The seven years covered on
Bear Family's six-disc box set
For You: The Decca Years were a transitional time for
Rick Nelson. He started as one of the top
pop idols in the
country then faded, as all old rock & rollers did, during the
British Invasion and during that exile, he turned to
country, first cutting commercial
country-pop then starting to develop his own brand of
country-rock. It was a journey, and it's pretty enthralling as documented on this box set. As
Nelson's vaults have been pretty heavily mined already, there is almost nothing in the way of unreleased recordings here (there are rarities, but very little that has been unheard), so the primary appeal of this
Bear Family box is that it documents that journey so accurately that it feels like a journey as it's playing. Of course,
Todd Everett's excellent, well-researched accompanying essay in the hardcover book helps illuminate that journey, but
Nelson's evolution is so evident that no notes are needed to appreciate his progression. As the set begins,
Nelson still regularly appeared on the top of the
Billboard charts:
"Fools Rush In" hit 12 in 1963 and
"It's Up to You" went to six that same year, the following year
"For You" went to six, and there were several other smaller singles during this time.
Rick didn't drop off the charts until 1965 when
"Mean Old World" barely scraped the Top 100 at 96. His downward turn in fortune reflected the uneven nature of his recordings at the time, as his LPs started to get bogged down with treacly
pop that wasn't distinctive, no matter how well he sang it. He was beginning to outgrow the teen-oriented material that still popped up on his LPs until 1965, but those same records showed his growing interest in
country music, something that grew into a full-blown obsession just around the time that he slipped off the
pop charts. Once he was off the radar he started to deeply dig into
country music and this set helps illustrate that this was a deep passion, as the progression seems more natural when presented in session order instead of a set of LPs. Similarly, in this context his embrace of
Bob Dylan,
Tim Hardin, and
Randy Newman -- along with
Paul Simon and
Harry Nilsson -- on
Another Side of Rick and
Perspective LPs seems as much an outgrowth of
Nelson's fascination with songwriters and interpretations as it does an attempt to stay current, and they wind up being the necessary bridge to the full flowering of
country-rock heard at the end of this set, both in studio sessions and in the glorious live album
Rick Nelson in Concert which concludes this set. The music at the end of
For You is so assured and natural that it's evident that all the trial and error of the previous seven years were necessary -- he had to go through it to get to it, and by listening to these
Decca years in bulk, it's easier to appreciate the hard work and exploration of this continually undervalued rock & roller. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
