Customer Reviews

For Your Sweet Love/Sings For You

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rick Nelson's 2 1963 albums on one CD reflect the time they came out. When Rick switched labels he brought the same great band and enthusiasm with him-- but something was missing. Like most pop music in America (just before The Beatles' arrival) a lot of the songs here seem "watered down" compared to the harder, more exciting material on his earlier albums. And a couple tunes (notably "Everytime I See You Smiling") are marred by one of the worst group of back-up singers I've ever heard . Still, there are highlights: "Gypsy Woman" (this SHOULD have been an "A" side), "I Got A Woman" (possibly the closest in style to his earlier recordings), "For You" (the Glen Gray classic), "Fools Rush In" (once done by Glenn Miller-Rick later performed it live on SNL in 1978!) and "A Legend In My Time". For Rick completists (like me!); for anyone else, I'd recommend Decca / MCA's THE BEST OF RICK NELSON: 1963-75.

I had both of these alblblums on vinyl when they came out in 1963. I remember as a young teenager how different these recordings were from Rick's Imperial releases. Rick's very small output in 1962 (he recorded only 5 songs the entire year) was a question mark for me. Was it because of the lack of material or the bad relationship that his Dad had with the owner of Imperial Records? In any event I think these 2 LP's that make up the CD show an experimentation stage of his career."For Your Sweet Love is probably the best alblum Rick made during the 1963-1969 Decca era. "For You" feels like a definite swing towards a more "country feel" mixed with those old standards. In any event, Decca was calling the shots here with that 20 year contract they had signed Rick to.

Rick's 8th & 9th albums (his first 2 at Decca) on one CD are very representative of the time they came out. In 1963, when Rick Nelson switched labels (thanks to the sharp business dealings of his father, Ozzie) he brought the same great band and enthusiasm with him. But something was missing. Like most pop music in America (just before The Beatles' arrival) a lot of the songs here seem "watered down" compared to the harder, more exciting material on his Imperial albums a few years before. And a couple tunes (notably "Everytime I See You Smiling") are marred by one of the worst group of back-up singers I've ever heard . Still, some great tunes got in here, including "Gypsy Woman" (this SHOULD have been an "A" side), "I Got A Woman" (possibly the closest in style to his earlier recordings), "For You" (the Glen Gray classic), "Fools Rush In" (once done by Glenn Miller-Rick later performed it live on SNL in 1978!) and "A Legend In My Time". Of all the reissues from Ace, this one also seems to suffer from poor sound quality (I've heard so many of these on other repackages to notice the difference). For Rick completists (like me!); for anyone else, I'd recommend Decca/MCA's THE BEST OF RICK NELSON: 1963-75.

I didn't care for all the songs. But the ones I wanted were there. The disc was recorded well. I was happy with this product.

I loved Rick Nelson's music as a kid, and hoped it would still sound as good today. I wasn't disappointed. The quality of the CD was very good. You don't always get that with the old stuff. And the price was very fair. I have a large collection of music, and this is a great addition.

"For Your Sweet Love" is an average album for Rick Nelson - very little of it ranks with Rick's best, but it's a reasonable debut for his new label, Decca. The title track, "For Your Sweet Love", a mid tempo love song in the "Young World" mold, has "hit" written all over it. It's amazing they never put this one out as a single. "String Along" is "Poor Little Fool Revisited", a nice enough tune, although not as memorable as the original. "Gypsy Woman" is marred by those annoying backup singers ("hey, hey, hey gypsy woman"), and Rick's take on "I Got a Woman" is not gonna make anyone forget Ray Charles or Elvis Presley. "One Boy Too Late" is an overlooked gem, though, typical of Rick's early 60's output. The second album on this cd, "Rick Nelson Sings 'For You'", is much better, with strong material and performances throughout. It leads off with Rick's two late '63/early '64 hits, "For You", and "Fools Rush In", the latter an exciting arrangement of the swing era standard, with a beautiful guitar solo by James Burton (Elvis liked Rick's version so much, he cut it himself in 1971, with Burton replicating his solo almost note for note). "Down Home" and "That's All She Wrote" also sound like they could have been single hits, similar in style (if not lyric content) to "Travelin' Man". Rick's country influences come to the fore on "You're Free to Go" and "A Legend in My Time". There's also a suprising take on the standard "The Nearness of You". Rick's smooth vocals fit the romantic mood of these songs perfectly. Of the faster songs, "Hey There Little Miss Tease" and "That Same Old Feeling" stand out - the former played in the country/rock style of "Hello Mary Lou", and the latter featuring James playing almost fuzz tone on the guitar. Possibly the best of the album tracks, though, is "I Rise, I Fall", a sincere statement of devotion sung with appropriate tenderness by Rick. Some singers had bigger voices than Rick, greater range or power, but Rick knew how to give a song just what it needed, which is even more important. There's nothing phony in Rick Nelson's singing, it all comes from the heart. These 2 albums are worth owning on cd if you love Rick's early/mid-60's style.