Ricky Nelson – Stood Up

Around 1984 or so I really started to get into Ricky Nelson. Song after song of quality. At first, I only knew Garden Party but it’s his 50s catalog where many of his best songs are found…and I love Garden Party.

By 1957, Ricky Nelson was already a well-known actor from his role on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, a TV show that starred his real-life family. His transition into music was initially seen as a part of his television character, but he quickly proved his talents as a serious musician. The show helped him of course but also hurt his credibility as a rock and roll artist.

Stood Up was part of a string of hits he was enjoying in the late 50s. The song was written by Dub Dickerson and Erma Herrold. The great James Burton, who would later lead Elvis’s TCB Band,  played guitar on this song.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100 and #27 in the UK in 1957. Stood Up was his second #2 single and the next year he would have his first number one with Poor Little Fool. Poor Little Fool featured The Jordanaires, who were Elvis Presley’s backing singers.

Throughout the 1960s, Nelson continued to record rockabilly and evolve as an artist. He shifted to a more folk-rock sound and formed The Stone Canyon Band and in 1972 he had the hit Garden Party.

Stood Up

Well, I’ve been waitin’ ever since eightGuess my baby’s got another dateStood up, broken-hearted, again

I’ll bet she’s out havin’ a ballNot even thinkin’ of me at allStood up, broken-hearted, again

Well, I know just what I oughta doI oughta find somebody newBut, baby, I couldn’t forget about youStood up, broken-hearted, again, mm

Why must I always be the oneLeft behind never havin’ any fun?Stood up, broken-hearted, again

But I guess I’ll go on bein’ a foolSittin’ around just waitin’ for youStood up, broken-hearted, again

Well, I know just what I oughta doI oughta find somebody newBut, baby, I couldn’t forget about youStood up, broken-hearted, again

Stood up, broken-hearted, againStood up, broken-hearted, again

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

34 thoughts on “Ricky Nelson – Stood Up”

      2. That is really cool…the show helped Nelson a lot during that time and I’m glad of that…I first found out about him during the seventies with Garden Party…but then found all of this 50s stuff and was blown away.

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      6. Yes and Bob Newhart…I loved those lineups. Later on in the late seventies The Incredible Hulk and Dallas came on…on Fridays.

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  3. Yep. As Glyn says short sharp and simple, and I mean that in a good way. I think his early TV fame did play against him for most of his later career though. ‘Oh, that kid from that old show? No he can’t be any good, don’t book him.’

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  4. I hadn’t heard this before, but it’s quite decent. He was one of the better artists out there in that time period I think based on what I have heard… he had a a way with the fairly snappy if conventional lyrics and a catchy tune. Probably his TV role was much like some videos were to artists in the ’80s… great for getting him known to the masses but damaging over time because people wouldn’t take him seriously as a musician. ‘Garden Party’ is a terrific tune.

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    1. Yea it was a win-lose situation…without the show it would have been hard for him but yet…yes it hurt him in the long run.

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  7. Thanks for commenting at my blog. I hope to see you there again. (www.dark.sport.blog)

    About Ricky Nelson … he looks like the younger brother of Elvis. We are of course all living in Elvis’s shadow. Even today, when you think “rock star,” you have to go back to his era and its screaming female fans to get the complete rock star treatment. Girls no longer scream, did you notice that? Something has been subtracted from the mass culture, mutated, lost.

    And the rock star himself has grown fuzzy and lost definition as the decades have passed. He is a pale shadow of his former self.

    Ah well. More room for new rock stars to truly emerge.

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  9. He had some great singles in the late 50s, but seems to get forgotten among the other stars of the time. Maybe because he was a pretty boy from a TV show? ‘It’s Late’ and ‘Lonesome Town’ are my two favourites.

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  10. Absolutely loves this cut. Yes Burton is one of the founders of this style. Nelsons has that sleepy, non pushed vocals.
    Just read a book where someone (cant remember who) called Burton’s solo on ‘Fools Rush in, his favorite. I know John Fogerty was a big Nelson guy.

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  12. Pingback: Ricky Nelson – Stood Up – MobsterTiger

  14. Pretty cool the year you discovery this kind of music Max especially 1984 as there was a ton of acts and artists that were massive in 84 and there you are digging back a few decades before.

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