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. it features songs by Dorsey Burnette, Jerry Fuller, and Dave Burgess.[4] 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.[4]Jimmie Haskell was the arranger and Charles "Bud" Dant was the producer.
The album made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated May 29, 1961, and remained on the chart for 49 weeks, peaking at number 8.[5] It reached No. 6 on the Cashbox albums chart where stayed there for 45 weeks.[6] Successful singles from the album include "Travelin' Man" and "Hello Mary Lou"[4]
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.[7]
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"[8]
Cashbox gave the album a postive results, saying "it features a fine teen oriented treatments of “Stars Fell On Alabama,” [and] “That Warm Summer Night”[9]
