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Bright Lights and Country Music (Rick Nelson album)

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Brights Lights and Country Music
Studio album by
Rick Nelson
ReleasedMay 30, 1966
GenreCountry
Length29:37
LabelDecca
ProducerCharles "Bud" Dant
Rick Nelson chronology
Love and Kisses
(1965) 		Brights Lights and Country Music
(1966) 		On the Flip Side
(1966)
Singles from Brights Lights and Country Music
  1. "Louisiana Man""
    Released: May 1966

Bright Lights and Country Music was a studio album by American singer Rick Nelson. Released on May 30, 1966, it was his seventh for Decca Records and fourteenth overall.[1] Covering country classics such as "Hello Walls", "Night Train to Memphis" and "Welcome to My Word", and "Louisiana Man", the album was considered a significant change in direction for Nelson from the rock and roll of previous albums.[2] Jimmie Haskell arranged the album and Charles "Bud" Dant produced it.

The album debuted on the Cashbox looking ahead albums chart in the issue dated June 25, 1966, and remained on the chart for two weeks, peaking at number 114.[citation needed]

"You Just Can't Quit" was the first song he wrote himself and released since "Don't Leave Me This Way" on his second album.[3] "You Just Can't Quit" bubbled under Billboard's Hot 100, reaching number 108,[4] number 76 on the Cashbox singles chart,[5] and number 24 in Canada.[6]

The album was released on compact disc by Ace Records on June 23, 1998, as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting of Nelson's 1967 album, Country Fever.[7] Bear Family included the album in the 2008 For You: The Decca Years box set.[8]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
Billboard[10]

Cashbox in its Pop Best Bets Album Reviews, saying Nelson "spans the C&W canyon from Rick's own "You Just Can't Quit" to "Kentucky Means Paradise" by Merle Travis"[11]

Record World thought it was "an interesting album idea for Rick" and claimed "His manner is quite compatible with country music."[12]

Suggesting that Nelson "cannily captured the idiomatic feel of contemporary country," biographer and music critic Joel Selvin wrote, "Artistically, Bright Lights served as a stunning reversal of field. It did not come out of a vacuum for Rick [...] But the idea of Rick Nelson as a country singer certainly came a surprise to the general public."[3]

Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said that "Although Nelson's move into straight country music didn't result in notable commercial gains, it made sense given that his prior few rock albums hadn't done much, and that most rockabilly performers had long since gone into the country market.[1]

in Rick Nelson, Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer, Sheree Homer describes the album as "one of his most seminal albums of his career."[2]

Track listing

[edit]

Side one

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Truck Drivin' Man"Terry Fell2:08
2."You Just Can't Quit"Rick Nelson2:23
3."Louisiana Man"Doug Kershaw3:07
4."Welcome to My World"Ray Winkler, John Hathcock2:13
5."Kentucky Means Paradise"Merle Travis2:14
6."Here Am I"Glen Campbell, Marc Douglas2:26

Side two

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bright Lights and Country Music"Bill Anderson, Jimmy Gateley2:30
2."Hello Walls"Willie Nelson2:23
3."No Vacancy"Merle Travis2:23
4."I'm a Fool to Care"Ted Daffan2:32
5."Congratulations"Willie Nelson3:02
6."Night Train to Memphis"Owen Bradley, Marvin Hughes, Beasley Smith2:16

Personnel

[edit]

Charts

[edit]

Singles

[edit]
Year Title U.S. Hot 100

[4]

U.S. Cashbox

[5]

Canada

(RPM)[6]

1966 "You Just Can't Quit" 108 76 24

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Rick Nelson – Bright Lights & Country Music: Review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Homer, Sheree (2012). Rick Nelson, Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-7864-6060-1.
  3. ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1990). Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation. Chicago: Contemporary Books. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-0-8092-4187-3.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b Downey, Pat (1994). Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 244–245. ISBN 1-56308-316-7.
  6. ^ a b Ricky Nelson - You Just Cant Quit (Chords), retrieved December 2, 2024
  7. ^ "Bright Lights & Country Music/Country Fever". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  8. ^ "For You: The Decca Years". AllMusic. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1020. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Pop Spotlight & Special Merit Picks: Bright Lights and Country Music". Billboard. June 11, 1966. p. 54.
  11. ^ "Cashbox Album Pop Best Bets Reviews: Bright Lights and Country Music". Cash Box. Vol. 27, no. 45. June 11, 1966. p. 32.
  12. ^ "Album Reviews: Pick Hits" (PDF). Record World. Vol. 21, no. 992. June 11, 1966. p. 10. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
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