This is one of the more difficult Bear Family sets to take on simply because it is such an intimidating package. Never mind that Nelson is an American myth, having eked his way into that terrain by dying in a plane crash while still in his forties, and despite being managed by Colonel Tom Parker, he still looked fantastic despite the unsubstantiated rumors of drugs, alcoholism, and twisted sex that poured forth from the tabloids after his passing.

But that Ricky (or Rick as he was known then) Nelson doesn't even appear inside this box set. The material documented here begins near the end of the rockabilly era in 1957 and ends before the Beatles came stateside. The 180 tracks contained on this set represent five years in the recording life of Ricky Nelson, who before he even began his recording career was a television star with his real-life family, the Nelsons, parented by Ozzie and Harriet. In fact, Ricky Nelson starred in a number of motion pictures during the era when these recordings were made -- most notably Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin and The Wackiest Ship in the Army -- and remained on the TV program until 1966, four years after these sessions leave off in 1962. Ricky Nelson was indeed America's most popular and respectable teen idol.