Ricky Nelson.....A Teenager's Romance 1957

[DavidHPihl]

I want a time machine! There has been so much amazing music through every decade since like the 30s, and there is so today as well :D I'm 18, and would sooooo love to see concerts with some of my favorite bands and singers all the way through!! Arrrgh! I just seriously want a time machine xD

[OldWriter205]

I am surprised that neither Ricky no I asked to drive the other's car. He probably had strict orders about that. I did ride in another guy's 57 Fury and I remember thinking how low the seats were in relation to the tranny hump and the foot wells. I guess they had to chop out the interior room in order to acquire that 'Suddenly it's 1960!' look that that Plymouth used in their advertising. I had another friend that put the gold fury siding on his 56 Plymouth which faked a lot of people out.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 Your friend didn't put it on his car. The Fury was a special top series for Plymouth in 1956, 57 and 58 that was only available as a two door hardtop and in white. Nice look, and obviously rare.

[OldWriter205]

@nothing1099 Oh yes but he absolutely DID install the Fury side moulding on his car. That is how I met him. I was cruising along Rosemead Blvd and happened to look in his driveway, and saw him installing the gold on the side of his red 56 Plymouth two door sedan (not a hardtop). So I pulled in and introduced myself, and we became good buddies. At that time I was driving a green two door 'fastback' 51 Chevy. I bought the 57 Chev soon after, and he bought a new 57 Dodge D-500-2.

[OldWriter205]

@OldWriter205 After he bought the Dodge, I installed the 57 Dodge spinner caps on my wheels, (very popular then). He later installed a 39 LaSalle floor shift in his Dodge and together we ran our cars a the grand opening of Riverside Raceway. They were having half mile drags on the long straight. I messed up my shifter and lost. He won his class which was D mod of something like that. But my Chevvy was still faster. I sent a letter to Motor Trend recently about that day and they ran it.

[OldWriter205]

@OldWriter205 Reason he bought the Dodge, his wife's uncle owned Robustelli Dodge in Rosemead, CA so got a good deal. Later he moved to the Denver area and after I got out of the Army the first time, I moved to Denver too. Back to the Riverside thing, Motor Trend had an article about the first day at Riverside Raceway being a road race, and I sent in the correction about opening day actually being the half mile drags. Could I have beat Ricky's Fury? Probably since I beat others on the street.

[DaveWollenberg]

Eric Hilliard Nelson hit #2 in Billboard, 6-10-57. God bless ya, for postin' it. Thanx! Have a great week. RIP, Rick.

[djdavemick]

Many people (my mom included) thought he debuted primarily with "I'm Walking". True enough, but Billboard listed this as the leading side on the best sellers chart when it peaked at #2. I believe his Verve recordings are quite hard to find on CD.

[Crazywatergirl]

i luv it

[muttgang62]

LOVE DOING MY RICKY TRIBUTES WHEN PLAYING LIVE.HE WAS THE BEST

[BudWiser999]

The original was the flip side of "I'm Walking" (Verve 10047)

[Auberginemule]

I'm 20 and I love this music more than pop music now.. I wish it was still like this :(

[Thearl]

Thanks for the post.

[AnthonysDen]

The flipside of his debut hit,a cover of Fats Domino's 'I'm Walkin'',this tune is perfect for dancing with your loved one.This coming New Year's Eve will be exactly 25 years since we lost this great performer.May God still love & bless this man!

[OldWriter205]

I typed he HAS when I meant to type he HAD. Ricky had a all white 57 Plymouth Fury, although I noticed in the photos of him that go by as you watch this song that he is leaning on the fender of a RED Fury. That was probably a prop car. I doubt that he wanted the general public to know what he drive and what color. I ran into him on the street (in my BelAir) after the Scrivner's Drive Inn fiasco, we talked, became casual friends and cruised up and down Sunset and Hollywood Blvd a few nights.

[barrygioportmorien1]

@OldWriter205

Ricky is in my top 3 Rock n' Rollers of all time, Fantastic that you knew him, I saw him in person once in the early 80's, such a great singer, with the looks to go with it.

[OldWriter205]

@barrygioportmorien1 Well, I wish I could claim to have really known him, but we probably only spent a total of 20 minutes of total TALK time out of the three times I saw him. We just basically ran up and down the boulevard, him following me usually. I never asked him to race, and I think he knew my Chevy was faster. Funny, with his money and the freedom to spend it, he could have blown me out of the water.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 There was a 301ci in the 1957 Plymouth Fury, while you had a 283ci in you 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. I think he had more power, but wasn't into it.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 Perhaps it was a 1958 Plymouth Fury, which is the year of the car in the video. The lights were different for 1957 and it was called a Plymouth Belvedere in 1957. That makes me think he got his car after he graduated high school and not during high school. Would that be correct? Someone mentioned that his money was in a trust fund and he got $50 a week (?), I guess until he turned 18 years old.

[OldWriter205]

@nothing1099 I am not sure of the date it was when he was to appear at Scribner's drive in, all I remember is that I had that 57 Chevvy and it was, I am pretty sure, BEFORE the 58s came out, so I am pretty sure that the white Plymouth he had was a 57. He might have only gotten 50 a week but he had that car.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 I was mistaken. There was a 1957 Plymouth Fury. It was the top of the line model that was only available as a two door hardtop in all white with a gold aluminum trim along the side. Nice car. Since Ricky turned sixteen on May 8, 1956, he would have bought that car in the fall of 1956, when he was sixteen after he got his driver's license and the new 1957 Plymouth Fury came out.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 The 50 dollars a week is interesting. Based on the CPI, $50 then is $400 now, which means he was receiving $20,000 a year for spending money since he was still living at home. The story about not having any money for a movie ticket then may suggest how much he was spending on street drugs at the time - marijuana and cocaine. It's it amazing how so many of these teenagers end up addicted to drugs when a world of opportunity opens for them?

[OldWriter205]

@nothing1099 I really doubt that he was spending money on street drugs in 1957. I saw no sign of that, but I have to admit that I did nothing with him in the form of dating, etc. Matter of fact, the time I actually ran into him in person after the Scribners Drive Inn fiasco, I was with two gals, and he was alone. Ditto on the next two or three times. I saw a news report the other day of that Ashton character singing. He had his hair done just like Ricky in 57.

[nothing1099]

@OldWriter205 That story on wikipedia about Ricky having to collect empty bottles to have enough money to buy movie tickets is likely false, anyways. But I can understand hiding weed in among the weeds.

[packardcaribien]

@OldWriter205

It probably wasn't a fury if it was red. Pre-59' furies were all white (except for Christine, but that's another story). It was probably a belvedere coupe he was leaning on.

[OldWriter205]

@packardcaribien Don't know about the car in that video. As far as furies all being white pre-59, I don't remember that. You might be right. I remember riding parking my Belair and getting out to ride in some guy's new Fury, and it was white. That was 57. Just remember that because Plymouth tried to get that low look, the seats front and back seemed very short or low, close to the floorboards, and that made the trans hump in the front and the driveshaft hump in the rear seem really high.

[OldWriter205]

@packardcaribien Oh wait. I just noticed your 'handle' Packard Caribien. Then I looked at your home page and it ways PACKARD TV on top. Back in my day there was a Packard Caribbean car, and in 56 I remember we had one, a two door hardtop in my home town of Wellsville, Ohio, and that Packard was that three tone color combo of pink and white and a third color I don't remember. But that Packard, with twin antennaes in the rear fenders, was gorgeous.

[OldWriter205]

@OldWriter205 Oh, when I said 'we had one,' I didn't mean my family, I meant to say there was one in our home town, also a 55 Chrysler 300 red body with brown leather seats. Then my dad bought a new 55 Chevy, and we would see cars come by at night and stop in front of our house to stare at it.

[packardcaribien]

@OldWriter205

Caribbeans from 55-56' (the ones you are thinking of) were tri-tone, usually white a third pastel color (pink, green, blue ect.) and a dark grey/black. And yes, that's why my username is named after; but the correct spelling is too long for most websites so it's slightly modified.

[OldWriter205]

I had a new white over red 57 Bel-Air, and arrived with two gals in the car. By the time we went on the air, there were 6 gals in the car and me. I was first, and we requested WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE. When Ricky appeared, HE WALKED IN from down Sunset because there was no way to park near the driveinn. The crowd MOBBED HIM. Art never could get him close enough to the microphone. After that, Ricky never went into public without security. He has a white 57 Fury, and I cruised with him sometimes.

[OldWriter205]

I can add some very special personal comments about this song, and will probably need to go to two spaces. In 1957 there was a great daily radio broadcast from Scrivner's Drive inn on Sunset Blvd and Art Laboe was the DJ. He is famous, still alive for the phrase Oldies but Goodies. If you parked your car in line, Art would come to your car, talk to you, ask for your request and play it on the air, live of course. I was first in line the day Ricky Nelson was to make his first public Appearance.

[jimmtpicornell]

Great Song

[Clonelover4443]

@jimmtpicornell i agree with u and i love the saxaphone!

[vinylsingleman]

This was his very first hit; his cover of "I'm Walkin'" on the flip side was also a hit.

[rusty44mag]

I like the way he always closes his eyes when he sings

[backorder8418]

This is the only song our junior high bus driver let us sing and he finally learned all the words! Thanks for the memories.

[shakina91]

awesome song luv ricky nelson^_^

[santack3]

I hope I meet him in heaven

[emclau2955]

I love singing along to this song. Sometimes I just shout the words after a wave of emotion hits me because it's RICKY! He definitely had talent. Sucks that I'm sixteen... would have been nice to see him live at least once.

[richiemonsterking7]

same here

[OldWriter205]

@emclau2955 Hey sixteen, you're eighteen now.

[arsgb19]

Rick Nelson,what can you say, One of the great ock and roll singers, A Teenagers Romance is one of his best, I sing it at karaoke, It's to bad Rick passed on to young, I recently saw his kids Mathew and Gunnar in concert in Wisconsin, They are very talented...We love you Rick, God bless you...

[barrygioportmorien1]

Amen to that.

[sodashopkid56]

love the song...such a good singer

[zellyscool]

I just love this song its so romantic and Ricky sings it beautifully......sigh