"A few years ago, on my tv series, 7th Heaven, we did an episode that paid tribute to Rick Nelson.  I sang parts of a few of his songs and got to work with his daughter, Tracy Nelson, who was a guest star.  For a lifelong fan of RN, it was a huge thrill.

"A couple of years later, I had started The 7th Band, and one day about a year ago, I taught the guys a favorite Rick Nelson hit, Believe What You Say,  which I’d sung a little (by myself) on the show.  On an impulse, the guys and I recorded it, quickly — in about ten minutes.  We liked the way it came out and it gave me a crazy idea:  what if we did a whole album of Rick Nelson songs and recorded them all live in the studio, the way we’d just recorded Believe  — and the way all records used to be made — with the whole band in one room, playing together.  Modern recording techniques have made for a lot of separation between musicians.  Sometimes different people record their parts on different days, even months apart.  The sound can become so digitally “perfect” that it’s sterile.  There’s something magical about the energy of a whole band playing together — like when we’re on stage — working off each other.

"That’s what we’ve done our best to capture on this album.  We love these songs and recorded them in tribute to Rick Nelson, as well as his band, with the magnificent James Burton on guitar, and Rick’s incomparable backup singers, the Jordanaires, who also backed Elvis, Patsy Cline. and so many others.

"When we went into the studio, I said to the guys, “Don’t practice your solos — just let ‘em fly, like when we play live.  If you mess up, we’ll start again.”  Great musicians, like the guys in the 7th Band, are sometimes tempted to work between takes to perfect a solo that ironically can become almost soul-less.  On this album, the solos were unpremeditated.  We only did a few takes of each song.  You could only attempt that with musicians as great as the guys in the 7th Band.  We recorded the whole album in two days, unheard of in this day and age.  But back in the 50s and 60s, when Rick Nelson was making records, it was normal.  Mind you, I practiced my butt off before we went into the studio, but I knew the guys would come through — and they did.

"If you’re a Rick Nelson fan, we hope you enjoy these new covers.  If you’re too young to know the originals, I hope you’ll discover them here, then go back and listen to Rick do them.

"Rick Nelson was the only artist ever to have the #1 tv show, the #1 movie, and the #1 song in America, all in the same week.  His laid back style, rockabilly tastes, and velvet voice personified the 50s and the pre-Beatles 60s, and, of course, he went on making music and re-inventing himself until his tragic death twenty years ago.

"We offer up this album in his memory."

The 7th Band:

Laurence Juber — lead guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar

Jon Walmsley — lead guitar, rhythm guitar

Jim Cox — keyboards

Domenic Genova — bass guitar, acoustic bass

Michael Jochum — drums, percussion

Stephen Collins — vocals, background vocals, rhythm guitar

1)  It’s Late (Dorsey Burnette) — this track is based more on Rick Nelson’s live version than the original.  It has a cool, full-step key change toward the end that kicks it up into high gear.  Guitar solo:  Jon Walmsley

2)  Travelin’ Man (Jerry Fuller) — maybe the best known of RN’s hits.  Jon Walmsley’s guitar solo is a nod to James Burton in both style and tone.

3)  I’ve Got a Woman (Ray Charles) — Rick, like Elvis, used the big music hall ending  for this Ray Charles classsic.  Jim Cox’s organ solo was done, like virtually every solo on this album, on the first take.

4)  Poor Little Fool (Sharon Sheeley) — quintessestial Rick Nelson.  My mother used to make fun of my brother, Mike, and me for liking a song that had the lyric “oh, yeah” in it.  She was from the Cole Porter-Gershwin era, and lyrics like “oh, yeah” in a song seemed like the end of civilization to her.  I think Poor Little Fool may be the only pop hit ever that doesn’t have either a bridge or an instrumental break.  My backup vocals, as on all the songs, are an attempt to create the lush support that The Jordanaires, who backed up so many of RN’s (and Elvis’) songs, brought to all their work.

5)  You Tear Me Up — this song seems to make people move.  There’s a little studio noise at the very top, and we left it in because that’s what happens when you make a live studio album.  Guitar solo:  Jon Walsmley

6)  Lonesome Town (Baker Knight) — We wanted to keep this as simple as the original — just a voice, with LJ on acoustic guitar.

7)  Believe What You Say (Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette) — This was the first song we recorded, before we got the idea of doing a whole album of RN songs.  It went down so easy in the studio that it gave me the idea of recording an entire  album that way — with all of us playing together in the same room at the same time — the way records used to be made.  There’s a live track of RN doing this one, with driving backup vocals that weren’t on his original, and we decided to do the song truer to the that version.  Guitar solo:  SC

8)  String Along (Bobby Doyle) — In high school, this song seemed to perfectly capture teen heartbreak in a kind of 50s technicolor way.  String Along wasn’t a huge hit, so I only heard it a few times back in school.  It’s not a song you’ll ever hear on your local oldies station.  After she worked with me on 7th Heaven, Rick’s daughter, Tracy, sent me the RN boxed set Legacy, and I was finally able to hear String Along again.  When we were recording, it hit a groove on the first take, so I signaled the guys to keep going, and we kept playing into a second modulation.  This is one of the only songs we did that’s longer than its original.   Acoustic and electric solos:  LJ

9)  Boppin’ The Blues (Carl Perkins) — Ricky Nelson had great musical taste.  Carl Perkins was an early rockabilly legend whose Blue Suede Shoes had really started something.  It’s also a reminder of how much inflation there’s been since the 50s:  “Just a handful of nickels and the jukebox’ll cure your ills.”  Guitar solo:  LJ

10)  Young Emotions (M. David & Livingston) — Rick’s daughter, Tracy, refers to this as one of her Dad’s “yellow sweater” songs.  Ozzie Nelson sometimes wanted Rick to do songs that were less rock ‘n’ roll.  On those album covers, he’d typically be dressed in a yellow sweater.  When I was sixteen, Young Emotions spoke innocently to my own emotional life.  Now, as the father of a teenage girl, for me the song is about keeping the connection between us during these sometimes turbulent, confusing, difficult times.  Jim Cox provided the strings on this track with his magical mystery synth.

11)  Stood Up (D. Dickerson & E. Herrold) — even though the guy in this song has been stood up, he’s signing a pretty upbeat song.  That combination happens on a few Rick Nelson songs.  Guys were more romantically vulnerable in the late 50s.  If they’d been hurt, they’d admit it, feel it, maybe even sing a song about it.  For better or worse, we don’t see a lot of that today.  Guitar solo:  LJ

12)  It’s Up To You  — While the lead and backup vocals are true to RN’s original, we played with this song a little, putting it to a reggae beat.  The first part of the instrumental solo, the dobro, is actually the amazing Jim Cox on keyboard, using a synthesized dobro patch.  I don’t know if there’s another keyboard player who could do the guitar-like phrasing and bending that Jim does here, a testament to his other-worldly chops.  Jon Walmsley is on wah guitar.

Bonus tracks:  These tracks were on our first album.  We include them here because they were both big Rick Nelson hits.  The guitar solos in both are by Laurence Juber (Jon Walmsley didn’t play on these two tracks).

13)  Fools Rush In (Johnny Mercer) — a great song that was re-invented in Rick Nelson’s version.

14)  Hello, Mary Lou (Gene Pitney) — this one is dedicated to my original band-mate, Uncle John Houseman.

Thanks to Tracy Nelson for her encouragement, kind words, and incredibly generous help with photos; to Gabe Moffat for his fabulous work, attention to detail, and unwavering support;  to Milton Gutiérrez Ruezga for going all sorts of extra miles; to Brad Vance, who understood this project and brought it to the next level; to Il Fornaio for chicken salad (with chicken); to Dan Foliart, without whose kindly prodding there would be no 7th Band; to Ron Salamanca and Jeanine Jochum for  invaluable help with the DVD interviews; to Paul McCallum for his talent and photographs; to Joel Feigenbaum, guitar buddy; to Brenda Hampton for encouragement and the first nudge in the direction of Rick Nelson six years ago; to The WB Network and especially Brad Turell and Dan Spangler for all sorts of help; to Victoria Smith for a million errands and for her ear, eye, and feedback; to Jan Harbaugh, John Houseman, Jeremy Williams, and David Browder for listening when we needed it; to John Baglivi for friendship, support, and wonderful photos; to Holly Z. Meehan at The Gold Label for getting with this project and guiding it into being; to Zack Shaw for so many assists; to Pat Boone for being a class act; to Faye Grant, the choicest band chick a guy could ever ask for, for encouraging me to play and for holding down the homestead when I’m in the studio.

The following email was sent to me from Rick Nelson’s daughter, Tracy,  after I’d sent her an advance copy of this CD. “Pop” is how she always refers to her father:

From:  Tracy Nelson
Subject: mastered album
Date: February 3, 2005 12:26:38 AM PST
To: Stephen Collins

Hey Stephen-

Hope all is well.  I listened to the album today (isn't it funny that we still call it an "album"?).

Wow!

What a tribute to Pop.  You did an awesome job.  His stuff suits you.  The liner notes were great too, very personal and respectful, which I so appreciate.  It makes my heart happy that you seem to really "get" him and his music.  Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney have lately said wonderful things about him, so you're in good company.

Please let me know if I can help you in any way, if you need art work, etc. I have tons.

love, Tracy

 

A few days later, Tracy wrote again:

Hi Stephen,
 I was looking over your song list again and thought I might give you a little "backstage info" on some of the songs, just for fun.

Believe What You Say — Ozzie being a musician, he knew how important it was to surround Pop with great players. When James Burton decided to play with him, Pop was floored; he was a huge fan of his playing and also loved to hear Burton's inside stories of Elvis. Elvis and RN were the only two acts in the 50s that played as single acts, everybody else played as combo bills, a la Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper all playing on the same bill. Since Burton played for both Pop and Elvis he was very busy on the weekends. FYI Burton was inducted into the R and R Hall of Fame last year.

It's Late — The Burnette Bros. were crazy men. They literally arrived in Hollywood and drove to the Nelson house (everybody knew where it was) and ambushed Pop as he came out of the house, jumping out of the car, guitars blazing. They wouldn't let him back out of the driveway till he heard the songs they'd written for him to sing. ("Howdya lak et, Ricky?" was always Pop's imitation.) They became friends and used to cruise Hollywood and Sunset together.  The Burnettes wrote great songs.

Travelin’ Man — The first rock ‘n’ roll video ever made was the conceptual film Ozzie shot to super over this song when it aired on Ozzie & Harriet.  James Burton tried to talk Pop out of doing it.  He felt that you "heard" music, you didn't "see" it, and that somehow for Pop to lean on the handsome boy-next-door image from the show was lessening his credibility musically. He was right, but it's ironic, considering kids now can't relate at all to a musical artist they can't see.

I've Got a Woman — Ray Charles was Pop's favorite artist, hands down. I think the only time I ever impressed my dad with my own career was when I did an TV movie  that Ray Charles appeared briefly in. Recording this song was his tribute to Mr. Charles.

Poor Little Fool — Like the Burnette brothers story, Sharon Sheely staked Pop out, this time at the Nelson home in Laguna. She pretended her car had broken down in front of the house, and when Pop came out to rescue her (she was a pretty girl), she casually mentioned she was Ediie Cochran's girlfriend and was a song writer, in fact had written a song for Elvis that she was on her way to delivering. Of course Pop had to hear it, and he decided to record it. Sheely, Cochran, Pop and Gene Vincent used to get into all kinds of trouble together. There is a story about the four of them throwing a party at The Roosevelt Hotel one night, and tossing a tv set out the window, narrowly missing a pedestrian. Pop was saved from being arrested by Ozzie, who gave all of the officers present, and the pedestrian, autographs.

Lonesome Town — This is my favorite song of Pop's, perhaps because he was such a "Lonesome" guy. His voice has a young but round and resonant quality on the original recording. There was an upbeat recording of this as well, which Ozzie insisted upon. He was worried teenagers across America would get depressed and commit mass suicide. As time went on and Pop grew up there were frequent father/son skirmishes about what to record. The "yellow sweater" songs like "String Along" and "Young Emotions" were insisted upon by Ozzie. He was a musician also, but from a different era, and he always wanted Pop to do "croonier" material. (His word.)

Hello Mary Lou — As you may have discovered, the only percussion in Pop's recording of this song is a cow bell. This song was another example of the Rick-Ozzie tug of war. Ozzie wanted drums, Rick wanted only the cowbell. There's actually original tape of the two of them arguing about it till Pop put his foot down on like take 35. I think the cowbell is the signature of this song. It's very danceable.

Boppin’ the Blues — Pop was a huge Carl Perkins fan, learned to play the guitar and drums by ear listening to his records over and over ("I wanted to throw them all into the pool,” Harriet said once). He finally got to meet Perkins right before he died, and Perkins said:"Rick, I guess you and I are the only real rockabilly boys left,” which made Pop ecstatic. He couldn't believe Perkins even knew who he was. In the picture taken at their meeting Pop looks like a happy little kid.

Fools Rush In — Was one of Harriet's favorite songs, she used to sing it on the bandstand. Pop recorded it for her.
  
FYI, I got a chance once to ask Fats Domino if he felt bad about Pop doing his song "I'm Walkin", that a white guy made it famous. He said, "Good music is good music, and your dad appreciated that, so I appreciated him. I was glad he was getting the black sound into the mainstream. I just wish he had done more of my tunes."  This was somewhat of a relief to me as I had always wondered if Fats ever felt exploited by the whole thing, like Big Mama Thornton did when Elvis recorded "Hound Dog.”

That's it, just a little info I thought might be fun.

talk to you soon-
Tracy

Produced by Michael Jochum
Recorded, engineered and mixed by Gabe Moffat at The Firehouse, Pasadena, CA
Engineering assistants:  Milton Gutiérrez Ruezga and Ed Woolley
Backup vocals on Believe What You Say recorded at Floral Drive Studio, LA
Mastered by Brad Vance at Red Mastering, Newbury Park, California

DVD editor:  Miles Forman

Cover photo by Paul McCallum
Back photo by John Baglivi
Rick Nelson photos courtesy of Tracy Nelson
Live 7th Band DVD footage courtesy of Joel J. Feigenbaum