RICKY NELSON - LONESOME TOWN (1958)

RICKY NELSON - LONESOME TOWN (1958)

Ricky performs on the Ozzie and Harriet Show in 1958

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 (To forget)

Maybe down in Lonesome Town
I can learn to forget
(Lonesome Town)

"Lonesome Town" is a song written by Baker Knight. A version sung by Ricky Nelson became a hit single in the United States, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the R&B chart in 1958. The song was featured on his 1959 album, Ricky Sings Again. Nelson is accompanied on the recording by the vocal quartet The Jordanaires.

This song was a big change of pace for Nelson, who had been doing lots of upbeat pop songs. "Lonesome Town" is just his voice, his acoustic guitar, and backing vocals by The Jordainaires, who also sang on many of Elvis Presley's recordings. By recording such a dark and earnest song, Nelson showed another side of his personality - one that a lot of people didn't know about. "He connected with it plain and simple," Matthew Nelson told us. "It's really melancholy. And our pop identified with that, because he grew up famous and really deep down, even though he was a really affable, sweet guy, he told me he could never really tell who was in his life for the right reasons, as you can imagine. So he really tapped into the song."

The song has been covered by Paul McCartney, The Ventures, Shakin' Stevens, Chris Isaak, Richard Hawley, The Cramps, Jason Donovan, and others. It also shows up in television shows from time to time, sometimes even playing in a '50s diner with somebody ordering a milkshake, in a shout-out to Pulp Fiction.