[Description by contributor Pete Tesoro]
Coming up with the exact date for this program, hosted by John Milton Kennedy for the U.S. Treasury, was rather difficult. Let me explain how I determined the Octoher/November 1957 time-frame.
During the program, Guest Star teenager Rick Nelson states that he “recently recorded an album for Imperial Records, this is one of the songs.” The song is then played. It was recorded at the last Imperial session, on October 1, 1957. The other two songs played on the program were both recorded on September 24, 1957. The album, Rick’s first, simply titled “Ricky”, was rush-released by Imperial in mid-October, 1957. The album made its debut on Billboard’s “Best Selling Pop L.P.’s” chart on November 11, 1957, and hit #1 on the charts on January 20, 1958. In the meantime, on November 28, 1957, Rick was back in the studio recording his next single “Stood Up”. Recording sessions for Rick’s second album “Ricky Nelson” began on April 1, 1958.
Therefore, I would place this “Guest Star Radio Show” definitely after October 1, 1957, but well before sessions for the second album began on April 1, 1958, and in fact, a good deal closer to the late October, early November time-frame, given Ozzie Nelson’s reputation for highly-tuned business sense and logically wanting to promote his son’s first album.
[Musical selections have been restored for your listening enjoyment.]