Poor Little Fool

It would be fair to say that during his time, Rick Nelson was the latest in a now very long line of teen singing idols. From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist at the time, except Elvis Presley, who had 53, and Pat Boone (38). Many of Nelson's early records were double hits with both the A and B sides hitting the Billboard charts.

Rick Nelson loved music and was a skilled performer even before he became a teen idol, largely because of his parents' musical background and their radio and television experience. He got to work with many musicians of repute, including James Burton, Joe Osborn, Joe Maphis, The Jordanaires, Scotty Moore, and both Johnny and Dorsey Burnette. Due to his parents' popular TV show, Rick was the first teen idol to be able to utilize television to promote his records. His father, Ozzie would experiment with editing film footage together, creating an early model for music videos.

The Nelsons: Ozzie, David, Harriet & Ricky

During the sitcom's run, Ozzie Nelson, either to keep his son's fans tuned in, or as an affirmation of his reported reputation as a controlling personality, kept his son from appearing on other television shows that could have enhanced his public profile; American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show in particular. In the summer of 1958, Rick Nelson conducted his first full-scale tour, averaging $5,000 nightly, big money at the time. Nelson eventually did appear on the Sullivan show in 1967, but his career was on the skids by then.

In 1958, Nelson recorded 17 year old Sharon Sheeley's "Poor Little Fool" for his second album, "Ricky Nelson" (pictured above), which was released that June. It instantly gained radio airplay and his record label, Imperial, wanted to release a single right away, but Rick opposed it for some unknown reason. When a single was released anyway, he exercised his contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed a picture sleeve. On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" became the very first number one single on Billboard's newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart. It would sell over two million copies. Reportedly, Nelson so loathed the song that he refused to perform it on the "Ozzie and Harriet" show. Sheeley claimed he ruined her song by slowing the tempo. Teenage drama, as true then as it is now.

Rick Nelson died in an airplane crash on December 31, 1985, while on tour, enroute to Texas. He was 45.

Here's Rick Nelson's recording of "Poor Little Fool".

Rick Nelson and his music have many fans to this day, including some who are in a position to help remind folks of his musical legacy. In fact, that's the title of a brand spanking new tribute album, "Legacy - A Tribute to Rick Nelson"! The album was assembled over several years by Adam Waltemire of Pop Garden Radio, a radio show that airs on AM1300 WMEL out of Cocoa, Florida. PGR covers great pop music from all ends of the genre, featuring new and older music from around the country. Adam has had the pleasure of interviewing several pop legends on PGR including Brian Wilson, The Rembrandts, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens, The Rubinoos and Ron Dante of The Archies (!), just to name just a few. You can listen to their broadcasts on the PGR website.

I recently asked Adam how the tribute spotlight landed on Rick Nelson. Adam replied, "I first heard of Rick Nelson the night that he was killed. I was only 13 at the time and really didn't know much outside of country music. Getting to know his music really opened the doors for new music in my life." 

Adam Waltemire with Rick's sons, Matthew & Gunnar Nelson

Regarding how the project came to be, Adam said, "When I started Pop Garden Radio in 2005, I was focusing completely on indie-pop. I was impressed by all of the tribute CD's coming out at that time and I wanted to join in on the fun. I reached out to some of my pop friends about recording some Rick Nelson covers and it started rolling from there. Mind you, we hit some snags along the way, but I never gave up on the project. I am very thankful that so many artists have been interested in this and the contributions have really been mind-blowing!"

Mind-blowing indeed! With a whopping 22 songs, it's as good an overview of Nelson's music as you could want, and there's possibly going to be a Volume 2! The musicians doing the covers are all really talented and there's some really great interpretations on this album. Some play it fairly straight, like Ed James' rockin' take on "Stood Up", and some others take more artistic liberties. But there's one here that just cracked me up and that's the Zeppelin-esque mash-up version of "Poor Little Fool" by The Popdudes.

Mike Simmons & John Borack of The Popdudes

Drummer John Borack (also the author of the book, 'Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide') had this to say about how they came up with their unique vision of the song. "The members of Popdudes who played on "Poor Little Fool" are myself (drums) and Michael Simmons (everything else). When the producer of the Rick Nelson tribute asked us to take a whack at "Poor Little Fool," Mike and I went into the studio and started fooling around with different versions of the song (including one X-rated take featuring me attempting to sing that quickly fell to the cutting room floor). Mike was trying to think of a way for us to cover the song without producing a carbon copy, so we just began playing and for some reason we fell into the "D'yer Maker" riff pretty quickly, although I have no idea why. When we both began laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of the concept, that's when we knew we were onto something. We recorded and completed the track that same night!"

Here's the mash-up of all mash-ups, "Poor Little Fool" by The Popdudes!

You can buy the digital download in multiple formats right now at the Bandcamp web page! You can also listen to song samples there before you buy. At only $10, that's less than 50c a song! According to Adam, there will be a physical CD out in limited quantity in just a few weeks. I'll provide a link for you to get that when it's available.

Just in case you're interested in the real thing, you can find a ton of Rick Nelson's music at Amazon.

Special thanks & a tip of the Hatlo hat to Adam Waltemire & John Borack for their gracious contributions to this article. Much appreciated!