The teenage phenomenon that was Ricky Nelson proved that he was not just a singles sensation on November 11, 1957. After three big hit 45s in the US, he made his first-ever appearance on the American album chart with Ricky.

The young man from Teaneck, New Jersey was barely 17 years old when he crashed onto the singles scene as one of the biggest heartthrobs of the day. In the spring of 1957, “A Teenager’s Romance,” raced to No.2, and to underline what big news Ricky was, the flip side, “I’m Walking,” reached No.4 in its own right. That debut hit was followed by a more modest success with “You’re My One And Only Love,” but he was soon back in the Top 3 with “Be-Bop Baby.”

Head to head with Elvis

Then came that first album, which steadily made its way up the charts until it made it all the way to No.1 on January 20, 1958, taking over from Elvis’ Christmas Album. It was an appropriate accession, since Nelson had, by now, long since proved that he was so much more than just one of the countless Presley-imitating pack. The Ricky LP spent two weeks at the top of the American countdown, before Frank Sinatra made the top spot with Come Fly With Me.

Listen to uDiscover Music’s official Ricky Nelson Best Of playlist.

Ricky was a strange mixture of material aimed at Nelson’s teenage female fanbase, including “Be-Bop Baby”; covers of contemporary rock’n’rollers like Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and Carl Perkins’ “Boppin’ The Blues” and “Your True Love”; and remakes of standards such as Cole Porter’s “True Love” and the time-honored “Am I Blue” and “I’m Confessin.’”But Nelson could do no wrong for those teenage fans, who loved it no matter which era the songs came from.

Buy or stream Ricky.