He Died 40 Years Ago, Now Her Children Confirm the Rumors

[Music] hello Maryland he's a traveling man who will follow you through a lonesome town but the chart topping Ricky Nelson might not have done the same for his own family they were the perfect American household on TV but did the Nelson family get along behind the scenes how did success actually break a marriage in two and divide Generations the answers are as messy as any family drama out there even for America's first Teen Idol I'm your host nostalgic Nick with these details and more if you enjoy our Ricky Deep dive please give this video a thumbs up it really helps subscribe to our channel so you never miss a favorite from yesteryear but without further Ado it's up to you to learn the truth what was Ricky Nelson's TV show of course this early Teen Idol got an early start in the industry he was pretty much born right into it if you grew up in the 50s and 60s you definitely watched episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet joining the household of husband and wife Ozzy and Harriet Nelson along with their good respectable boys David and Ricky adventurers quickly became a cultural Touchstone who stayed in the American psyche for decades but did you know it maintained another record in the turn of the century The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet kept the record of longest running live action sitcom in U.S television until 2021 that's when it was passed by a bunch of hilarious dirt bags from Philadelphia no I'm not talking about the Eagles I'm talking about the outrageous FX comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which surpassed this wholesome program Ricky's show was helped to fail came from his parents own star power Harriet served as vocalist in a band Led by her musician husband Ozzy a famous family didn't make Ricky immune to all the typical problems a kid might face he had really bad asthma at night he needed to run a vaporizer for relief but out and about Ricky was plagued by chronic shyness to the point where adults caught him an awkward Oddball oh yeah yeah oh yeah yeah oh yeah no calm down will you fellas in the early days of Ozzie and Harriet the kids were played by professionals until Ricky and big bro David were old enough to join his first episode was called invitation to dinner and it helped break the ice and ease his insecurities did Ricky Nelson write his own songs as Ricky came into his own boy did he have it all the looks singing acting even Athletics Ricky what are you doing here I just wanted make sure you certain some he and his brother performed a whole trapeze act on TV by the time he was 18 he brought in more than enough income to be quite comfortable though his parents very carefully managed his money and put it in trust funds there was still plenty that Ricky wanted like to impress his girlfriend his gal loved Elvis Presley so he did what any hot-blooded youngster would do he said he would be producing a record of his own it's worth noting that at that time Ricky didn't have a contract with anyone but he was good on his vow spurred on by the king's success with a label that wanted an aspirational youngster who could be a popular face and so we got I'm walking a teenager's romance and you're my one and only love next time you listen to any of his musical stylings keep an ear open does it sound familiar if so that's because Ricky names the man in the Blue Suede Shoes himself Carl Perkins as a huge influence especially his rad guitar riffs that was Ricky's main inspiration and a fair bit of his work is cover songs but he does have quite a few original creations of his own including ones written by Ricky himself like you just can't quit so long mama and a flower opens gently by Ricky's particular spin on music helped create a memorable and very beloved flavor of rockabilly as well as some ballads that were never heard before did the Nelson family get along Americas had seen and would see many families on their TV but the Nelsons had the unique advantage of being a strong presence when the cameras weren't rolling there was no forgetting they were around thanks to their music careers the house fans saw on TV a replica of their own home in Hollywood the real one I mean Emmy winning writer and director Peter Jones made a documentary all about the lightning in a bottle that that show was Ozzy and Harriet The Adventures of America's favorite family in his studies of the show Jones felt that instead of cameras capturing their drama being a detriment the quartet felt safer getting to work out their family drama thanks to the guise of filming a scene they basically had a safety net one that was pretty vital to their relationships things weren't always Picture Perfect in their personal lives beginning with patriarch Ozzy who came off as a genial if sometimes hapless sweetheart but in reality could be a bit of a tyrant and control free eventually Ozzy prioritized to keeping the show on air over being a good dad to his sons although his older son David would insist quote my father went to Great pains to see that Rick and I had as normal and upbringing as possible years after the fact Ricky's own daughter Tracy would know firsthand the tension that boiled just under the surface Tracy also an actress once said quote there's a huge discrepancy between what was real and what people think was real about the Nelson family and the people involved she got a front row seat with Ricky's own contradictory personality he became the handsome face of good squeaky clean values Frozen in Time Of course like an ATP actor he resented being Typecast and wanted to be something more but here Ricky deviates because he ended up shaped by this teen heartthrob label who just didn't know how to grow up Ricky even flat out said he couldn't see himself getting older and while he was probably referring to his maturity he ended up being right in a far more chilling way who is Ricky Nelson's wife like plenty of young men his age growing up Ricky wanted to date his mother Harriet wanted him to focus on his career even before he was an adult she set very high standards which basically meant she disapproved of every girl he brought home when he was 17 he became smitten with his on-screen girlfriend Marianne Gaba both were considered too young for anything serious although gapa says a lot of necking happened a year later Ricky fell in love with Lorraine Collins who was 15 at the time already an established country singer the two collaborated and Ricky created his first composition my gal foreign she introduced him to Johnny Cash and tax Ritter then Along Came Kristen Harmon daughter of football player Tom Harmon and actress Elise Knox as well as the older sister to actors Kelly and Mark Harmon the Nelson and Harmon families had been friends for quite a while so the latest generation cementing that sounded just fine to both parties in theory everything should have worked out they were both shy had controlling fathers and came from Hollywood royalty they got married on April 20th 1963 but that basically just started the countdown to disaster even though they had four kids together actress Tracy twins Gunner and Matthew and finally Sam this quartet got an up close and personal look at the definition of dysfunctional without being in the room with them we can't know for sure what happened every second that tore this marriage apart but the kids did have some opinions major Outlets agree that drugs and personal demons played a huge part and on top of that it sounds like history was repeating itself with Ricky focusing more on his career than being a dad at least that's what Kristen thought she made it no secret she hated his chaotic touring schedule in fact she demanded he give up music and focus more on acting so he could be at home more but apparently the family was also accustomed to a pretty expensive lifestyle and Kristen in particular spent quite a bit of dough so the two needed income from wherever they could manage they fell into what their son Matthew called quote a horrible Hollywood divorce it was rough and not quick to the point that they were so divided the kids were left in the care of household staff Kristen filed back in 1977 and they weren't fully split up until 1982 so who was to blame well drug tests years later would reveal one point Ray Ricky like to mix cocaine marijuana and a very strong painkiller the kids would call their own mother a narcissist who enjoyed her fair share of vodka on top of all that the entire experience left such a sour taste in Kristen's mouth that she would try and Stamp Out her own kids dreams for good how old was Ricky Nelson when he died December 31st 1985 Ricky Nelson was traveling from Guntersville Alabama Bound for Dallas Texas to perform at a New Year's Eve concert he was one of over half a dozen people on board an old DC-3 a refurbished plane from World War II era bought by Nelson from Jerry Lee Lewis while enroute to The Venue suddenly the cabin grew Smoky passengers were unable to breathe as they inhaled toxic fumes the pilots directed the plane into an emergency landing only to collide right into a network of electrical wires the pile pilot and co-pilot emerged from the debris severely burned but alive all seven passengers including 45 year old Ricky Nelson died in the crash subsequent toxicology reports would find traces of cocaine in the bodies of several passengers including Ricky Nelson although his sons would call this a lie on top of that the plane had a history of technical issues that night the deadly fire was caused by a defective heater at the tail of the plane the heater caught fire and all hell broke loose a taste of the emotional turmoil that the media would cause Ricky's surviving family we always want to believe in the fairy tale story we see on TV that the people who give us such beloved stories enjoy a happily ever after of their own but there's something to knowing just how grounded their lives are knowing the odds they also fought the problems they made for themselves and had thrown at them and they still marched on that's exactly what the life the true life of Ricky Nelson represents even after pulling back the curtain alright that's enough of me now we need to hear from you did you grow up watching The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet what was your favorite Ricky Nelson tomb and what's another famous Hollywood family we should dive into next get in the comments and tell us your thoughts if you enjoyed our video today please give it a thumbs up to help it circulate subscribe to our channel so you never miss a video like this and from all of us here at do you remember we want to thank you very much for watching [Music]

Channel: DoYouRemember?

Views: 1,347,505

Keywords: pop, rock, rockabilly, Ricky, Nelson, Ricky Nelson, Rick, 1950s, oldies, classic, and, roll, ricky, nelson, lonesome, town, Nelsons, 60's, Oldies, James, Burton, Ozzie, Harriet, Rio, Bravo, Dean, Martin, Walter, Brennan, Quality), My, Rifle, Pony, Me, Children Confirm the Rumors, 40 Years Ago, Now Her Children, ricky nelson songs, ricky nelson lonesome town, ricky nelson greatest hits, ricky nelson travelin man, ricky nelson poor little fool, 40, years ago

Id: 3aLCBsQrDzc

Length: 12min 19sec (739 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 22 2023