Ricky Nelson – Lonesome Town

Ricky Nelson’s 1958 hit Lonesome Town is one of those songs that sneaks up on you, not with a scream, but with a sigh. Something about this song hits me when I hear it. When I think of Ricky Nelson, I think of this song over Garden Party or any other for some reason. 

The production is sparse, but that’s the point. Just a hushed acoustic guitar, a ghostly bassline, and the Jordanaires humming like they’re trapped behind church doors. The reverb wraps around Nelson’s voice like fog rolling in over the streets of this town. Ricky Nelson might not have had Elvis’s sneer or Jerry Lee’s wildness, but he had something those guys didn’t always chase…subtlety.

Not only do we have Ricky Nelson singing, but the great Jordanaires backing him up. The loneliness conveyed in this song still works. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, 1958. The song was written by Baker Knight. Knight wrote more hits for Ricky Nelson and more. Elvis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, and Jerry Lee Lewis covered his songs. 

Ricky Nelson was huge in the 50s, given his constant exposure on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet… This song was a change for him at the time, as he usually did up-tempo songs. The show ended up hurting him a bit in the long run. It was a while before people took him as seriously as a performer. 

I first heard this song in the 1980s, listening to an oldies channel that stayed locked in for me. I was reminded of it later in the mid-nineties with a Pepsi Commercial. 

Lonesome Town

There’s a place where lovers go to cry their troubles away
And they call it lonesome town, where the broken hearts stay
You can buy a dream or two to last you all through the years
And the only price you pay is a heartful of tears

Goin’ down to lonesome town, where the broken hearts stay
Goin’ down to lonesome town to cry my troubles away
In the town of broken hearts the streets are paved with regret
Maybe down in lonesome town I can learn to forget

There’s a place where lovers go to cry their troubles away
And they call it lonesome town, where the broken hearts stay
You can buy a dream or two to last you all through the years
And the only price you pay is a heartful of tears

Goin’ down to lonesome town, where the broken hearts stay
Goin’ down to lonesome town to cry my troubles away
In the town of broken hearts the streets are paved with regret
Maybe down in lonesome town I can learn to forget

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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.

36 thoughts on “Ricky Nelson – Lonesome Town”

  8. Pingback: Ricky Nelson – Lonesome Town – MobsterTiger

  9. Quite a good song. Did he write it or just sing? I’m thinking that his name might have been a double-edged sword…being a TV child star opens doors for you as does being the kid of a celebrity (ask Smily Miss Miley!) but in his case that clean-cut image and perception as being a child, not adult, might have slowed his acceptance by teen/20s listeners

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    1. No he didn’t write this one…a guy named Baker Knight did. Yea after the show ended it was hard for him but to me….he is up there with the rest of his musical peers. He could do some awesome rockabilly.

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  10. I honestly didn’t know much about Nelson until Garden Party. and then years later I learned the story behind that song….I guess like many of my age I thought he was in the same class as Pat Boone, I ‘ll listen more now..

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    1. I think a lot of people thought that as well. This guy was a real rockabilly guy. It’s a shame that the TV show did him no favors afterward. Later on he played some with George Harrison and others…
      Traveling Man
      Hello Mary Lou
      Poor Little Fool
      Sorry…I’m a huge fan of him.

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    1. The song really takes me there… he really got the loneliness across.
      I got you a transplanted Texas songwriter for next week that I think you will like.

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      1. Look forward to it.

        I’ll just toss this out to you; A while ago I heard a song about a lonesome/lonely town/ hotel. (No, not the Elvis song.) It was a ways back, on some long lost radio programme. One something like that Dylan radio show where he plays his faves? It was a guy, mid tempo country to rock and I randomly recall it being mentioned it was a record in ’66 or so? With your knowledge of the genre you might be able to steer me towards it? (Yes, my wife calls me a… challenge too.) Oh, and happy Fathers day over there. Ours is Sept 7.

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      4. There is a song that comes to mind but it probably isn’t it…it was 1966. Jim Reeves – Blue Side of Lonesome

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      5. No, not Mr Reeves, a bit rockier I believe. But the memory plays tricks over time. Maybe the title was something like lonesome hotel, heartbreak tavern, Lonely bar??? Sorry, don’t go overboard, these rabbit holes can take up too much time!

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  15. This song wasn’t that familiar to me, like some of his others. His voice is perfect for this song. My parents both loved him from their youth, so I’d heard some of his music. Then came Garden Party, of course.

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