Customer Reviews

Stay Young: Epic Recordings

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During 1976-78, Rick Nelson recorded 3 albums with Epic Records, a label that seemed so unsure what to do with him that 2 of the 3 albums were unreleased! This CD, one of earliest I saw from their "Legacy" division, seeks to redress that, and contains 18 songs NOT currently available elsewhere! A good job, here-- in addition to extensive liner notes & some nice photos, they have 7 of the 10 songs from INTAKES (I have the LP-- they did pick the best ones), along with 4 from the never-released / Al Kooper-produced BACK TO VIENNA, and 7 from his MEMPHIS SESSIONS album, restored to the original mixes before the tampering that caused Rick to go to Capitol. Among the highlights: "Wings", "Five Minutes More" (the one song from INTAKES that really SHOULD have been a single! ), "That's Alright Mama" (Rick does Elvis!), "New Delhi Freight Train" (when you've worked for Civil Engineers from India, a weird hypnotic tune like this will have a special place in your heart!), "Almost Saturday Night" (Rick would re-do this even better in '81), "Rave On" (keeping the memory of Buddy Holly alive!). My one quibble is their reversing tracks 1 & 2, when "You Can't Dance" originally opened INTAKES. Besides that, I'd also hope someday all 3 albums may be reissued in their ENTIRETY-- with any leftovers, bonus tracks & remixes anyone could ever hope to include. (Hey-- why not?)

Great CD! and I mean great in today's terms not as an oldie. Check out "Gimmie A Little Sign" (track 6). I can't hear it enough. I love this entire CD. The recordings are crisp, clear and come from the heart of the artist. This has been taken from the orignal recordings, not the re-mixed songs I understand were released by Epic some years back (which Nelson disliked, or so the story goes). The songs on this CD are as Nelson and Stone Canyon intended. Enjoy!

I'm glad to see that the other reviews here for this CD are all raves. This CD is one of the best purchases I have ever made! The 7 songs from the "Intakes" album are all excellent, although I miss Rick's piano ballad "It's Another Day" and the hard rocking Baker Knight song "I Wanna Move With You". Hopefully we will get a reissue of the entire "Intakes" album someday (the last album he recorded with the Dennis Larden/Jay De Witt White incarnation of the Stone Canyon Band). I've heard the unreleased Al Kooper sessions, so I can honestly say that the best songs are the ones included here. "Carl of the Jungle" is a real different kind of song for Rick to do - the fade out sounds almost disco, and the lyric is real "out there" for Rick Nelson, but the way he sings it makes it very believable. Rick always did a great job with Bob Dylan's songs, and "Mama You've Been on my Mind" is no exception. "Conversation" is another reflective ballad - very haunting if you've endured the ending of a relationship. The final seven songs on the CD are from Rick's 1978-79 sessions at Lynn-Lou Studios in Memphis. Some of these tracks have filtered out over the years on various singles, e.p's and albums, again, I can only hope the entire album comes out someday. "Dream Lover" was a minor hit in 1979, and ranks among my ten favorite Nelson recordings ever. "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" and "Send Me Somebody to Love" continue the soft country rock sound he pioneered in the early 70's (think "She Belongs to Me" and "Garden Party"), while "Almost Saturday Night", "That's All Right" and "Rave On" find Rick returning to his rock and roll roots. The liner notes with this set are very informative about this overlooked period of Rick's career, and there is also detailed session information and some good previously unseen photos. If you like this CD, be sure to check out Capitol's reissue of his 1981 album "Playing to Win", and the two-fer issues of his 70's Stone Canyon Band albums.

rick nelson could have made a huge comeback because of these recordings, but because of record company stupidity he was relegated to the oldies circuit during the last years of his life. "Dream Lover" is a perfect example. I remember his performance on SNL and there was a good response from this performance, but because epic held off on releasing the single, the record died. don't think of rick as the teen idol. think of him as a pioneer of two rock genres, rockabilly and country- rock. he is sorely missed almost 20 years later.

This is a mindblowing experience. One of my top 10 albums ever. And Epic sat on most of it for all those years. Makes you wonder what they may have left. Rick Nelson at his very prime and a must for every fan.

This is a mindblowing experience. One of my top 10 albums ever. And Epic sat on most of it for all those years. Makes you wonder what they may have left. Rick Nelson at his very prime and a must for every fan.

I got my money's worth out of this one. It's been played alot! This consists of music from three 1970's Rick Nelson albums. Sadly, two were not even released when Rick finished them. The other one failed to chart. The music, though, is for the most part, superb. If you want to hear what Rick was up to after he left Decca/MCA, here it is! I like "Something You Can't Buy." Rick wrote it in response to his wife Kris' excessive spending. "Dream Lover" which was so well received on Rick's "Saturday Night Live" appearance is also here. The material from the middle album is a bit unusual but the rest is top notch all the way. Check out the beautiful harmonies on "One X One", "Wings" and "Stay Young."

Rick Nelson should have just stayed with MCA or chose a different recording label other than Epic, because they really put the screws to him. He did three albums while he was with the label and they only released one of them, because they were too busy producing Jackson 5 albums. Nelson could have easily made a come back if they had released all three of the albums, because the songs he did on those were some of his best. Instead of having the chance to make a comeback, most people completley forgot about him, which is a shame. Epic also started remixing his songs without his permission, which is a pretty damn disrespectful thing to do to any artist, but it's even worse to do it to someone who used to be almost as legendary as Elvis! You'd think that things couldn't get any worse for him, but it did. Epic forced Nelson and the band to do the old songs, and the band thought that doing the backing vocals was an embarassment, so they all quit and left. The backing vocals they did probably sounded cool back in the 50's and 60's, but probably didn't so much in the late 70's.

In 1993, years later after Nelson died in a plane crash, the label released this compilation of the three albums either to finally do him justice or just to cash in on him. The music is great and kind of sounds like the Eagles. It's different from his teen idol years, but in a good way. After Epic released this, they later on, for some stupid reason, put it out of print. Why? I have no idea.

What the label needs to do is put the three original albums in print like they should have done to begin with. Especially if they aren't even going to sell this compilation anymore! It just really makes me mad. They had one of the greatest artists of all time on their label, and they treated him like trash. Epic isn't any better today either. They've been re-releasing Ozzy Osbourne CDs that have re-recorded bass and drums on them, and they don't even bother to type anywhere on the package that they are not the original recordings. Everyone needs to boycot Epic!!!

This album consists of songs from Rick Nelson's last three significant albums. Unfortunately, some of these songs were not even released until 1993. The contents of this album further substantiates the diversity of Rick Nelson's music and his talent at making a song his very own. This album shows him at his most comfortable ever as he sings mostly contemporary country and classic folk tunes. "One X One" is the most outstanding example of Rick's talent in conveying a powerful mood and spirit through the lyrics he sings. This folksy, Peter Paul and Mary -like tune possesses a quality of delightful innocence. I also feel that Rick sings his best rendition of a Bob Dylan song by way of the classic, "Mama You Have Been On My Mind." This tune enraptures you from the very start because of its timeless beauty and innocence. Two other incredible tunes with a timeless feel are "Stay Young" and "Conversations"-contemporary country works. Finally, his cover of "Dream Lover" is by far one of his finest recordings of the latter part of his career and even surpasses Bobby Darin's original version. A must album for any true Rick Nelson fan of fan of contemporary country music!

This album consists of songs from Rick Nelson's last three significant albums. Unfortunately, some of these songs were not even released until 1993. The contents of this album further substantiates the diversity of Rick Nelson's music and his talent at making a song his very own. This album shows him at his most comfortable ever as he sings mostly contemporary country and classic folk tunes. "One X One" is the most outstanding example of Rick's talent in conveying a powerful mood and spirit through the lyrics he sings. This folksy, Peter Paul and Mary -like tune possesses a quality of delightful innocence. I also feel that Rick sings his best rendition of a Bob Dylan song by way of the classic, "Mama You Have Been On My Mind." This tune enraptures you from the very start because of its timeless beauty and innocence. Two other incredible tunes with a timeless feel are "Stay Young" and "Conversations"-contemporary country works. Finally, his cover of "Dream Lover" is by far one of his finest recordings of the latter part of his career and even surpasses Bobby Darin's original version. A must album for any true Rick Nelson fan of fan of contemporary country music!