Rick's Decca Debut: A mix of good and lame material
Henry R. Kujawa | "The Forbidden Zone" (Camden, NJ) | 02/05/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Rick Nelson's 2 1963 albums on one CD reflect the time they came out. When Rick switched labels he brought the same great band and enthusiasm with him-- but something was missing. Like most pop music in America (just before The Beatles' arrival) a lot of the songs here seem "watered down" compared to the harder, more exciting material on his earlier albums. And a couple tunes (notably "Everytime I See You Smiling") are marred by one of the worst group of back-up singers I've ever heard . Still, there are highlights: "Gypsy Woman" (this SHOULD have been an "A" side), "I Got A Woman" (possibly the closest in style to his earlier recordings), "For You" (the Glen Gray classic), "Fools Rush In" (once done by Glenn Miller-Rick later performed it live on SNL in 1978!) and "A Legend In My Time". For Rick completists (like me!); for anyone else, I'd recommend Decca / MCA's THE BEST OF RICK NELSON: 1963-75."
Rick Try's It Decca's Way
mrcottage1 | Connecticut | 03/13/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I had both of these alblblums on vinyl when they came out in 1963. I remember as a young teenager how different these recordings were from Rick's Imperial releases. Rick's very small output in 1962 (he recorded only 5 songs the entire year) was a question mark for me. Was it because of the lack of material or the bad relationship that his Dad had with the owner of Imperial Records? In any event I think these 2 LP's that make up the CD show an experimentation stage of his career."For Your Sweet Love is probably the best alblum Rick made during the 1963-1969 Decca era. "For You" feels like a definite swing towards a more "country feel" mixed with those old standards. In any event, Decca was calling the shots here with that 20 year contract they had signed Rick to."
Rick's Decca Debut: A mix of good and bad material
Henry R. Kujawa | "The Forbidden Zone" (Camden, NJ) | 01/21/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Rick's 8th & 9th albums (his first 2 at Decca) on one CD are very representative of the time they came out. In 1963, when Rick Nelson switched labels (thanks to the sharp business dealings of his father, Ozzie) he brought the same great band and enthusiasm with him. But something was missing. Like most pop music in America (just before The Beatles' arrival) a lot of the songs here seem "watered down" compared to the harder, more exciting material on his Imperial albums a few years before. And a couple tunes (notably "Everytime I See You Smiling") are marred by one of the worst group of back-up singers I've ever heard . Still, some great tunes got in here, including "Gypsy Woman" (this SHOULD have been an "A" side), "I Got A Woman" (possibly the closest in style to his earlier recordings), "For You" (the Glen Gray classic), "Fools Rush In" (once done by Glenn Miller-Rick later performed it live on SNL in 1978!) and "A Legend In My Time". Of all the reissues from Ace, this one also seems to suffer from poor sound quality (I've heard so many of these on other repackages to notice the difference). For Rick completists (like me!); for anyone else, I'd recommend Decca/MCA's THE BEST OF RICK NELSON: 1963-75."