Saturday 9: It's Late

"Funny" story. Ricky Nelson was my mom's favorite teen idol. I grew up knowing his songs as well as any others (and I still listen to him). So, Mom was excited the year she and Dad came to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with us in Florida and discovered Ricky was to play a New Year's Eve concert at the park in the center of downtown Orlando...just a couple of miles from our house. She reallllly wanted to go. The rest of us? Not so much. We kept telling her how crowded and miserable it would be and assured her she could always see him another time. 

Long story, short....we didn't go to see Ricky that New Year's Eve. And Mom never got to see him because just a couple of days later he was killed in a plane crash. Mom has never let me forget it.

Now on that happy note, let's get to the Saturday 9, the musical meme hosted by Crazy Sam.

Ricky looking about the way he did

when my mom didn't get to see him.

It's Late (1959)
Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.


1) Ricky Nelson laments that he should have been home hours ago. When is the last time you stayed up later than you should have? What were you doing?  I do that nearly every night...mostly because I know I won't sleep very long and want to avoid laying there in the middle of the night. As for what I'm doing, I'm doing what I do every night Pinky. Plotting to take over the world. Oh wait, that would be a Nickelodeon cartoon not my life. I'm actually usually watching TV and playing games on the computer.

2) Compounding Ricky's problem is that he's nearly out of gas. How is your gas tank right now? When did you most recently fill 'er up?  My tank is nearly full. Tim filled it up on Sunday or Monday, I think. 

3) It gets worse! He can't call home because he doesn't have a dime for the pay phone. Have you recently been in a situation where you've been glad you had your cell phone handy?  Not really. Other than I use mine a lot at work to play music for the residents, I basically look at it as a necessary evil. I am notoriously bad at checking messages and getting back to people.

4) The video for this song is from an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie Nelson, Ricky's father, was in charge of the show and made the rules. One was that no one was allowed to smoke on the set ... except his wife, Harriet. Do you smoke? Have you ever lived with a smoker?  I don't smoke. The smell gives me a terrible headache. Growing up all the men in my family smoked. I believe it's why I had chronic bronchitis for over a year and came down with every respiratory bug that came along.

5) Life magazine coined the phrase "teen idol" to describe Ricky's popularity. According to Tiger Beat, today's teen idols include Johnny Orlando and Ruby Jay. Johnny was born in 2003, Ruby in 2004. Sam admits that before today, she had no idea who these young people are. How about you?  Ruby and Johnny who? They are both younger than my youngest child. Gah….I'm getting old!

6) While Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan have posthumously praised Ricky Nelson's music, 1950s music critics dismissed him as a lightweight. What's the last review you read? Was it written by a professional critic, or was it contributed by a consumer to a site like Amazon or Yelp?  I never read reviews.

7) At the height of his popularity, Ricky tried his hand at movies, appearing in the western Rio Bravo with John Wayne. He turned 18 during the filming, and Wayne celebrated by playfully throwing Ricky into a sack of horse manure. Do you think pranks and practical jokes are funny?  Once in a while I think one is funny, but on the whole, I'm no fan of pranks. Probably because my dad tormented me with them. Often to tears when I was very young.

8) In 1959, when this song was popular, the St. Lawrence Seaway was completed. It connects Canada to our Great Lakes. Without looking it up, can you name all 5 Great Lakes?  Let's find out. Erie, Ontario, Superior, Michigan, and......uh, okay I have to cheat to get Huron. I drew a blank on it.

9) Random question – You drive past a local motel and see the car of a very married friend right there in the lot. Would you ask her about it?  I don't know. I'm sure I'd wrestle with it for quite a while and I'm not sure where I'd come down on that.

Enjoy your Saturday! I'm off to a community garage sale with Mom.