The ultimate list of Rick Nelson’s songwriting chops

While the based on a true story, rallying cry of “Garden Party” is Rick Nelson’s most beloved composition, between 1958 and 1981 the former teen idol actually penned 46 confirmed songs never properly curated until now. “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” “You Just Can’t Quit,” “Easy to Be Free” and “Gypsy Pilot” are Nelson jewels. In the accompanying vintage still marshmallow skies clearly permeate a hallucinogenic-inspired red and aqua blue rendering of Nelson’s profile for the Italian single 45 cover of “Promises.” Unleashed on August 25, 1969, as the B-side of “She Belongs to Me,” Nelson’s winning Bob Dylan cover climbed to No. 33 POP, becoming the country rocker’s first Top 40 single since the lightweight “The Very Thought of You” five years earlier. A live version of “Promises” recorded at the hip Troubadour in Los Angeles wound up on the critically acclaimed “Rick Nelson in Concert” album. Image Credit: 45Cat user SvendHenrik00 / Universal Music Group

Second only to Elvis Presley during rock ’n’ roll’s ’50s pinnacle, Rick Nelson ultimately stockpiled 52 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973, beginning with the sappy “A Teenager’s Romance” through the ethereal, self-penned “Palace Guard.”

But audiences first heard about the quietly disarming, natural eight-year-old actor in 1949 when he and elder brother David Nelson joined the radio cast of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Transitioning to ABC television by 1952, the 30-minute situation comedy, drawn from actual Nelson family experiences, was an innovative harbinger of 21st century reality programming and remained in that medium for a staggering, record-setting 14 years.

A pop cover of Fats Domino’s ubiquitous “I’m Walkin’” on the April 1957 “Ricky the Drummer” episode, incidentally directed and co-scripted by visionary father Ozzie Nelson, found high school girls swooning in ecstasy whenever Rick uttered a syllable.

Rick effectively mirrored idol Carl Perkins on rockabilly rave-ups such as “Believe What You Say”, “Just a Little Too Much,” and “It’s Late”, all featuring the innovative chicken pickin’ Telecaster stylings of James Burton.

Rick’s mastery of easy listening ballads knew no bounds on “Travelin’ Man,” “Young World,” “It’s Up to You,” and “Fools…