Every New Zealand #1 single…
9
Travelin’ Man by Ricky Nelson
Topped the NZ chart: from 31 July 1961 for 2 weeks (non-consecutive)
Ricky Nelson was born in the township of Teaneck, New Jersey. He started his entertainment career young. At age eight, he joined the family business, appearing in radio and TV episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
In his late teens, he began a career as a recording artist. He’d grown up playing clarinet and drums, and idolised Sun Records artists like Carl Perkins.
Anyone who knocks rock ‘n’ roll either doesn’t understand it, or is prejudiced against it, or is just plain square.
Ricky Nelson, NME, 1958
Nelson was phenomenally successful. Between 1957 and 1962, he had 30 top-40 hits. Only Elvis Presley and Pat Boone enjoyed more hit songs during the same period. With a rich voice, Nelson sang rock and roll alongside smooth ballads.
‘Travelin’ Man’ falls into the latter category. It’s smooth, with backing vocals from The Jordanaires. It also marks an early appearance from legendary guitarist James Burton. You can spot Burton in the promotional video. Because Nelson came from an entertainment family, his father had the idea of creating promotional videos for his songs. This makes ‘Travelin’ Man’ among the earliest music videos:
‘Travelin’ Man’ was written by Jerry Fuller, a 1960s songwriter who also wrote Gary Puckett & the Union Gap’s ‘Young Girl’. It was originally intended for Sam Cooke. Fuller eventually wrote other top-ten hits for Nelson, including ‘A Wonder Like You’, ‘Young World’, and ‘It’s Up to You’.
‘Travelin’ Man’ was played at Seattle Supersonics home games whenever a visiting player committed a travelling foul.
You might think ‘Travelin’ Man’ would suit a rawer arrangement, here’s a live version from 1985:
Nelson moved toward country rock in the mid-1960s. He moved in the same circles as Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. Bassist Randy Meisner was in Nelson’s backing band before he joined the Eagles. Nelson enjoyed a return to the top 40 in 1970 with a cover of Dylan’s ‘She Belongs to Me’.
Nelson passed away in 1985 when his band’s plane crashed on New Year’s Eve. The crash was later blamed on a faulty in-cabin heater.
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I loved that song as a little kid and had a crush on Ricky. He has a similarity in looks to Elvis, and I love that Eddie Munster ‘do. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Garden Party? I just happened upon a YouTube of his twin (?) sons, The Nelsons and was surprised at how popular they were. They were totally off my radar.
I just listened to ‘Garden Party’ now – I knew it, but never realised it was him.
I remembered Garden Party as his comeback song, but that was so long ago now.
Sorry to belabor Ricky Nelson, but I went out and came across this interesting article on his connection to Bob Dylan:
https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/17841
Yeah, that was interesting. Dylan clearly respected him too, which isn’t always the case. I remember him talking about Donovan – “he’s a nice guy but…”
lmao on Donovan. Distinctly underwhelming…
I remember when Ricky appeared on the old Saturday Night Live show in America. I was impressed as to how down to Earth he was.
Probably the last guy you’d expect to be normal too, growing up in a showbiz family and becoming famous young.
Great oldie. I had no idea Ricky Nelson was born in New Jersey. Teaneck, his birth place, is only about 42 miles or approximately 45 minutes away from my house.
Cool! New Jersey probably has more notable rock musicians than New Zealand….
I’m a huge fan of him…a good rockabilly guy who was overshadowed by his acting. This is one of his great songs.
I barely knew him, I remember hearing this song on your blog a while back. He’d been aged out of classic hits radio by my time, apart from ‘Garden Party’.
Yea that is true. I caught an oldies channel in the 80s that played his songs. He is worth looking into… Graham the song I would recommend if you asked…and you didn’t but a song called “Lonesome Town”… a ballad that is haunting. Pepsi used it on a commercial.
Yeah, I should probably check out a greatest hits or something.