From Bob Dylan's autobiographical
Chronicles: Volume One:
"Ricky had a smooth touch, the way he crooned
in fast rhythm, the tonation of his voice. He was
different than the rest of the teen idols, had a
great guitarist who played like a cross between
a honky-tonk hero and a barn-dance fiddler.
Nelson had never been a bold innovator like the
early singers who sang like they were navigating
burning ships.
He didn't sing desperately, do a lot of damage,
and you'd never mistake him for a shaman. It
didn't feel like his endurance was ever being
tested to the utmost, but it didn't matter. He
sang his songs calm and steady like he was in
the middle of a storm, men hurling past him.
His voice was sort of mysterious and made you
fall into a certain mood....Ricky's talent was very accessible to me. I
felt we had a lot in common. In a few years'
time he'd record some of my songs, make them
sound like they were his own, like he had written
them himself."
Ricky Nelson's
Travelin' Man (1961)