#25: Lucky Star by Rick Nelson

City: Edmonton, AB
Radio Station: CJCA
Peak Month: August 1964
Peak Position in Edmonton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #127
YouTube: “Lucky Star”
Lyrics: “Lucky Star”

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 #4 in Vancouver and #17 on the Billboard pop chart. The B-side, “A Teenager’s Romance” peaked at #8 on the Billboard pop chart, but didn’t chart in Vancouver. 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 #1 hits in Vancouver, including “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” in 1958. In August 1958, Ricky Nelson had his first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, “Poor Little Fool”. The single charted to #1 in Vancouver on Red Robinson’s chart in July and on August 16th on Bob McGavin’s WX chart. From November 10 , 1958, to January 19, 1959, “Lonesome Town”/”I Got A Feeling” charted within the Top Ten of the CKWX Sensational Sixty. Additional hits for Nelson included the double-sided disc “It’s Late”/“Never Be Anyone Else But You” which climbed to #1 in Vancouver in March 1959. And in August 1959, Ricky Nelson was back in the Top Ten in Vancouver with “Sweeter Than You”/”Just A Little Too Much”. A final appearance in the Top Ten in 1959 was with “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. Between 1957 and 1959 Ricky Nelson had charted 15 songs into the Top Ten in Vancouver. His sixteenth Top Ten hit was “Young Emotions.” The B-side of that single was “Right By My Side.” While the tune didn’t do very well in the USA, stalling at #59, in Vancouver the B-side peaked at #11. While the pretty “Young Emotions” written by Mack David, climbed to #7 here in town.

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.

In 1961 Ricky Nelson dropped the “y” from his name on his 21st birthday. Nelson was back at #1 in 1961 with “Travelin’ Man”/“Hello Mary Lou”. He enjoyed further successes on the pop charts in the early 60’s. These included Top Ten hits in Vancouver: “A Wonder Like You”, “Teenage Idol” and “It’s Up To You”. A final Top 30 hit in 1963 was a double-sided disc: “Gypsy Woman”/”String Along”. 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”.

“Lucky Star” was written by Dave Burgess. Burgess was born in Beverly Hills in 1934. In 1953, he recorded some records on the Okeh label, but without much success. In 1957 he wrote “I’m Available”, a Top Ten hit for Margie Rayburn. In 1959 he wrote “Boom, Boom Baby” a hit in Australia for Crash Craddock. He wrote songs recorded by Johnny Horton, Robin Luke, Don Gibson, Louis Prima, Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent, Johnny Crawford, Jerry Wallace, Jim Reeves, the Lettermen, Dean Martin, Wanda Jackson, Anne Murray, Hank Snow and “Shy Away” for Jerry Fuller. Burgess managed his band, The Champs, from 1957 to 1965.

“Lucky Star” is a song about a guy who appeals to a star in the sky to help him win the heart of a girl he loves.

“Lucky Star” peaked at #1 in Edmonton (AB).

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.

August 31, 2024
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).
Michael O’Keefe, “Guitarist on 1958 classic Tequila song featured in Pee Wees Big Adventure puts Grammy up for auction,” New York Daily News, April 16, 2015.