in 1958, which was the first number one song on Billboard magazine’s then-newly created Hot 100 chart. He recorded 17 additional top ten hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987. In 1996, Nelson was ranked No. 49 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

His fame as both a recording artist and television star also led to a motion picture role co-starring alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Angie Dickinson in Howard Hawks’s western feature film Rio Bravo (1959) “Never Be Anyone Else But You” reached number 6 on the charts in 1959 and it was the b side of “It’s Late”.

“Sweeter Than You” came out in the summer of 1959 when I was 15. It reached number 9.

“Teen Age Idol” (No. 5) from 1961.

Well, my brother, I hope you are having a great day!

I am 82. I have been many places, seen and done many things. I have enjoyed most genres of music. I was a DJ. I was an army brat and a soldier, losing a leg in Vietnam. I learned adaptive sports and taught them to people all over our great nation and overseas. I have guided and lead expeditions down raging rivers.

I have many stories about my experiences in Vietnam, the military and at West Point. Plus, lots of life stories, stories about adaptive sports, my adventures, my travels and great music too. When you click Subscribe you will be presented with options. One is to remain or become a free member. The next level up is $5 monthly and you can unsubscribe anytime.

I publish weekly on Friday. I want you to be transported to a different time and to enjoy what you read. I want to tell you about my life and my love of music. I want music that evokes memories. I want you to escape today’s worries for a few minutes.

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