THE HIT HAMMER: Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post.)

Ricky Nelson - "Travelin' Man"

Hit Number 1: May 29, 1961

Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks

Ricky Nelson was the first artist to have a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Poor Little Fool", was an okay, but sort of bland song about a player that finally got a taste of his own medicine. Nelson would later hit the top of the charts again, and with a song that's actually pretty similar to "Poor Little Fool". "Travelin' Man" is a song about another obvious player, who travels around the world and has his own lover seemingly in every corner of the world. But there are a couple pretty big differences between "Poor Little Fool" and "Travelin' Man". One is that the guy never gets busted in "Travelin' Man", and two is that "Travelin' Man" is a better song.

The song was written by Jerry Fuller, and he thought that Sam Cooke would be a good fit for the song. Cooke's manager hated it however, and didn't even bother to keep the demo, so it was passed along to Nelson. Nelson was joined by The Jordanaires on the track, who were for the most part Elvis' backing band. The song goes into great detail about the narrator's journey around the world, and how he "owns the heart" of at least one girl in every port. The lyrics describe the different girls with words that are associated with where they are. A few examples are "a pretty senorita" in Mexico, an "Eskimo" in Alaska, and a "fraulein" in Berlin. It's actually a neat little thing about the song that I kind of like. Another thing I like about "Travelin' Man" is that it's not a song that tries to do too much. I'll be real here, Ricky Nelson isn't an amazing singer. He doesn't have an amazing, or over the top voice that gives you chills or anything like that. But that's not what you want on a song like "Travelin' Man". You just want someone who is a good singer, not a great singer, who can meander through the song gracefully enough. Nelson fits that bill.

"Travelin' Man" was released with a B-Side of "Hello Mary Lou", which made it up to #9 on the charts. That's probably my favorite Ricky Nelson song. (It's a 9) These two songs I think proved that Ricky Nelson wasn't your typical teen idol. While guys like Paul Anka and Frankie Avalon were basically not making any more hits, Nelson found his way to the top of the charts in the beginning of the girl group era, and the rising popularity of Motown music. I myself know more about Nelson's music career than I do about Anka's or Avalon's, or probably any other teen idol you can think of. He was different. However as the years went on, Nelson's popularity would dwindle, and he went years without another charting song. In 1972, he had the song "Garden Party" which actually describes how long its been since anyone has even seen him, and that no one even wanted to see him perform his old songs, cause he didn't even look like the Ricky Nelson that everyone knew back in the day. But "Garden Party" sold very well, and made it to #6 on the charts. (It's another 9) And of course, Nelson would eventually die in the infamous plane crash on New Years Eve of 1985. But I'll say it again: Ricky Nelson was not your typical teen-idol. He had more of a legacy to him, and today there are probably more people who know who Ricky Nelson is, than other teen idols. I think songs like "Travelin' Man" helped cement that.

GRADE: 8/10