The Guinness Book of World Records lists them as the only family in history to have three consecutive generations of number one hit makers. The Nelsons have a long history in the world of entertainment, including Ozzie Nelson from The Ozzie and Harriet Show, Ricky Nelson, famed actor and singer, and twins Matthew and Gunnar Nelson who formed the hit duo Nelson.
Matthew and Gunnar will be in Kearney on Nov. 30 to honor the legacy with “Ricky Nelson Remembered” at the Merryman Performing Arts Center. They have two shows scheduled at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Seats are still available at MerrymanCenter.org or call 308-698-8297. The term “Teen Idol” was used by Life Magazine to describe the Rock and Roll of Fame member. “When you become the soundtrack to people’s lives, what it does is, it connects you with your past, it connects you with your friends, people maybe that you miss, people you spent great times with, a time stamp kind of thing,” said Matthew Nelson. “It’s a very powerful thing having music be such a big part in everybody’s life.”
Harriet Nelson once said we’re not in show business we’re in the connection business and that has been true for almost 100 years for this family. Within those connection were daily visits from music royalty at their home. Matthew Nelson remembers the visits. “Well I really didn’t know what famous was. When you’re a little kid that stuff doesn’t matter,” Matthew Nelson continued , “For us it was completely normal to have people over at the house just kind of hanging out, playing music with our Dad. I didn’t know until later that the guy with the crazy hair turned out to be Bob Dylan, or our next door neighbor who had breakfast with me for two years when we were toddlers, he was renting the house next door, was George Harrison, we called him Uncle George. Our babysitter was Mama Cass Elliott from the Mamas and the Papas. To us, they were just people, we didn’t know, we honestly thought, Gunnar and I did, that it was normal when you went out for dinner for people to walk up to the table and ask for autographs.”
Fame came from both sides of the family as Matthew’s mother’s family were the Harmons. Their Grandpa Tom Harmon was a Heisman Trophy Winner at Michigan who married a starlet. Aunt Kelly was the Tic Tac Girl, his Mom was a painter who was on the Ozzie and Harriet show and Uncle Mark was Mark Harmon who is a famous actor from NCIS and before that he was a Quarterback at UCLA.
During this multi-media performance Matthew and Gunnar don’t just remember their father, they celebrate his multi-faceted career. “That’s kind of what we grew up with was seeing this guy that was like the comeback kid that went from radio, television, of course he had hit movies like Rio Bravo, he won a Golden Globe for that, he did all those hit records and then reinvented himself which I don’t think anybody’s kind of done that, gone from pop teen stardom to be considered one of the founding fathers of a completely different type of rock and roll and country music. So he had a pretty good run there and he was only 45 when he passed away, but fortunately we have some amazing videos and stories and that’s really what the show is all about”, Matthew Nelson explained. “It proves no matter who you are, if you are a music fan, life is better.”
