Bright Lights and Country Music (Rick Nelson album)

Brights Lights and Country Music
Studio album by Rick Nelson
Released	May 30, 1966
Genre	Country
Length	29:37
Label	Decca
Producer	Charles "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
"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.

"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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
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]

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]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Truck Drivin' Man"	Terry Fell	2:08
2.	"You Just Can't Quit"	Rick Nelson	2:23
3.	"Louisiana Man"	Doug Kershaw	3:07
4.	"Welcome to My World"	Ray Winkler, John Hathcock	2:13
5.	"Kentucky Means Paradise"	Merle Travis	2:14
6.	"Here Am I"	Glen Campbell, Marc Douglas	2:26

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Bright Lights and Country Music"	Bill Anderson, Jimmy Gateley	2:30
2.	"Hello Walls"	Willie Nelson	2:23
3.	"No Vacancy"	Merle Travis	2:23
4.	"I'm a Fool to Care"	Ted Daffan	2:32
5.	"Congratulations"	Willie Nelson	3:02
6.	"Night Train to Memphis"	Owen Bradley, Marvin Hughes, Beasley Smith	2:16

Personnel

• Guitar: James Burton, Rick Nelson
• Bass: Glen Campbell, Joe Osborn
• Drums: Ritchie Frost
• Piano: Gene Garth
• Backing Vocals – The Jordanaires

Charts

Singles

Year	Title	U.S. Hot 100 [4]	U.S. Cashbox [5]	Canada (RPM) [6]
1966	"You Just Can't Quit"	108	76	24

References

1. "Rick Nelson – Bright Lights & Country Music: Review". AllMusic . Retrieved 2023-11-09.
2. Homer, Sheree (2012). Rick Nelson, Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-7864-6060-1.
3. Selvin, Joel (1990). Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation. Chicago: Contemporary Books. pp. 164–165. ISBN   978-0-8092-4187-3.
4. 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. Downey, Pat (1994). Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 244–245. ISBN   1-56308-316-7.
6. Ricky Nelson - You Just Cant Quit (Chords) , retrieved 2024-12-02
7. "Bright Lights & Country Music/Country Fever". allmusic.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
8. "For You: The Decca Years". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
9. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1020. ISBN   9781846098567 . Retrieved 23 July 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.