Teenage Idol, Travelin' Man: The Complete Biography of Rick Nelson

Rating:
Summary: Genuine gentleman with simplistic enthusiasm
Review: A very descriptive biography about Rick Nelson's illustrious life. He was one of those rare people who was blessed with the ability to accomplish just about anything he wanted to. He had a natural God-given talent. That ability included everything from sports to his music. He inherited that talent from his mother, whom was a an accomplished singer herself. It is said that the world is divided into knowers and lovers. Rick was a knower. He had a great understanding about everything. His former wife is a lover. Whereas,Rick didn't have any probelms discerning fact from fiction. She did. Ordinarily this is the best possible combination. Her family mirrors mine and she resembles me. She was lucky to have her dream come true, as she was an admirer of Rick's from adolescence, to marry him. Her family is more sophisticated, her leaving the marriage was indeed the best thing,although she stills loves him. At least, she has her children. The most valuable asset. Over the years I have crossed pathes with his children, and am not impressed with any of them. My admiration is for their grandfather, Ozzie Nelson. The world lost one of the best when he died. Along with Rick. It was a storybook life. You just never know how long the story will last. And, I still admire Rick's former wife. She along with her birth family, the Harmon's has style.

Rating:
Summary: Genuine gentleman with simplistic enthusiasm
Review: I enjoyed this book much more than Joel Selvin's mean-spirited tome. Rick may have had his faults, but let's remember that we all do,and they were overshadowed by his many good qualities. As a singer and musician myself, he is a great example of doing what you believe in and sticking to it. Bashe emphasises this throughout the book (i.e. Rick turning down an offer of $1,000,000 to do a "balloons and feathers" type show in Vegas in the late 70's). From time to time there are hints of scandal and bad behaviour, but overall, it is a much more fair portrayal of Rick than Selvin gave us.

Rating:
Summary: Rick Nelson gets some respect
Review: I enjoyed this book much more than Joel Selvin's mean-spirited tome. Rick may have had his faults, but let's remember that we all do,and they were overshadowed by his many good qualities. As a singer and musician myself, he is a great example of doing what you believe in and sticking to it. Bashe emphasises this throughout the book (i.e. Rick turning down an offer of $1,000,000 to do a "balloons and feathers" type show in Vegas in the late 70's). From time to time there are hints of scandal and bad behaviour, but overall, it is a much more fair portrayal of Rick than Selvin gave us.

Rating:
Summary: I was impressed by how it was written.
Review: The book did a good job of telling what all went on behind the scenes without sensationalizing some of the mistakes that Rick made, and the author managed to write the book without it looking like a wordy tabloid article, although Philip Bashe may as well have gone ahead and told us the real name of the teenage hooker Rick had an affair with because an author of a different biography on Rick Nelson did.

I also thought Bashe did a good job of telling both sides of the divorce between Rick and Kris without it seeming as if he were taking sides, or trying to put one or the other person in a bad light.