Ricky Nelson - Ricky Nelson - Greatest Hits

When talking about the history of Rock 'N' Roll, Rick 'Ricky' Nelson tends to get overlooked. While he didn't create the genre, brought the new style of music to the masses when his character began performing it on the Ozzie & Harriet show in the late '50s. He became a teen idol and recorded some of the finest music of the era including 'Poor Little Fool', 'Lonesome Town', 'I'm Walking', 'It's Late', 'Travelin' Man', 'Hello Mary Lou' and more. In the '60s, he dropped the 'y' and became Rick and scored more hits. His final hit, the self-penned 'Garden Party', was one of the biggest hits of his career and, once again, he helped to introduce the vibrant and young Country Rock movement to the masses. 25 tracks. EMI Gold. Album Description

Beware-download version doesn't contain all 25 tracks & bit rate varies from track to track

Amazon indicates 25 tracks available on the product overview page, but they don't tell you that you get only 22 when you download the album. After you've downloaded it and discover the discrepancy you have to listen to some customer service tech in India tell you a hundred times that there are only 22 tracks, and then you have to take them to the product overview page, tell them to scroll down to the 'preview' link, then to the 'see all 25 tracks' link before they'll actually believe that you're telling the truth. But they'll STILL try to tell you 'if you click the link for the download you'll see only 22 tracks'. I finally got a #3.95 credit out of the tech that worked on me, but bottom line, WHY offer only 22 of 25 tracks for download?? Had I but seen a SINGLE disclaimer saying 'not all tracks come with download version, I'd have passed, and purchased this album from iTunes.

In addition, the bit rate varies from song to song. Amazon says they're all 256 kbps, but 2 of them are 192, 7 are 224, 4 are 256, and the remaining 9 are 320. If fidelity matters to you, then purchase the disc, or purchase the download from iTunes, and get a better quality download without the headache of dealing with some tech on the other side of the world that you can't clearly understand.

This purchase has been a BAD experience, and I'll definitely confine my digital music purchases to iTunes in the future. June 22, 2008

Great

If you enjoy listening to oldies, you'll love this cd. It brings back memories and I never tire of hearing those songs. June 17, 2008

golden memories

Being a oldie myself I remember Ricky as he grew up and he has never sounded better.This was a mothers day present for my wife I can enjoy too,
The quality and pricE were great and the value priceless.THANKS JOE June 14, 2008

BACK TO THE '50's

A soothing trip down memory lane. This one took me back to a calmer place and time. What a loss...Rick had a wonderful talent and his fans would still be with him today if he hadn't looked back at what was and listened to critics that predicted his music was passe. February 25, 2008

Remarkable disc featuring 25 of the biggest and best from this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

In the liner notes to "Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits" the legendary John Fogarty mused "I've always considered Rick Nelson equal to the Sun Records artists...Maybe he came from Hollywood but the sound was strictly Memphis." Years later, inducting Nelson posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Fogarty said "He made some of the greatest rockabilly records of all time." He then addressed Sam Phillips: "Sam, he gave you a run for your money." The legendary Sun founder/producer simply nodded in agreement. Now all these years later I had never really thought of Ricky Nelson as a rockabilly artist. To me he was simply a purveyor of some of the most enjoyable pop tunes of the 1950's and 60's. But the more I think about it John Fogarty was absolutely right. Just one listen to "Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits" sure convinced me. Despite the fact that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame saw fit to honor Ricky Nelson by inducting him in just their second year of operation Ricky Nelson remains a vastly underrated figure in the history of rock and roll.
It is easy to forget just how prolific Ricky Nelson was in the period from 1957 to 1964. During these years Nelson amassed an impressive total of 50 charted hits on the Billboard Hot 100. 18 of the tunes made the Top Ten and 2 of these reached the top of the charts. "Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits" features 25 of Ricky's biggest and best. Rediscover classic hits like "Hello Mary Lou" and the #1 hit "Poor Little Fool" from 1958. Sing along with unforgettable hits like "Teen Age Idol", "Young World", "Lonesome Town" "Travelin' Man" and my personal favorite "Fools Rush In". I have always felt that Rick's recording was the definitive version of this venerable standard. It really is a shame but you just don't hear this music on the radio anymore. If you are like me you will enjoy virtually every song on this disc and long to hear more. As young as he was at the time Ricky Nelson knew exactly the sound he was after and played a big part in producing practically all of these records. Incredible!
As I alluded to earlier "Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits" includes a thoughtful and informative 12 page booklet. And the sound quality is absolutely sensational. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed that this collection failed to include Ricky's 1963 Top Ten hit "For You" or his 1969 comeback hit "She Belongs To Me" which signalled a whole new direction for Rick. Sadly, we lost Ricky Nelson to a plane crash on the last day of 1985. I believe there was still lots of great music in him.
Whether you are a devoted fan or a younger listener exploring the history of early rock and roll "Ricky Nelson: Greatest Hits" would certainly be a great choice. Very highly recommended!!!! November 28, 2007

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