Rick Is 21

Rick Is 21 is the sixth album by rock and roll and pop idol Rick Nelson, and was released in 1961^[1]. The album was almost entirely recorded in Los Angeles, California, United States at the famous United Western Recorders studios from February to April, 1961. Only one song was recorded at Master Recorders studios in Hollywood, California, United States. That song was: Do You Know What it Means To Miss New Orleans recorded in February, 1960. The album was the first to credit his first name as "Rick"; previous albums were credited to Ricky Nelson. Jimmie Haskell was the arranger and Charles "Bud" Dant was the producer.

Rick Is 21
Studio album by Rick Nelson
Released	May 8, 1961
Recorded	1960−61
Genre	Rock and roll rockabilly
Length	27:41
Label	Imperial
Producer	Charles "Bud" Dant
Rick Nelson chronology
More Songs by Ricky (1960) Rick Is 21 (1961) Album Seven by Rick (1962)
Singles from Rick Is 21
"Travelin' Man" b/w "Hello Mary Lou" Released: April 1961 "Lucky Star" Released: May 1964

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
New Record Mirror	4/5[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]

The album made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated May 29 of that year and remained on the chart for 49 weeks, peaking at number 8.^[4] It reached No. 6 on the Cashbox albums chart where stayed there for 45 weeks.^[5] Successful singles from the album include "Travelin' Man" and "Hello Mary Lou".

The album was released on compact disc for the first time by Capitol Records on June 19, 2001 as tracks 19 through 30 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 1 through 12 consisting of Nelson's 1960 album, More Songs by Ricky.^[6]

Reception

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said that Nelson "returned to a modified rock sound, bringing in new writers like Jerry Fuller and Gene Pitney, and coming up with a streamlined pop/rock approach but the rest of the album is guitar rock arrangements of songs written by old hand Dorsey Burnette ("My One Desire"), contributing the excellent rocker "Break My Chain" (complete with a terrific James Burton guitar solo), but the overall quality of the material is high, and Nelson's band plays it well.^[1]

Billboard magazine described the album as "a tribute to his reaching his majority"^[7]

New Record Mirror described the album as "a Nice Birthday Present"^[2]

Track listing

1. "My One Desire" (Dorsey Burnette) – 2:14
2. "That Warm Summer Night" (Jerry Fuller) – 2:11
3. "Break My Chain" (Jerry Fuller) – 1:53
4. "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" (Louis Alter, Eddie DeLange) – 2:32
5. "I'll Make Believe" (Johnny Rivers) – 2:18
6. "Travelin' Man" (Jerry Fuller) – 2:12
7. "Oh Yeah, I'm in Love" (Gregory Carroll, Doris Payne) – 2:08
8. "Everybody But Me" (Dave Burgess) – 2:11
9. "Lucky Star" (Dave Burgess) – 2:17
10. "Sure Fire Bet" (Gene Pitney) –2:07
11. "Stars Fell on Alabama" (Mitchell Parish, Frank Perkins) – 2:34
12. "Hello Mary Lou" (Gene Pitney) – 2:17

Charts

Album

Chart (1961)	Peak position
U.S. Top LPs (Billboard)[4]	8
U.S. Cashbox[5]	6

Singles

Year	Title	U.S. Hot 100 [8][9]	U.S. Cashbox [10]	U.K. Singles Chart [11]
1961	"Hello Mary Lou"	9		2
1961	"Travelin' Man"	1
1964	"Lucky Star"	127	143	-

References

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Ricky Nelson – Rick is 21: Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
2. Watson, Jimmy (16 September 1961). "Ricky Nelson: Rick Is 21" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 27. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1020. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's top pop albums : 1955-1996 : compiled from Billboard magazine's pop album charts, 1955-1996. Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Record Research. p. 556. ISBN 0898201179.
5. Hoffmann, Frank W (1988). The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-8108-2005-6.
6. "More Songs By Ricky - Rick Is 21". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
7. "Pop Spotlight: Rick is 21". Billboard. May 15, 1961. p. 35.
8. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2002. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research. p. 502. ISBN 0898201551.
9. Whitburn, Joel (1982). Joel Whitburn's Bubbling under the hot 100, 1959-1981. Menomonee Falls, Wis: Record Research. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-8982-0047-8.
10. Downey, Pat (1994). Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 244–245. ISBN 1-56308-316-7.
11. "RICKY NELSON". Official Charts. 1958-02-27. Retrieved 2024-05-19.