Elvis may have been Number One on the hit parade music charts, but another pop singer of our times, one we could identify with, unlike Presley, was Ricky Nelson.
Elvis was older. He just looked and acted like a "rod", one of those duck-tailed, greasy-hair types. I would think girls wouldn't want to have a guy like him come pick them up for a date and introduce him to their folks. He had a juvenile delinquent persona. But Ricky? He just seemed cool, making boys almost envious, and I would think he was a dream date girls wished for. What girl wouldn't have wanted to be "Mary Lou", who was on a date and having so much fun and probably a little romance and then realzing "it's late, we better get on home"? My daughter, who in her older teen years watched an old "Ozzie and Harriet" rerun, swooned over Ricky, especially attracted to his long eyelashes and the way he would slowly blink, with such an innocent, "aw shucks" look.
We grew up with him, at least I did. "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" was a regular favorite of mine when it was on radio. It was one of the "gotta see" TV shows later. When Ricky grew to the point that the show had him doing a song at some party, with girls swooning and ogling him, it was a chance to see him introduce one of his new songs, likely becoming one of his hits.
Ricky was a guy with a sense of humor, not a braggart or blaggard, nice looking, good brother, respectful of parents, clean living. He was an older Wally, Beaver's older brother. Ricky and Wally were almost role models for guys in their age groups.
Ricky may not have been like Elvis, but he learned a lot from him, singing similar songs. In his biography, he actually spent time with Elvis, getting ideas and help. So there was a similarity, of sorts. Sad that they both died from drugs. Ricky's plane crash that killed him was caused from drug use on the plane that caused an explosion. Sad, but so was his last big hit: "Garden Party." Sad that a talented performer would want to advance and change styles, being the creative person he was, but was booed if he didn't sing his earlier songs. I can understand fans' disappointment in not hearing the Ricky they knew and loved, but I can understand his disappointment. His last hit seemed to fit his too early end of his life.