03/07/2018: “Lonesome Town” by Ricky Nelson

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By the standards of the 50s, this sort of thing was pretty commonplace. The rockabilly crooner singing a plaintive love song with some heavy reverb on the vocal track and a simple guitar riff in the background.

But that doesn’t diminish the sheer pleasantness of the best ones. I honestly can’t see how somebody who likes music could really dislike such a soothing melody.

Ricky Nelson was one of the biggest stars of the 50s, something of a teen idol like One Direction were, or similar heart-throb singers. I have to admit that isn’t one of my specialist areas…

“Lonesome Town” was recorded in 1958, and reached number 7 on the U.SĀ Billboard Top 100 chart.

The song was written by Baker Knight and later covered by Paul McCartney. But Ricky Nelson’s deep and smooth tones are very well suited to this sort of thing, making his version an enduring classic.

The song appears in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction movie, showing why his soundtracks are always so good.

Very agreeable music!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxqj5i8jSLo

 

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