#25: Down Home by Rick Nelson
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: October-November 1963
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #126
YouTube: “Down Home”
Lyrics: N/A
In 1940 Eric Hilliard Nelson was born. On February 20, 1949, while still eight years old, he took the stage name of Ricky Nelson when appearing on the radio program, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. A child actor, Ricky was also a musician and singer-songwriter. who starred alongside his family in the long-running television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66), as well as co-starring alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in the western Rio Bravo (1959). He placed 53 songs on the Billboard singles charts between 1957 and 1973.
His first single release was “I’m Walking” which debuted on May 3, 1957 on CKWX in Vancouver (BC), and May 18 on the Cashbox pop singles chart. It climbed to #17 on the Billboard pop chart. The B-side, “A Teenager’s Romance” peaked at #8 on the Billboard pop chart. Ricky Nelson sang all his single releases on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. His next single was “You’re My One And Only Love“.
Nelson racked up a number of hits in 1958, including “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It”. In August 1958, Ricky Nelson had his first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, “Poor Little Fool”. Other Top Ten hits that followed included “Lonesome Town”/”I Got A Feeling”, “It’s Late”/“Never Be Anyone Else But You”, “Sweeter Than You”/”Just A Little Too Much, and “One Minute To One”.
With his weekly appearance on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Nelson was the first pop singer in the rock ‘n roll era to use a TV show as a platform to promote his single releases. At the end of 1959, Nelson was singing “Young Emotions”, and the B-side of that single “Right By My Side.”
During 1960, Ricky Nelson was shooting a film titled The Wackiest Ship In The Army. Filmed in Pearl Harbor and the island of Kauai. The film’s plot set during World War II, begins with Lt. Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon), an expert yachtsman in civilian life, now based at Townsville, Queensland, Australia. He is surprised to be assigned command of a sailing ship, the USS Echo. The only crew member who knows how to work a ship with sails is eager young Ensign Tommy Hanson (Ricky Nelson), who cost Crandall a yacht race with a error in that race before the war.
Carole King and Gerry Goffin in 1959
Gerry Goffin was born in Brooklyn in 1939. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1957 after high school graduation. He co-wrote “Run To Him” for Bobby Vee and “Who Put The Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)” (the latter with Barry Mann).
Neil Sedaka had a Top Ten hit in December 1959 titled “Oh Carol”. She wrote an answer song titled “Oh Neil”, that included the line “I had too much molasses, and your lips stuck to mine.”
In 1960 King and Goffin co-wrote “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by the Shirelles. The song climbed to number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 30, 1961. The success of the record allowed King and Goffin to focus their attention on songwriting as a career, no longer needing to work other part-time jobs. And in 1961 they wrote a song recorded by Bobby Vee titled “Take Good Care Of My Baby”, which was a number-one hit on the Hot 100 for three weeks in September ’61.
Other hits for the songwriting duo followed. Among these, in 1961 there was “Every Breath I Take” by Gene Pitney; “Her Royal Majesty” by James Darren in 1962 (#6 on the Hot 100); and “The Loco-motion” by Little Eva (#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 25, 1962). The latter single was a number-one hit for Grand Funk Railroad in 1973, and a Top Five hit for Kylie Minogue in 1988. Meanwhile, Carole King had a #3 hit on the UK singles chart with “It Might As Well Rain Until September”.
In January 1963, King and Goffin saw “Up On The Roof” by the Drifters climb to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#4 R&B), while “Go Away Little Girl” by Steve Lawrence became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 12, 1963 (and later a number-one hit for Donny Osmond in 1971). Other Top Ten hits for Goffin and King in 1963 include “Hey Girl” by Freddie Scott (and later Donny Osmond), “I Can’t Stay Mad At You” by Skeeter Davis, “One Fine Day” for the Chiffons, and “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby) by the Cookies.
One of the members of the Cookies was Earl-Jean Reavis. While the Cookies were on tour in the fall of 1963, Reavis became pregnant. Gerry Goffin was named as the father. The baby, Dawn Reavis, was born in July 1964. In 1964 Goffin and King wrote “I’m Into Something Good”, recorded by Earl-Jean Reavis which began to chart in early July ’64. It was later successfully covered and a number-one hit in the UK for Herman’s Hermits. Another hit for Goffin and King in ’64 was “He’s In Town” which became a #3 hit for the Rockin’ Berries in the UK.
As their marital relationship became more turbulent, Gerry Goffin and Carole King had fewer successes with hit records. However, between 1965 and 1968, their notable songwriting efforts include “Just Once In My Life” by the Righteous Brothers, “Don’t Bring Me Down” by the Animals, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” by the Monkees and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. Carole King and Gerry Goffin got divorced in 1968, and she moved to Laurel Canyon in California.
In 1971, Carole King released what became an iconic recording of music from the 1970s, Tapestry. The album topped the Billboard 200 album chart for 15 weeks from June 19 to September 25, 1971. Tapestry remained on the Billboard album chart for 313 weeks. The album earned Carole King Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female, Record of the Year for “It’s Too Late”, and Song of the Year for “You’ve Got A Friend”. Another track from the album released as a single was “So Far Away“.
Carole King released more albums in the 1970s which resulted in more hit singles: “Sweet Seasons” from Music in 1972; “Been To Canaan” from Rhymes and Reasons in 1972; And “Jazzman” and “Nightingale” from Wrap Around Joy in 1974. And in 1980, with the release of Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King, Carole King enjoyed a Top 20 hit with “One Fine Day” which had been a Top Ten hit for the Chiffons in 1963. Carole King released her 17th studio album, A Holiday Carole in 2011.
Over the years Carole King has had 118 of her songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 – most of these recorded by other pop singers and groups. She has also released almost 30 of her own singles between 1958 and 2013. She also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005. On July 3, 2016, Carole King was recorded live in concert and the result was a live album titled Tapestry Live in Hyde Park.
In 2013, a jukebox musical of Carole King’s career from the late 50s to to release of her album Tapestry, was premiered. The musical followed King’s professional and personal relationship with Gerry Goffin, and colleagues Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. The musical was titled Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. In 2014 the musical received seven Tony Award nominations, winning in the categories Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Sound Design; And a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Carole King published a memoir in 2010 titled A Natural Woman. In it she revealed that Gerry Goffin suffered from mental illness following ingestion of LSD, eventually undergoing treatment with lithium and electroshock therapy, and was diagnosed with manic depression. His drug use affected his health, and he was hospitalized for a time during the marriage. Some of these aspects of their personal life were depicted in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
After the divorce, Gerry Goffin wrote a few hits. These include “I’ll Meet You Halfway” by the Partridge Family (1971), “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” by Gladys Knight & the Pips (1973), the number-one hit “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” by Diana Ross (1975), “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” for Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson (1983), and “Saving All My Love For You” which was a number-one hit for Whitney Houston in 1985, and “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love” which was a number-one hit in the UK for Glenn Medeiros in 1987, and “Miss You Like Crazy” by Natalie Cole in 1989.
Gerry Goffin died at the age of 75 in 2014. On hearing of his death, Carole King said that Goffin was her “first love” and had a “profound impact” on her life.” She went on to say, “His words expressed what so many people were feeling but didn’t know how to say… Gerry was a good man and a dynamic force, whose words and creative influence will resonate for generations to come.”
“Down Home” was cowritten by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was originally released by Little Eva in September 1962. In October 1962, R&B singer Ed Townsend released the song as a B-side to “Tell Her”. Though Townsend’s A-side failed to chart, in 1962 the Exciters recording of “Tell Him” climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Down Home” depicts small town life where “there used to be rivers and trees. Fresh bread every single morning, and sweet magnolia in the breeze. Fishing lines and young dreams…” However, the town being recalled is a place you can’t go to anymore. As Nelson sings, “‘Cause down home’s just a memory.” ‘Down home’ is a place you can’t retrieve. He wishes he could leave the “big city.” But he can’t go to the place he most longs to be.
“Down Home” climbed to #3 in Saskatoon (SK), #5 in Endicott (NY), #8 in Jefferson City (MO), #9 in Winnipeg (MB), and Buffalo, and #10 in Bakersfield (CA). The A-side, “Fools Rush In”, was a #12 hit in the USA, #2 in Montreal, and a Top Ten hit in Belleville (ON), Saskatoon, Toronto, and Winnipeg.
“Down Home” was later recorded by Ben E. King and also Dean Martin.
By early 1964, Nelson had his last Top Ten hit in the USA that decade titled “For You”. But in Edmonton, Rick Nelson had a number-one hit with “Lucky Star”.
Nelson had one last Top Ten on a Canadian radio market in the 1960s in Vancouver (BC) with “Your Kind Of Lovin’” in 1966. In the late 60s and into the 70s, Rick Nelson was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Johnny Cash Show, The Everly Brothers Show, and The Merry Griffin Show. He also appeared in six episodes of the TV show Malibu U.
Though Nelson had a drought of hit singles nationally in both the USA and Canada from 1964 going forward, he rebounded in 1972. That year he wrote “Garden Party”, about his appearance on stage at the October 15, 1971’s Rock ‘n Roll Spectacular concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the song he references other performers who he shared the stage with: Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Bobby Rydell. He began his set playing some of his old hits like “Hello Mary Lou”. But turned to newer material. During his performance of the Rolling Stones song “Country Honk” from the 1969 album, Let It Bleed, people in the audience at Madison Square Gardens started booing. Nelson’s “Garden Party” reached number-one in Canada, #6 in Australia, South Africa and the USA.
In the 70s and early 80s, Rick Nelson appeared in McCloud, The Streets of San Francisco, Petrocelli, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Love Boat, Saturday Night Live, and High School U.S.A.
Rick Nelson died in a small plane accident on December 31, 1985.
June 26, 2026
Ray McGinnis
References
Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin, “My Rifle, My Pony And Me,” Rio Bravo, 1959.
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, ABC, 1952-66.
Penny Pagano, “Probe Discounts Drugs as Cause of Air Crash That Killed Rick Nelson,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1987.
Editors – Rolling Stone. “Rick Nelson – biography,” The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, (Simon & Schuster, 2001).
Ed Townsend, “Down Home“, Liberty Records, 1962.
James E. Perone, The Words and Music of Carole King, (Praeger, 2006).
Troy Brownfield, “Carole King Finally Went Solo 50 Years Ago,” Saturday Evening Post, May 15, 2020.
Carole King, A Natural Woman, (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).
Robert Gluck, “Carole King: Famous, Yet ‘Haimische’,” Jerusalem Post, November 24, 2012.
Meridith Blake, “Gerry Goffin, Songwriting Partner of Carole King, Dies at 75,” Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2014.
“Carole King Gets Star on Walk of Fame,” Patch Media, Hollywood, CA, December 4, 2012.
“The President and First Lady Host Concert Honoring Carole King: Recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song,” Carole King.com.
“Gerry Goffin, writer of song Natural Woman, dies,” BBC, June 20, 2014.
CKOM 1250-AM Saskatoon (SK) | November 10, 1963
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