Rock and Roll

The song “Lonesome Town” was written by Baker Knight, a musician and songwriter whose songs were also recorded by Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mickey Gilley. In 1958, the song was a hit for Ricky Nelson, rising to #7 on the U.B. Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the R&B chart, become a 1950s music golden oldies favorite.

There have been many other versions of this song about a lover’s heartbreak, including two by The Ventures. Others include covers by The Cramps, Paul McCartney, Holly Golightly, Jason Donovan, and Tiguana Bibles, just to mention a few. “Lonesome Town” has appeared in film (Pulp Fiction), TV (Heroes), and a game (Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel, with a cover by Milton Mapes).

Eric Hilliard Nelson (aka Ricky and then Rick Nelson) had an amazing career as a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist , and actor. Besides his music, he’s best known for playing himself on the long-running television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966) as well as co-starring with John Wayne and Dean Martin in Howard Hawks’s western film Rio Bravo (1959). Nelson has been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Here are the lyrics to “Lonesome Town” by Ricky Nelson:

“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 heart full 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 dreams
The streets are filled with regret
Maybe down in Lonesome Town
I can learn to forget

Maybe down in Lonesome Town
I can learn to forget
Lonesome Town”

If you would like to read about and listen to another song by Ricky Nelson, please click here for “Travelin’ Man.”

For More Golden Oldies Music       

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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