Track Listing

1. Honeycomb
2. Boppin' The Blues
3. Be-Bop Baby
4. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?
5. Teenage Doll
6. If You Can't Rock Me
7. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
8. Baby I'm Sorry
9. Am I Blue?
10. I'm Confessin'
11. Your True Love
12. True Love
13. Be-Bop Baby (single version)
14. Have I Told You Lately Tha I Love You? (single version)
15. If You Can't Rock Me (alternate version)
16. Shirley Lee
17. Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)
18. There's Good Rockin' Tonight
19. I'm Feelin' Sorry
20. Down The Line
21. Unchained Melody
22. I'm In Love Again
23. Don't Leave Me This Way
24. My Babe
25. I'll Walk Alone
26. There Goes My Baby
27. Poor Little Fool
28. Stood Up
29. Waitin' In School
30. Believe What You Say (single version)
31. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133666 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Rock & roll was still a novelty and singles ruled the record market when 17-year-old Ricky Nelson released his debut album in 1957; it immediately jumped to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. That's why Capitol fleshes out some of its twofer releases of Nelson's Imperial albums with non-album hit singles. It's stunning to hear how well Nelson's debut and sophomore LPs hold up long after their original appearances. Aside from "Be Bop Baby" (and its "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" B-side), most of the cuts on Ricky are covers, including a wonderfully sedate take on Jimmie Rodgers's "Honeycomb," proving Nelson was indeed the Perry Como of early rockers. It also includes two Carl Perkins covers, including the definitive "Your True Love." The second LP displays growth and rocks harder, concluding with the sublime "Poor Little Fool." --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

Ricky's first
It's unfortunate, in a way, that Capitol chose to do these two-fer cd's strictly in chronological order, because Ricky Nelson's first album, "Ricky", is much weaker than his second, "Ricky Nelson" (Imperial were not very good with album titles, lol). These two albums are like day and night. The first album features 17 year old Ricky crooning - without much conviction - his way through a mixture of rock and roll covers and standards probably chosen by his dad. Songs like "Baby I'm Sorry", "If You Can't Rock Me", "Be Bop Baby", "Teenage Doll", and "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" sound like Pat Boone's attempts at rock and roll. They don't rock, and they don't roll! His version of Carl Perkins' "Boppin' the Blues" pales next to the original. Ricky does a little better with ballads like "I'm Confessin'". None of this would prepare listeners for the blast of full tilt rock and roll that kicks of the second album, "Shirley Lee". What happened to Ricky between the first and second albums? Suddenly, he's on fire vocally, full of confidence, just like the Sun Records artists he admired. Maybe the difference was having his own band behind him, instead of the sessions pros of the first album. James Burton is one of the greatest rock and country guitarists ever, and his playing is awesome on this album. Can't ignore James Kirkland on bass, Richie Frost on drums, and Gene Garth on piano, either. They nail every song, whether it's an uptempo rockabilly raver like "There's Good Rockin' Tonight", or a ballad like Someday". Their extended jam on "My Babe" may be the highlight of this disc. Ricky's first self penned number, "Don't Leave Me This Way", is an excellent ballad, with a tasty acoustic guitar solo by James Burton. "Poor Little Fool" was Ricky's first #1 single, and is still a favorite. The backing vocals by the Jordanaires add a lot to this and the other songs. Ricky also does a swaggering take on Fats Domino's hit "I'm in Love Again" that could have been a hit if released as a single back then. The sound on this disc can't be faulted, either. These sides sound like they could have been recorded yesterday. Informative liner notes by James Ritz, and several bonus tracks also add value to this release. If you buy this one, though, you gotta buy the others - the music only gets better on the next cd, "Ricky Sings Again"/"Songs by Ricky"!

Ricky
Call me Rick! Why? Once the name was shortened, the songs seemed to lack the certain something evident in this album.
This album is a CLASSIC.
Excluding ELVIS, who was (and still is!) alone up there in the upper-upper-upper stratosphere, RICKY was the epitome of "white-boy" rock&roll, music intended to be fun, simple, danceable, devil-may-care (damn the adults!!) and without message. Ricky was excellent at this as this album proves. A long overdue item. A tremendous example of the KISS principle ("Keep it simple, stupid!", for the uninitiated!).
At under $12.00, take a truckload!

There's an even better release out there...
The two-fer reissue "Ricky Sings Again/Songs by Ricky" is significantly better than this CD, which features his first two LP's from 1957. The other disc offers his third and fourth albums, and the improvement in his vocals, in his band, in his choice of material are all evident. This one is not bad, of course. Rick's talent at age 17 was surprisingly high, but his first two records were mostly rockabilly covers and as good as Nelson was, he wasn't as good performing Jerry Lee Lewis songs as The Killer himself. So if you are nostalgic or a rock historian, I'd add "Rick Sings Again" ahead of his maiden LP and its sequel.