I was a fan of Rick Nelson as a young man growing up. I watched the TV Show & I liked the music he did as a Teen Idol. What I have realized is Ricky Nelson had a rewarding Solo Career in his past having put out a lot of songs & Album's in his Solo Career charting well & being rated number 2 in the country with of course Elvis being number 1. During that time he & Pat Boone traded the # 2 position. In the 60’s the American Music world was most definitely impacted by the Beatles, Rolling Stones & other Acts that were part of the British Music Invasion of America.
At this time 1962 to 1970 Ricky Nelson was maturing into an older Rick Nelson who was working on changing his appearance, approach & type of music he wanted to create so he would be able to complete with changes in the Music we listened to brought by the Beatles & other groups. I believe his approach to looking for a band to play & tour with after writing some really good songs & being inspired to doing great covers by other artists is what Rudy the Fifth was about. After getting the Stone Canyon Band together they played the Troubadour in Los Angeles I believe to try these songs out in his home area & to get a feel for how the audience would respond before hitting the road & Tour the US.
I was blessed with the opportunity to see Rick & the Stone Canyon Band play in Sutter County California in 1985. This unfortunately was a few months before the plane wreck that took his life. I believe he would have been a chart topping force to behold had they not died in Texas in 1985.