Best Always (Rick Nelson album)

Best Always
Studio album by
Rick Nelson
ReleasedApril 19, 1965
GenreRock and roll
Length28:08
LabelDecca
ProducerCharles "Bud" Dant
Rick Nelson chronology
Spotlight on Rick
(1964) 		Best Always
(1965) 		Love and Kisses
(1965)
Singles from Best Always
  1. "Lonely Corner"
    Released: August 1964
  2. "Mean Old World"
    Released: March 6, 1965

Best Always is the twelfth studio album by rock and roll and pop idol Rick Nelson,[1] and his fifth for Decca Records, released on April 19, 1965. Jimmie Haskell arranged the album and Charles "Bud" Dant produced it. The LP contains a mix of covers of old and recent hits that included four songs also having chart success: "My Blue Heaven" by Fats Domino from 1956, "Since I Don't Have You" by the Skyliners in 1959, "You Don't Know Me" by Ray Charles from 1962 and "I Know a Place" by Petula Clark.

The single, "Mean Old World", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the chart dated March 20, 1965, reaching number 96 in a two-week stay.[2] Another single, "Lonely Corner", spent a week on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in the issue dated August 29, 1964, peaking at number 113.[3]

The album was released on compact disc by Ace Records on March 10, 1998 as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting of Nelson's 1965 album, Love and Kisses.[4] Bear Family included the album in the 2008 For You: The Decca Years box set.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
New Record Mirror[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]

Richie Unterberger of AllMusic says Best Always" isn't bad but "there's little to distinguish it from the other easygoing pop/rock albums he made during the period", suggesting "Nelson stretches his vocal range on the cover of the Skyliners' 'Since I Don't Have You', and gives a taste of his upcoming move into country with a version of 'You Don't Know Me'.[1]

Billboard stated that the covers Nelson recorded "are given fine interpretations."[8]

Cashbox described it as "a compilation of mixed tunes, some soft and some driving. Along with his recent single, "Mean Old World," Nelson bounces through "I Know A Place" and the while back "Since I Don't Have You."[9]

Record Mirror thought the album was "genuinely entertaining" and claimed that each track was "given single treatment, rather than a general album sound".[10]

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music called the album "Disappointing"[7]

Track listing

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Not Ready for You Yet"Buzz Cason, Paul Hampton2:05
2."You Don't Know Me"Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker2:24
3."Ladies Choice"Jerry Fuller2:17
4."Lonely Corner"Johnny Burnette, Betty Murdoch2:03
5."Only the Young"Pat Boone, Jimmy Seals2:23
6."Mean Old World"Billy Vera2:18

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Know a Place"Tony Hatch2:48
2."Since I Don't Have You"Jackie Taylor, James Beaumont, Janet Vogel, Joseph Rock, Joe Verscharen, Lennie Martin, Wally Lester2:33
3."It's Beginning to Hurt"Dave Burgess1:58
4."My Blue Heaven"Walter Donaldson, George A. Whiting2:17
5."How Does It Go"Jay Goodis, Jerry Keller3:01
6."When The Chips Are Down"Dash Crofts, Keith MacKendrick, Jimmy Seals2:01

Charts

Singles

Year Title U.S. Hot 100[2][3] U.S. Cashbox[11]
1964 "Lonely Corner" 113 105
1965 "Mean Old World" 96 94

References

  1. ^ a b c Unterberger, Richie. Rick Nelson – Best Always: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2003). Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2002. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research. p. 502. ISBN 0898201551.
  3. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1982). Joel Whitburn's Bubbling under the hot 100, 1959-1981. Menomonee Falls, Wis: Record Research. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-8982-0047-8.
  4. ^ "Best Always/Love and Kisses". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  5. ^ "For You: The Decca Years". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  6. ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (14 October 1965). "Rick Nelson: Best Always" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 14. p. 8. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1020. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Pop Spotlight: Best Always". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 17. April 24, 1965. p. 60.
  9. ^ Cash Box. Cash Box Pub. Co. 1965-04-17. p. 32.
  10. ^ "16 Brash & Ballady Tracks from LULU :Norman Jopling and Peter Jones new albums reviewed by Norman Jopling and Peter Jones new albums" (PDF). Record Mirror. October 14, 1965. p. 8.
  11. ^ Downey, Pat (1994). Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 244–245. ISBN 1-56308-316-7.