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Today’s Holiday Tunes: Ricky Nelson’s lovely “A Christmas Song” and upbeat “Jingle Bells”

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_erWj1q_XXs4/TTX9tQwb5dI/AAAAAAAAAoY/ELovtrPJoyY/s1600/ricky-nelson.jpgWell, if there was ever a cuter teen idol than Ricky Nelson, I’ve never seen him.

He grew up on television alongside older brother David on their family’s television show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. And it was on that show that Ricky began performing rock and roll!

Between 1957 and 1973, he placed 56 songs on the Billboard 100 charts including his first number one Poor Little Fool. Subsequent hits included Hello Mary Lou, Travelin’ Man, and Garden Party.

Here are two holiday songs Ricky performed on Ozzie and Harriet. In the first, A Christmas Song, his young daughter can be seen smiling at him. She’s actress Tracy Nelson who went on to star in The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Ricky died far too young. He was just 45 when a private plane carrying him and his band to a New Year’s Eve concert in 1985 crashed.


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2 Remarks

  1. Ya know, Ricky Nelson’s loss was as major back then as Paul Walker’s was. Ricky was talented and a major teen heartthrob. “I’m a travelin man, made a lotta stops, all over the world………………..”

  2. You are so right! Ricky Nelson was so cute and I loved his music too. Kinda grew up learning to jitterbug to some of his songs, like “Hello Mary Lou.” I also love his daughter, Tracy, and often wonder why she stopped acting. And, I could be wrong about this, but I believe Ricky’s sons had a brief encounter with success as the rock group Nelson.

    There are some celebrity deaths that stay with you as you get older. At 70, I’ve experienced many. These days I do miss Paul Walker and Heath Ledger and Brittany Murphy among others, and I always will just like I do Ricky Nelson. He was just getting his music career off on the foot he wanted after his commercial and critical success with “Garden Party,” a different kind of album for Ricky and the song itself told of his experience in the music business. Definitely gone too soon.

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