Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) – known as
Ricky Nelson, later also as
Rick Nelson – was an American actor, musician and singer-songwriter.
He starred alongside his family in the television series,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66), as well as co-starring alongside
John Wayne and
Dean Martin in
Howard Hawks's
western feature film,
Rio Bravo (1959).
He placed 53 songs on the
Billboard Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973 including "
Poor Little Fool" which holds the distinction of being the first #1 song on
Billboard magazine's then-newly created
Hot 100 chart.
He recorded 19 additional Top 10 hits and was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987.
[1][2] In 1996, he was ranked #49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
[3]
Nelson began his entertainment career in 1949 playing himself in the radio sitcom series,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1952, he appeared in his first feature film,
Here Come the Nelsons.
In 1957, he recorded his first single, debuted as a singer on the
television version of the sitcom, and released the #1 album entitled
Ricky.
In 1958, Nelson released his first #1 single, "
Poor Little Fool", and in 1959 received a
Golden Globe nomination for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" after starring in
Rio Bravo.
A few films followed, and when the television series was cancelled in
1966, Nelson made occasional appearances as a guest star on various
television programs.
Nelson and
Sharon Kristin Harmon were married on April 20, 1963, and divorced in December 1982. They had four children:
Tracy Kristine, twin sons
Gunnar Eric and
Matthew Gray,
and Sam Hilliard.
On February 14, 1981, a son (Eric Crewe) was born to
Nelson and Georgeann Crewe. A blood test in 1985 confirmed that Nelson
was the child's father. Nelson was engaged to Helen Blair when both were
killed in an airplane crash on December 31, 1985.
Yahoo Image Search: Ricky Nelson
| Rick Nelson |
|---|
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Eric Hilliard Nelson |
| Born |
May 8, 1940
Teaneck, New Jersey, US |
| Died |
December 31, 1985 (aged 45)
De Kalb, Texas, US |
| Genres |
Rockabilly, Rock 'n' roll, Pop, Folk, Country |
| Occupation(s) |
Actor, musician, singer-songwriter |
| Years active |
1949–1985 |
| Labels |
Imperial, Decca/MCA, Epic |
| Associated acts |
Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Connie Francis, Carl Perkins, James Burton |
| Website |
rickynelson.com |
Early life
Ricky Nelson was born on May 8, 1940, at 1:25 p.m. at Holy Name Hospital in
Teaneck, New Jersey.
[4][5][6] He was the second son of
big band leader
Ozzie Nelson, who was of half Swedish descent, and his wife, big band vocalist
Harriet Hilliard Nelson (née Peggy Louise Snyder).
Harriett remained in
Englewood, New Jersey, with her newborn and her older son
David while Ozzie toured the nation with the Nelson orchestra.
[7] T
he Nelsons bought a two-story colonial house in
Tenafly, New Jersey,
[7][8] and, six months after the purchase, moved with son
David to Hollywood, where Ozzie and Harriet were slated to appear in the 1941–42 season of
Red Skelton's
The Raleigh Cigarette Hour; Ricky remained in Tenafly in the care of his paternal grandmother.
[9]
In November 1941, the Nelsons bought what would become their permanent
home: a green and white, two-story, Cape Cod colonial home at
1822 Camino Palmero in Los Angeles.
[10][11]
Ricky joined his parents and brother in Los Angeles in 1942.
[10]
Ricky was a small and insecure child who suffered from severe
asthma. At night, his sleep was eased with a vaporizer emitting tincture of evergreen.
[12]
He was described by Red Skelton's producer
John Guedel as "an odd little kid," likable, shy, introspective, mysterious, and inscrutable.
[13]
When Skelton was drafted in 1944, Guedel crafted the radio sitcom
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet for Ricky's parents.
[13][14] The show debuted on Sunday, October 8, 1944, to favorable reviews.
[15][16]
Ozzie eventually became head writer for the show and based episodes on the fraternal exploits and enmity of his sons.
[17]
The Nelson boys were first played in the radio series by professional
child actors until twelve-year-old Dave and eight-year-old Ricky joined
the show on February 20, 1949, in the episode "Invitation to Dinner."
[18][19]
In 1952, the Nelsons tested the waters for a television series with the theatrically released film
Here Come the Nelsons.
The film was a hit, and Ozzie was convinced the family could make the
transition from radio's airwaves to television's small screen.
On
October 3, 1952,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
made its television debut and was broadcast in first run until
September 3, 1966, to become one of the longest-running sitcoms in
television history.
Education
Nelson attended Gardner Street Public School,
[20] Bancroft Junior High,
[21] and, between 1954 and 1958,
Hollywood High School, from which he graduated with a B average.
[22][23][24]
He played football at Hollywood High
[22][23] and represented the school in interscholastic tennis matches.
[25] Twenty-five years later, Nelson told the
Los Angeles Weekly he hated school because it "smelled of pencils" and he was forced to rise early in the morning to attend.
[22]
At Hollywood High, Nelson was blackballed by the Elksters, a
fraternity of a dozen conservative sports-loving teens who thought him
too wild.
[26][27]
Many of the Elksters were family friends and spent weekends at the Nelson home playing basketball or relaxing around the pool.
[27]
In retaliation, he joined the Rooks, a
greaser car club of sideburned high school teens clad in leather jackets and motorcycle boots.
[27][28]
He tattooed his hands, wrist, and shoulder with India ink and a sewing
needle, slicked his hair with oil, and accompanied the Rooks on
nocturnal forays along
Hollywood Boulevard.
[27][28]
Nelson was jailed twice in connection with incidents perpetrated by the Rooks and escaped punishment after
sucker-punching a police officer only through the intervention of his father.
[28]
Nelson's parents were alarmed. Their son's juvenile delinquency did little to enhance the All-American image of
Ozzie and Harriet,
and they quickly put an end to Ricky's involvement with the Rooks by
banishing one of the most influential of the club's members from Ricky's
life and their home.
[25]
One of Ricky's seldom-publicized traits was his "fierce loyalty" to
boyhood friends whom he regarded as trusted confidants. When young
friend Bill Aken was in a crippling auto accident in New York City and
confined to a hospital bed for months, Ricky would often phone Billy's
mother, asking about his progress and writing short notes and letters to
Billy to cheer him up.
They became lifelong friends, and Aken recorded
the only family-authorized tribute record ("Gentle Friend") for the fan
club after Rick's death.
Ozzie Nelson was a
Rutgers alumnus and keen on college education,
[29] but eighteen-year-old Ricky was already in the 93 percent income-tax bracket and saw no reason to attend.
[23]
At age thirteen, Ricky was making over $100,000 per annum, and at sixteen he had a personal fortune of $500,000.
[30]
Nelson's wealth was astutely managed by his parents, who channeled his
earnings into trust funds.
Although his parents permitted him a $50
allowance at the age of eighteen, Rick was often strapped for cash and
one evening collected and redeemed empty pop bottles to gain entrance to
a movie theater for himself and a date.
[31]
Accustomed to affluence, Nelson had a cavalier attitude about money and never managed his finances very well.
[26]
Music career
Debut
Nelson played clarinet and drums in his
tweens and early teens, learned the rudimentary guitar chords, and vocally imitated his favorite
Sun Records rockabilly artists in the bathroom at home or in the showers at the
Los Angeles Tennis Club.
He was strongly influenced by the music of
Carl Perkins and once said he tried to emulate the sound and the tone of the guitar break in Perkins's March 1956
Top Ten hit "
Blue Suede Shoes."
At age sixteen, he wanted to impress a girl friend who was an
Elvis Presley fan and, although he had no record contract at the time, told her that he, too, was going to make a record.
[36]
With his father's help, he secured a one-record deal with
Verve Records, an important jazz label looking for a young and popular personality who could sing or be taught to sing.
[36]
On March 26, 1957, he recorded the
Fats Domino standard "
I'm Walkin'" and "
A Teenager's Romance" (released in late April 1957 as his first single),
[40] and "
You're My One and Only Love".
Before the single was released, he made his television rock-and-roll debut on April 10, 1957, lip-synching "I'm Walkin'" in the
Ozzie and Harriet episode "Ricky, the Drummer".
About the same time, he made an unpaid public appearance, singing "
Blue Moon of Kentucky" with the
Four Preps at a Hamilton High School lunch hour assembly
[40] in Los Angeles and was greeted by hordes of screaming teens who had seen the television episode.
"
I'm Walkin'" reached #4 on
Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores chart, and its flip side, "
A Teenager's Romance", hit #2.
[36]
When the television series went on summer break in 1957, Nelson made
his first road trip and played four state and county fairs in
Ohio and
Wisconsin with the Four Preps, who opened and closed for him.
First album, band, and #1 single
In early summer 1957, Ozzie Nelson pulled his son from Verve after
disputes about royalties and signed him to a lucrative five-year deal
with
Imperial Records that gave him approval over song selection, sleeve artwork, and other production details.
[47][48]
Ricky's first Imperial single, "
Be-Bop Baby", generated 750,000 advance orders, sold over one million copies, and reached #3 on the charts.
Nelson's first album,
Ricky, was released in October 1957 and hit #1 before the end of the year.
[49] Following these successes, Nelson was given a more prominent role on the
Ozzie and Harriet show and ended every two or three episodes with a musical number.
[50]
Nelson grew increasingly dissatisfied performing with older jazz
session musicians, who were openly contemptuous of rock and roll. After
his Ohio and Minnesota tours in the summer of 1957, he decided to form
his own band with members closer to his age.
[51]
Eighteen-year-old electric guitarist
James Burton was the first signed, living in the Nelson home for two years.
[52] Bassist James Kirkland, drummer Richie Frost, and pianist Gene Garf completed the band.
[53] Their first recording together was "
Believe What You Say".
Rick selected material from demo acetates submitted by songwriters.
Ozzie Nelson forbade suggestive lyrics or titles, and his late-night
arrival at recording sessions forced band members to hurriedly hide
their beers and cigarettes.
The Jordanaires, Elvis Presley's backup vocalists, worked for Nelson but at Presley's behest were not permitted credit on Nelson's albums.
In 1958, Nelson recorded 17-year-old
Sharon Sheeley's "
Poor Little Fool" for his second album,
Ricky Nelson, released in June 1958.
[54][55]
Radio airplay brought the tune notice, and Imperial suggested releasing
a single, but Nelson opposed the idea, believing a single would
diminish EP sales.
When a single was released nonetheless, he exercised
his contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed a picture
sleeve.
[54][56]
On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" became the #1 single on
Billboard's newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart
[57][58] and sold over two million copies.
[54] Nelson so loathed the song that he refused to perform it on
Ozzie and Harriet.
[54] Sheeley claimed he ruined her song by slowing the tempo.
[57] More generally, Nelson stated
Anyone who knocks rock 'n' roll either doesn't understand it, or is prejudiced against it, or is just plain square. – NME – November 1958[59]
Nelson publicity photo, 1960
During 1958 and 1959, Nelson placed twelve hits on the charts in
comparison with Presley's eleven.
During these two years, Presley had
only recorded music for
King Creole
in January and February 1958 before his induction into the U.S. Armed
Forces, and a brief recording session consisting of five songs while on
Military Leave four months later.
During the sitcom's run, Ozzie Nelson,
either to keep his son's fans tuned in or as an affirmation of his
reputed behind-the-scenes persona 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.
[57]
In the summer of 1958, Nelson conducted his first full-scale tour,
averaging $5,000 nightly. By 1960, the Ricky Nelson International Fan
Club had 9,000 chapters around the world.
[60]
Perhaps the most embarrassing moment in my career was when six girls
tried to fling themselves under my car, and shouted to me to run over
them. That sort of thing can be very frightening! – NME – May 1960[61]
Nelson was the first teen idol to utilize television to promote hit
records.
Ozzie Nelson even had the idea to edit footage together to
create some of the first music videos. This creative editing can be seen
in videos Ozzie produced for "Travelin' Man."
[citation needed]
Nelson finally did appear on the Sullivan show in 1967, but his career
by that time was in limbo. He also appeared on other television shows
(usually in acting roles).
In 1973, he had an acting role in an episode
of
The Streets of San Francisco
in which he played the part of a hippie flute-playing leader of a harem
of young prostitutes. He starred in the episode "A Hand For Sonny Blue"
from the 1977 series
Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (known in the United Kingdom as
Twist in the Tale).
[62]
In 1979, he guest-hosted on
Saturday Night Live, spoofing his television sitcom image by appearing in a
Twilight Zone sendup in which, always trying to go "home," he finds himself among the characters from other 1950s/early 1960s-era sitcoms,
Leave It to Beaver,
Father Knows Best,
Make Room for Daddy, and
I Love Lucy.
Nelson knew and loved music and was a skilled performer even before he became a
teen idol, largely because of his parents' musical background. Nelson worked with many musicians of repute, including
James Burton,
Joe Osborn, and
Allen "Puddler" Harris, all natives of
Louisiana, and
Joe Maphis,
The Jordanaires,
Scotty Moore, and
Johnny and
Dorsey Burnette.
Nelson's music was very well recorded with a clear, punchy
sound—thanks in part to engineer Bunny Robyn and producer Jimmy Haskell.
Details are
here.
From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other
artist except 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.
While Nelson preferred
rockabilly and
uptempo rock
songs like "
Believe What You Say" (Hot 100 #4), "
I Got a Feeling" (#10), "
My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" (#12), "
Hello Mary Lou" (#9), "It's Late" (#9), "
Stood Up" (#2), "
Waitin' in School" (#18), "
Be-Bop Baby" (#3), and "
Just a Little Too Much" (#9),
His smooth, calm voice made him a natural to sing ballads. He had major success with "
Travelin' Man" (#1), "
A Teenager's Romance" (#2), "Poor Little Fool" (#1), "
Young World" (#5), "
Lonesome Town" (#7), "
Never Be Anyone Else But You" (#6), "
Sweeter Than You" (#9), "
It's Up to You" (#6), and "
Teen Age Idol" (#5), which clearly could have been about Nelson himself.
Film actor
Nelson in Rio Bravo, 1959
In addition to his recording career, Nelson appeared in movies, including the
Howard Hawks western classic
Rio Bravo with
John Wayne,
Dean Martin, and
Walter Brennan (1959), plus
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) with
Jack Lemmon and
Love and Kisses (1965) with
Jack Kelly.
Name change
On May 8, 1961 (his 21st birthday), he officially modified his
recording name from "Ricky Nelson" to "Rick Nelson".
His childhood
nickname proved hard to shake, especially among the generation who had
watched him grow up on "Ozzie and Harriet". Even in the 1980s, when
Nelson realized his dream of meeting
Carl Perkins, Perkins noted that he and "Ricky" were the last of the "rockabilly breed."
In 1963, Nelson signed a 20-year contract with
Decca Records.
After some early successes with the label, most notably 1964's "For
You" (#6), Nelson's chart career came to a dramatic halt in the wake of
Beatlemania and
The British Invasion.
In the mid 1960s, Nelson began to move towards
country music, becoming a pioneer in the country-rock genre. He was one of the early influences of the so-called "
California Sound" (which would include singers like
Jackson Browne and
Linda Ronstadt and bands like the
Eagles).
Yet Nelson himself did not reach the
Top 40 again until 1970, when he recorded
Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me" with the Stone Canyon Band, featuring
Randy Meisner, who in 1971 became a founding member of the
Eagles, and former
Buckaroo steel guitarist
Tom Brumley.
"Garden Party"
Nelson performing on The Jim Nabors Show in 1970
In 1972, Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with "
Garden Party",
a song he wrote in disgust after a Richard Nader Oldies Concert at
Madison Square Garden where the audience booed him, because, he felt, he
was playing new songs instead of just his old hits.
When he performed
The Rolling Stones' "
Honky Tonk Women",
he was booed off the stage. He was watching the rest of the performance
on a TV monitor backstage and Richard Nader finally convinced Nelson to
return to the stage and play his "oldies".
He returned to the stage and
played his "oldies" and the audience responded with applause, according
to Deborah Nader, President of Richard Nader Entertainment. He wanted
to record an album featuring original material, but the single was
released before the album because Nelson had not completed the entire
Garden Party album yet.
"Garden Party" reached #6 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the
Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and was certified as a
gold single. The second single released from the album was "Palace Guard" which peaked at #65.
Nelson was with MCA at the time, and his comeback was short-lived.
Nelson's band soon resigned, and MCA wanted Nelson to have a producer on
his next album. His band moved to Aspen and changed their name to
"Canyon".
Nelson soon put together a new Stone Canyon Band and began to
tour for the
Garden Party album. Nelson still played nightclubs and bars, but he soon advanced to higher-paying venues because of the success of
Garden Party.
In 1974 MCA was at odds as to what to do with the former teen idol. Albums like
Windfall failed to have an impact. Nelson became an attraction at theme parks like
Knott's Berry Farm and
Disneyland. He also started appearing in minor roles on television shows.
Nelson tried to score another hit but did not have any luck with
songs like "Rock and Roll Lady." With seven years to go on his contract,
MCA dropped him from the label.
Nelson studied
karate, earning a brown belt before going on to learn
Jeet Kune Do under
Dan Inosanto. Inosanto described Nelson as a "good martial artist for those times."
[63]
Personal life
In 1957, when Nelson was 17, he met and fell in love with
Marianne Gaba, who played the role of Ricky's girlfriend in three episodes of
Ozzie and Harriet.
[64][65]
Nelson and Gaba were too young to entertain a serious relationship, although according to Gaba "we used to neck
for hours."
[66][67]
The next year, Nelson fell in love with 15-year-old
Lorrie Collins, a country singer appearing on a weekly telecast called
Town Hall Party.
[68][69] The two wrote Nelson's first composition, the song "My Gal," and she introduced him to
Johnny Cash and
Tex Ritter.
Collins appeared in an
Ozzie and Harriet episode as Ricky's girlfriend and sang "Just Because" with him in the musical finale.
[70]
They went steady and discussed marriage, but their parents discouraged the idea.
[70][71]
At the age of 45, Nelson said the only girl he ever really loved was
involved with him for two years in the late 1950s. After she became
pregnant and had a nearly fatal abortion, she married another man.
[72][73]
Kris Harmon
Rick and Kris Nelson, 1964
At Christmas 1961, Nelson began dating
Sharon Kristin "Kris" Harmon (born June 25, 1945), the daughter of football legend
Tom Harmon and actress
Elyse Knox (née Elsie Kornbrath) and the older sister of
Kelly and
Mark Harmon.
[74][75]
The Nelsons and the Harmons had long been friends, and a union between their children held great appeal.
[76] Rick and Kris had much in common: quiet dispositions, Hollywood upbringings, and high-powered, domineering fathers.
[77]
They married on April 20, 1963. Kris was pregnant,
[78] and Rick later described the union as a "
shotgun wedding."
[79] Nelson, a nonpracticing Protestant, received instruction in Catholicism at the insistence of the bride's parents
[79][80] and signed a pledge to have any children of the union raised in the Catholic faith.
[78]
Kris Nelson joined the television show as a regular cast member in 1963.
[73][81] They had four children: actress
Tracy Kristine Nelson, twin sons
Gunnar Eric Nelson and
Matthew Gray Nelson who formed the band
Nelson, and Sam Hilliard Nelson.
By 1975, following the birth of their last child, the marriage had
deteriorated and a very public, controversial divorce involving both
families was covered in the press for several years.
In October 1977,
Kris filed for divorce and asked for alimony, custody of their four
children, and a portion of community property. The couple temporarily
resolved their differences, but Kris retained her attorney to pursue a
permanent break.
[82]
According to a Nelson biographer, Kris was contentious and jealous.
Both spent enormous sums of money: Kris on parties, Rick on renting a
private Lear jet.
[83]
Nelson had a tremendous sexual appetite and a casual attitude toward
sex, once estimating he had had sex with thousands of women.
[84]
Kris wanted Rick to give up music, spend more time at home, and focus
on acting, but the family enjoyed a recklessly expensive lifestyle, and
Kris's extravagant spending left Rick no choice but to tour
relentlessly.
[85]
The impasse over Rick's career created unpleasantness at home. Kris
became an alcoholic and left the children in the care of household help.
[86]
After years of legal proceedings, they were divorced in December 1982.
The divorce was financially devastating for Nelson, with attorneys and
accountants taking over $1 million.
[87] Years of legal wrangling followed.
[88][89]
Georgeann Crewe
On May 16, 1980, Nelson met Georgeann Crewe at the Playboy Resort in Great Gorge, New Jersey.
[90][91]
Crewe later claimed she felt "an attachment, an immediate attraction" to Nelson.
[90][91]
Crewe unsuccessfully attempted to contact Nelson several times to let
him know that she was pregnant, and on February 14, 1981, she gave birth
to Nelson's son, Eric Jude Crewe.
[90]
In 1985, a blood test confirmed Nelson was the father,
[90]
but Nelson declined to meet either Crewe or their son, and refused to
perform in Atlantic City to avoid the possibility of meeting them.
Although Nelson agreed to provide $400 a month in child support, he did
not provide for the child in his will.
[92]
Helen Blair
In 1980, Nelson met Helen Blair, a part-time model and exotic animal trainer, in Las Vegas.
[93]
Within months of their meeting, she became his road companion, and in
1982 she moved in with him. She was the only woman he dated after his
divorce.
[93][94]
Blair acted as personal assistant to Nelson, organizing his day and acting as a liaison for his fan club,
[93] but Nelson's mother, brother, business manager, and manager disapproved of her presence in his life.
[95]
He contemplated marrying her but eventually declined.
[96] Blair died with Nelson in the airplane fire. Her name was never mentioned at Nelson's funeral.
[97]
Blair's parents wanted their daughter buried next to Nelson at
Forest Lawn Cemetery, but Harriet Nelson dismissed the idea.
[98]
The Blairs refused to bury Helen's remains and filed a $2 million
wrongful death suit against Nelson's estate.
[97]
They received a small settlement. Nelson did not provide for Blair in his will.
[92]
Drug use
Nelson used
marijuana early in his musical career, and became a regular user.
[citation needed] He supported marijuana's legalization. He tried
mescaline and was a regular
cocaine user, carrying the drug in an empty
ginseng capsule.
[99][100]
During the Nelson divorce proceedings, he was accused by his wife's attorney of using cocaine,
quaaludes,
and other drugs, and of having "a severe drug problem" encouraged by
his managers, his entourage, and his groupies.
The attorney noted that
Nelson's "personal manager" secured drugs for Nelson, that wild parties
took place in his home whether he was present or not, and that his
children, aware of his drug use, were in great physical danger from
drugged persons entering and exiting the house at all hours.
[101]
Following Nelson's divorce, while he was involved with Helen Blair, his
drug use grew so dire that friends urged him to seek treatment for
substance abuse.
[102]
Traces of cocaine, marijuana, and the painkiller
Darvon were found in Nelson's blood in tests conducted after his death.
[103]
Death
Nelson dreaded flying but refused to travel by bus. In May 1985, he
decided he needed a private plane and leased a luxurious, fourteen-seat,
1944
Douglas DC-3 that had once belonged to the
DuPont family and later to
Jerry Lee Lewis.
The plane had been plagued by a history of mechanical problems.
[104]
In one incident, the band was forced to push the plane off the runway
after an engine blew, and in another incident, a malfunctioning
magneto prevented Nelson from participating in the first
Farm Aid concert in
Champaign, Illinois.
On December 26, 1985, Nelson and the band left for a three-stop tour of the Southern United States. Following shows in
Orlando, Florida, and
Guntersville, Alabama, Nelson and band members took off from Guntersville for a New Year's Eve extravaganza in
Dallas, Texas.
[105]
The plane crash-landed northeast of Dallas in
De Kalb, Texas,
less than two miles from a landing strip, at approximately 5:14 pm. CST
on December 31, 1985, hitting trees as it came to earth.
Seven of the
nine occupants were killed: Nelson and his companion, Helen Blair; bass
guitarist Patrick Woodward, drummer Rick Intveld, keyboardist
Andy Chapin,
guitarist Bobby Neal, and road manager/soundman Donald Clark Russell.
Pilots Ken Ferguson and Brad Rank escaped via cockpit windows, though
Ferguson was severely burned.
Nelson's remains were misdirected in transit from Texas to
California, delaying the funeral for several days.
On January 6, 1986,
250 mourners entered the Church of the Hills for funeral services while
700 fans gathered outside. Attendees included
'Colonel' Tom Parker,
Connie Stevens,
Angie Dickinson, and dozens of actors, writers, and musicians.
Nelson was privately buried days later in the
Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
[106]
Kris Nelson threatened to sue the Nelson clan for her former husband's
life insurance money and tried to wrest control of his estate from David
Nelson, its administrator.
Her bid was rejected by a Los Angeles
Superior Court judge. Nelson bequeathed his entire estate to his
children and did not provide for Eric Crewe or Kris Nelson. Only days
after the funeral, rumors and newspaper reports suggested cocaine
freebasing was one of several possible causes for the plane crash.
Those allegations were refuted by the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
[107]
Reports vary as to whether or not the plane was on fire before it
crashed.
According to witnesses, the plane appeared to be on fire before
it crash-landed. However Jim Burnett, then-Chairman of the NTSB, said
that even though the plane was filled with smoke, it landed and came to a
stop before it was swallowed by flames.
[108]
The NTSB conducted a year-long investigation and finally concluded
that, while a definite cause was still unknown, the crash was probably
due to a fire that was caused by the plane's cabin heater "acting up".
[109][110]
When questioned by the NTSB, pilots Brad Rank and Ken Ferguson had
different accounts of key events. According to co-pilot Ferguson, the
cabin heater was acting up after the plane took off.
Ferguson continued
that Rank kept going to the back of the plane to see if he could get the
heater to function correctly and that Rank told Ferguson several times
to turn the heater back on. "One of the times, I refused to turn it on,"
said Ferguson.
He continued, "I was getting more nervous. I didn't
think we should be messing with that heater en-route." After the plane
crashed, Ferguson and Rank climbed out the windows, suffering from
extensive burns.
They shouted to the passenger cabin, but there was no
response. Ferguson and Rank backed away from the plane, fearing
explosion. Ferguson stated that Rank told him, "Don't tell anyone about
the heater, don't tell anyone about the heater."
[110]
Pilot Rank, however, told a different story: Rank said that he was
checking on the passengers when he noticed smoke in the middle of the
cabin, where Rick Nelson and Helen Blair were sitting. Even though he
never mentioned a problematic heater, Rank stated that he went to the
rear of the plane to check the heater, saw no smoke, and found the
heater was cool to the touch.
After activating an automatic fire
extinguisher and opening the cabin's fresh air inlets, Rank said that he
returned to the cockpit where Ferguson was already asking traffic
controllers for directions to the nearest airfield.
[110]
Rank was criticized by the NTSB for not following the in-flight fire
check-list, opening the fresh air vents instead of leaving them closed,
not instructing the passengers to use supplemental oxygen, and not
attempting to fight the fire with the hand-held fire extinguisher that
was in the cockpit.
The board said that while these steps might not have
prevented the crash, "they would have enhanced the potential for
survival of the passengers."
[110]
The words of the NTSB seem to echo that of fire-fighter, Lewis Glover,
who was one of the first on the scene. Glover stated, "All the bodies
are there at the front of the plane. Apparently, they were trying to
escape the fire."
[111]
An examination indicated that a fire had originated on the right side of the
aft
cabin area at or near the floor line. Some reports said the passengers
were killed when the aircraft struck obstacles during the forced
landing.
The ignition and fuel sources of the fire could not be
determined.
[112] According to another report, the pilot indicated that the crew repeatedly tried to turn on the
gasoline cabin heater
shortly before the fire occurred, but that it failed to respond.
After
the fire, the access panel to the heater compartment was found
unlatched. The theory is supported by records that showed that
DC-3s in general, and this aircraft in particular, had a history of problems with the cabin heaters.
Tributes, honors, recognition
Nelson publicity photo, 1966
- Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1515 Vine Street.
- Along with the recording's other participants, Nelson earned the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for "Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions."
- In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[113]
- In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Nelson #91 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[114]
- At the 20th anniversary of Nelson's death, PBS televised Ricky Nelson Sings, a documentary featuring interviews with his children, as well as James Burton and Kris Kristofferson. On December 27, 2005, EMI Music released an album entitled Ricky Nelson's Greatest Hits which peaked at #56 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
- Bob Dylan wrote about Nelson's influence on his music in his 2004 memoir, "Chronicles, Vol. 1".
- Nelson's estate (The Rick Nelson Company, LLC) owns ancillary rights to the Ozzie and Harriet television series, and, in 2007, Shout! Factory released official editions of the show on DVD. Also in 2007, Nelson was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame..
- The John Frusciante song "Ricky" was inspired by Ricky Nelson.
- For the 25th anniversary of Nelson's death, Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer, James Burton,
Nelson's original guitarist for nearly ten years, spoke about his
friendship and experiences with the singer in an extensive series of
interviews for Examiner.com. The first installment is entitled
"Remembering Rick Nelson: An Interview With His Friend, Guitarist James
Burton."
- Included in the Scandinavian-American hall of fame in 2014
Source: Wikipedia.org
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