Editing Ricky Nelson (section)

===First album, band, and #1 single===
In early summer 1957, Ozzie Nelson pulled his son from Verve after disputes about royalties and signed him to a lucrative five-year deal with [[Imperial Records]] that gave him approval over song selection, sleeve artwork, and other production details.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|pp=78–79}}{{sfn|Selvin|1990|pp=73–74}} Ricky's first Imperial single, "[[Be-Bop Baby]]", generated 750,000 advance orders, sold over one million copies, and reached No. 3 on the charts. Nelson's first album, ''Ricky'', was released in October 1957 and hit No. 1 before the end of the year.{{sfn|Selvin|1990|p=76}} Following these successes, Nelson was given a more prominent role on the ''Ozzie and Harriet'' show and ended every two or three episodes with a musical number.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=80}}

Nelson grew increasingly dissatisfied performing with older jazz and country session musicians, who were openly contemptuous of rock and roll. After his Ohio and Minnesota tours in the summer of 1957, he decided to form his own band with members closer to his age.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=81}} Eighteen-year-old electric guitarist [[James Burton]] was the first signed. Bassist James Kirkland, drummer Richie Frost, and pianist Gene Garf completed the band.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=83}} Their first recording together was "[[Believe What You Say]]". Prior to this, [[Joe Maphis]] had been playing the lead guitar part, and played lead on his first hits "Be-Bop Baby", "Stood Up", and "Waitin In School".

In 1958, Nelson recorded 17-year-old [[Sharon Sheeley]]'s "[[Poor Little Fool]]" for his second album, ''Ricky Nelson'', released in June 1958.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=90}}{{sfn|Selvin|1990|p=89}} Radio airplay brought the tune notice, and Imperial suggested releasing a single, but Nelson opposed the idea, believing a single would diminish EP sales. When a single was released nonetheless, he exercised his contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed a picture sleeve.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=90}}{{sfn|Selvin|1990|pp=89–90}} On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" became the No. 1 single on ''Billboard'''s newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=91}}{{sfn|Selvin|1990|p=90}} and sold over two million copies.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=90}}

Nelson stated:
{{blockquote|Anyone who knocks rock 'n' roll either doesn't understand it, or is prejudiced against it, or is just plain square. – ''[[NME]]'' – November 1958<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 3" />}}

[[File:Ricky Nelson - publicity.JPG|thumb|Nelson publicity photo, 1960]]
During 1958 and 1959, Nelson had twelve hits in the charts in comparison with [[Elvis Presley|Elvis Presley's]] eleven. During these two years, Presley had recorded music only for the movie ''[[King Creole]]'', in January and February 1958, before his induction into the U.S. Armed Forces and a brief recording session (consisting of five songs) while on [[Leave (military)|military leave]] four months later. In the summer of 1958, Nelson conducted his first full-scale tour, averaging $5,000 nightly. By 1960, the Ricky Nelson International Fan Club had 9,000 chapters around the world.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|pp=92–93}}
{{blockquote|Perhaps the most embarrassing moment in my career was when six girls tried to fling themselves under my car, and shouted to me to run over them. That sort of thing can be very frightening! – ''NME'' – May 1960<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 2" />}}

Nelson was the first teen idol to use television to promote hit records. Ozzie Nelson even had the idea to edit footage together to create some of the first music videos. This creative editing can be seen in videos Ozzie produced for "Travelin' Man". Nelson appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in 1967, but his career by that time was in limbo. He also appeared on other television shows (usually in acting roles). In 1973, he had an acting role in an episode of ''[[The Streets of San Francisco]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} He starred in the episode "A Hand For Sonny Blue" from the 1977 series ''[[Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected]]'' (known in the United Kingdom as ''Twist in the Tale''). In 1979, he guest-hosted on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', spoofing his television sitcom image by appearing in a ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|Twilight Zone]]'' sendup in which, always trying to go "home," he finds himself among the characters from other 1950s/early 1960s-era sitcoms, ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'', ''[[Father Knows Best]]'', ''[[Make Room for Daddy]]'', and ''[[I Love Lucy]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Nelson knew and loved music and was a skilled performer even before he became a [[teen idol]], largely because of his parents' musical background. Nelson worked with many musicians of repute, including [[James Burton]], [[Joe Osborn]], and [[Allen "Puddler" Harris]], all natives of [[Louisiana]], and [[Joe Maphis]], [[The Jordanaires]], [[Scotty Moore]], and [[Johnny Burnette|Johnny]] and [[Dorsey Burnette]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Nelson's music was very well recorded with a clear, punchy sound—thanks in part to engineer Bunny Robyn and producer Jimmy Haskell.<ref name="Tech" />

From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Presley (who had 53) and [[Pat Boone]] (38). Many of Nelson's early records were double hits with both the A and B sides hitting the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' charts.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

While Nelson preferred [[rockabilly]] and [[uptempo]] rock [[songs]] like "[[Believe What You Say]]" (Hot 100 #4), "[[I Got a Feeling (Ricky Nelson song)|I Got a Feeling]]" (#10), "[[My Bucket's Got a Hole in It]]" (#12), "[[Hello Mary Lou]]" (#9), "It's Late" (#9), "[[Stood Up (song)|Stood Up]]" (#2), "[[Waitin' In School (song)|Waitin' in School]]" (#18), "[[Be-Bop Baby]]" (#3), and "[[Just a Little Too Much]]" (#9), his smooth, calm voice made him a natural to sing ballads.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} He had major success with "[[Travelin' Man]]" (#1), "[[A Teenager's Romance]]" (#2), "Poor Little Fool" (#1), "[[Young World (song)|Young World]]" (#5), "[[Lonesome Town]]" (#7), "[[Never Be Anyone Else But You]]" (#6), "[[Sweeter Than You]]" (#9), "[[It's Up to You (Ricky Nelson song)|It's Up to You]]" (#6), and "[[Teen Age Idol]]" (#5).