Record #0755: Honeycomb (EP) – RICKY NELSON

A1 “Honeycomb”, A2 “Boppin’ the Blues”, B1 “Be-Bop Baby”, B2 “Have I Told You Lately That I love You"

Imperial IMP-153 (original) USA, October 1957
Words & Music by:  A1 – Bob Merrill; A2 – Carl Perkins, Howard Griffin; B1 – Pearl Lendhurst; B2 - Scotty Wiseman
Musicians: Ricky Nelson (lead vocals, rhythm guitar on side B), Joe Maphis (guitar on side A), Bob Bain (guitar on side B), Howard Roberts (guitar), George De Naut (bass on side A), Ray Siegel (bass on side B), Roger Renner (piano), Earl Palmer (drums), The Four Preps (backing vocals on side B), unknown backing vocals on side A
Recording sessions: Produced by Jimmie Haskell and Ozzie Nelson at Master Recorders, Hollywood, CA; A1 & A2 on 24. September 1957; B1 & B2 on 16. August 1957
Highest chart positions:  US EP #1

All four tracks were included on Nelson’s debut album “Ricky”, which was released in November 1957 and topped the US albums chart.

Bob Merrill wrote many popular songs in the ‘50s and ‘60s like “(How Much Is That) Doggie In the Window?”, “You Don’t Have To Be a Baby To Cry”, “Mambo Italiano”, “Nairobi” and “People”. “Honeycomb” was a big hit for Jimmie Rodgers in 1957 (US #1, US R&B #1, US Country #7).

“Boppin’ the Blues” was originally released by Carl Perkins in May 1956 (Sun 243, US #70, US Cashbox #47, US Country #9). Nelson was a big fan of Sun rockabilly.

The B-side was also released as a single and I have already posted it here.

List price:  Very Good+ is $25, Near Mint is $50. Black label (2^nd pressing) is half the price. Picture sleeves are $80 for NM.

Record #0754: Never Be Anyone Else But You / It’s Late – RICKY NELSON

Imperial 5565 (original, 2^nd pressing) USA, 9. February 1959
Words & Music by:  Side A – Baker Knight; Side B – Dorsey Burnette
Musicians: Ricky Nelson (vocals and guitar), James Burton (lead guitar), James Kirkland (bass), Gene Garff (piano), Richie Frost (drums), the Jordanaires (backing vocals)
Recording sessions: Produced by Jimmie Haskell at Master Recorders, Hollywood, CA; Side A – 24. November 1958; Side B – 21. October 1958; backing vocals were overdubbed later (Side A on 11. December 1958)
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #6, US Cashbox #5, UK #14, Australia #14, Norway #3; Side B –US #9, US Cashbox #6, UK #3, Australia #28

Both tracks were on Nelson’s 1959 album “Ricky Sings Again” (US albums #14).

Ricky “borrowed” Elvis’ background vocals group, the Jordanaires, for this record. In fact, the group was a frequent visitor in his sessions until “Hello Mary Lou” was recorded on 20. March 1961. After that the Jordanaires were not seen in his sessions for 5 years.

Dorsey Burnette recorded “It’s Late” on 28. August 1958, but it wasn’t released until 1980. He had Nelson’s band (Burton – Kirkland – Garff – Frost) playing with him in that session at Master Recorders.

Shakin’ Stevens covered “It’s Late” in 1983 and got it to UK #11.

List price:  Very Good+ is $12,50, Near Mint is $25. Red label (1^st pressing) VG+ $20, NM $40. Picture sleeves are VG+ $40, NM $80.

 

Record #0753: My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It / Believe What You Say – RICKY NELSON

Imperial X5503 (original, 2^nd pressing) USA, 10. March 1958
Words & Music by:  Side A – Clarence Williams; Side B – Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette
Musicians: Ricky Nelson (vocals and guitar), James Burton (lead guitar), James Kirkland (bass), Gene Garff (piano, backing vocals), Richie Frost (drums), unknown additional backing vocals on side B
Recording sessions: Produced by Jimmie Haskell at Master Recorders, Hollywood, CA, on 17. February 1958 (unknown backing vocals overdubbed later)
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #18, US Cashbox #20, US Country #19; Side B –US #8, US Cashbox #12, US Country #10

Some sources list “Believe What You Say” as the A-side of this single; maybe because it was a bigger success. The track numbering and the sleeve clearly indicate that it’s the B-side, though.

Clarence Williams didn’t write “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”, he just bought the copyright of the song in 1933. It was originally recorded by Tom Gates and His Orchestra in 1927. Back then it was credited to Lee Blevins and Victor Sells. Hank Williams was the first artist to get the song into the charts in 1949 (US Country #2).

The flip side was written by two rockabilly pioneers. I’ve posted few of their records before; this was one of those. The Burnettes (especially Dorsey) wrote many songs for Ricky during 1958-1961.

List price:  Very Good+ is $15, Near Mint is $30. Red label (1^st pressing) VG+ $25, NM $50. Picture sleeves are VG+ $35, NM $70.

 

Record #0752: Runaway Boys / My One Desire – STRAY CATS

Arista SCAT 1 (original) UK, 21. November 1980
Words & Music by:  Side A – Brian Setzer, Jimmy McDonnell; Side B – Dorsey Burnette
Musicians: Brian Setzer (guitars, lead vocals), Lee Rocker (upright bass, backing vocals), Slim Jim Phantom (drums, backing vocals)
Recording sessions: Produced by Dave Edmunds at either Eden or Jam Studios, London, UK, 1980
Highest chart positions:  UK #4, Netherlands #7, Belgium #3, Finland #1

This was Stray Cats’ first and only #1 single, and they got it only in Finland. A bit surprisingly, this was never released as a single in the States.

Both tracks were included on the trio’s debut album “Stray Cats”.

The flip was penned by an early rockabilly singer and upright bass player Dorsey Burnette, who wrote it for Rick Nelson, who released it on his 1961 album “Rick Is 21”.

List price:  Not listed in the price catalog (UK release). These are on both sides of 10 euros in eBay.