“Top” Ten Music Aviation Tragedies: Rick Nelson (#6)

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Wow, that was a nap! I woke up, it was 8 AM, so I rolled over to sleep a little more…then it’s 10:15! Good thing I’m on central time. Before I head onward I’ll give you another one of those news reports that broke our musical hearts when we heard about it. #6: Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band Some people called him a teenage idol. There was a lot more to him than being Ozzie’s (not Ozzy ) son. But the problem is most people can’t break out of that “teenybopper” prison. It’s hard to believe that the Beatles were the first “boy band.” And Elvis was a teenage phenomenon. In my lifetime, I think the only one who successfully escaped life on the cover of Tiger Beat was Donny Osmond, who matured into a good actor (he was always a good singer). But Rick Nelson tried. He shed the “Ricky” name of his teenage years (remember Dino Martin earlier in the list), and his music gained a bite. It didn’t always work to his benefit, which was the subject of the big 1972 comeback hit “Garden Party.” (If you remember my “real events” countdown, I included this song about his less-than-pleasant experience at Madison Square Garden. Every word was true.) By 1985 it didn’t matter. People wanted to see him, whether he was singing new songs or “Hello Mary Lou.” He was en route to Dallas for a New Year’s Eve show when a fire began in the cabin. Investigators determined it was caused by a space heater. The pilots escaped, but the seven passengers died from smoke inhalation. The plane, it was discovered, was not unlike the “flying death trap” that Lynyrd Skynyrd had (see yesterday’s discussion). The band had to push the plane off the runway once because the engine conked out. The NTSB faulted the pilots for refusing to help the passengers try to escape. Also killed were Nelson’s band and his fiancée. Some people tried to start stupid theories (since traces of cocaine were found in some of the bodies people who weren’t there and probably can’t spell “NTSB” started rumors that the fire was started by freebasing), but that didn’t help the family or the legions of fans who thought of Rick Nelson more than just a “teenage idol.” Rick Nelson Born Eric Hilliard Nelson May 8, 1940 - December 31, 1985 (age 45) The Stone Canyon Band: Andy Chapin (February 7, 1952 - December 31, 1985) (age 33) Rick Jason Intveld (December 30, 1962 - December 31, 1985) (age 23) Bobby Neal (July 19, 1947 - December 31, 1985) (age 38) Patrick Jack Woodward (August 29, 1948 - December 31, 1985) (age 37) Place of crash: DeKalb, Texas Rick Nelson’s comeback hit, “Garden Party”: