Ricky Nelson - The Complete Epic Recordings (2012)

Real Gone's 2012 double-disc compilation The Complete Epic Recordings rounds up the entirety of Rick Nelson's recordings for Epic. Nelson was at Epic between 1977 and 1978, with only one album 1977’s Intakes appearing at the time. Post-Intakes sessions first surfaced on the posthumous, somewhat overdubbed 1986 LP The Memphis Sessions, with further sides appearing on the 1993 collection Stay Young. The first time all the Epic sides were released was on Bear Family's exhaustive 2010 The Last Time Around, a seven-disc box so weighty it left an opening for a set like The Complete Epic Recordings, a set that focuses just on those two years at Epic. During this time, Nelson straddled two sounds the sunkissed West Coast country-rock he pioneered in the early ‘70s, and the super-smooth soft rock of the late ‘70s, occasionally dipping his toe into a bit of rockabilly revival. Epic may not have been entirely wrong to consider these sessions, including the scrapped Al Kooper-produced Back to Vienna LP, difficult to market: they sound of their time but they don’t quite belong to their time, their sensibility a little bit too tied to country and rockabilly to make the recordings commercial, even if the layers of gloss render them radio-ready. Consequently, this music sounds better today than it may have at the time. Sure, it’s very much a product of its time, with every bit of visible surface shining from studio slickness, but this period polish is appealing and, underneath it, Rick Nelson's remarkable interpretative gifts remain intact. Nelson never pushed a song too hard, not even when he rocked it hard as he did on insistent versions of John Fogerty's “Almost Saturday Night” and Buddy Holly's “Rave On,” yet he was never lazy; his ease was his charm and he never lost sight of this gift, something that’s evident on this collection of overlooked but very enjoyable latter-day recordings.

TRACKLIST

CD1:

01. You Can't Dance
02. Something You Can't Buy
03. I Wanna Move With You
04. Five Minutes More
05. Gimme A Little Sign
06. Stay Young
07. Wings
08. It's Another Day
09. One X One
10. Change Your Mind
11. Everyday I Have To Cry Some
12. Love You So
13. Chump Change Romeo
14. What Is Success
15. Carl Of The Jungle
16. No Words Of Love
17. New Delhi Freight Train
18. Mama, You've Been On My Mind
19. Getting It On
20. Conversation

CD2:

01. That's Alright Mama - Memphis Sessions Mix
02. Send Me Somebody To Love - Memphis Sessions Mix
03. Stuck In The Middle - Memphis Sessions Mix
04. It Shall Remain
05. It's All Over Now - Memphis Sessions Mix
06. Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone - Memphis Sessions Mix
07. That Ain't The Way Love Supposed To Be
08. In My Heart
09. Almost Saturday Night - Memphis Sessions Mix
10. Dream Lover
11. True Love Ways - Memphis Sessions Mix
12. Sleep Tight, Good Night Man - Memphis Sessions Mix
13. Rave On - Memphis Sessions Mix
14. Dream Lover - Memphis Sessions Mix
15. Send Me Somebody To Love - Alternate Mix
16. Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone - Alternate Mix
17. Almost Saturday Night - Alternate Mix
18. Rave On - Alternate Mix
19. Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone - Ep Version
20. Almost Saturday Night - Ep Version
21. Rave On - Ep Version