Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon band were in Germany in 1970. The band played at the Press Club in Darmstadt Germany while touring U.S. Army military bases.
Rick Nelson in Germany – Press Club in Darmstadt
Charles Dees, photographer, for Stars and Stripes
Rick Nelson, Pat Shanahan on drums, and Randy Meisner
See comment at bottom of page from Kerry Cunningham
Stars and Stripes (American military newspaper) – Mar. 24, 1970
Stars and Stripes (American military newspaper) – Aug. 6, 2011
Rick, Pat Shanahan on drums, Randy
Stone Canyon Band Promo Photo
Allen Kemp, Randy Meisner, Rick Nelson, Pan Shanahan, and Tom Brumley
San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA) – Mar. 23, 1970
“Boylan took Rick down to the Troubadour one night to see the debut of a new band called Poco. The Troubadour was Hollywood’s top showcase for the new, hip bands appearing at the Santa Monica Avenue nightspot almost weekly, and the Poco appearance was highly anticipated because Jim Messina and Richie Furay had previously belonged to Buffalo Springfield, one of the most innovative underground rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles.”
An excerpt from the book “Ricky Nelson Idol For A Generation” by Joel Selvin (pg. 177)
Miles Thomas had set up the audition for Randy Meisner with Poco and then later connected him with Rick Nelson.
An excerpt from the book “Teenage Idol Travelin’ Man: The Complete Biography of Rick Nelson” by Philip Bashe (pg. 164)
An excerpt from the book “Teenage Idol Travelin’ Man: The Complete Biography of Rick Nelson” by Philip Bashe (pg. 168)
Randy decides to quit Rick’s band on the flight home.
An excerpt from the book “Teenage Idol Travelin’ Man: The Complete Biography of Rick Nelson” by Philip Bashe (pg. 170)
Randy rejoins the Stone Canyon Band, but leaves again and eventually the Eagles are formed.
An excerpt from the book “Ricky Nelson Idol For A Generation” by Joel Selvin
Goldrush is the name of the band that Randy put together with Stephen Love in Scottsbluff. A photo of Randy and Stephen at a gig at the Woodshed in 1970 is below. Prior to the band name of Goldrush they used the name Evergreens very briefly.
“Appearing with the Spiral Staircase will be the ‘Evergreens’ with Randy Meisner. Randy is just back from a tour of the U.S. and Europe with Rick Nelson.”
Star-Herald (Scottsbluff, NE) – May 8, 1970
“In early 1971 Randy Meisner returned to the Stone Canyon Band after his stint at a John Deere dealership. During his absence, Nelson had recorded the uneven ‘Rick Sings Nelson’, produced by Ronstadt’s manager John Boylan, who had been instrumental in nudging Rick toward country rock.”
“Explains Meisner, Allen Kemp called me and told me the job was open again, so I went back to L.A. and rejoined Rick for another six months.”
Excerpt from the book “Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock” – pg. 232
Mark Guerrero’s band opened for Rick Nelson and Randy Meisner in Lancaster, California in 1970.
“Rick’s previous visit to Britain was a one-day stopover on the way back from Germany when he played one date at a US air base.”
Beat Magazine – June 1971
I love your presentation Diana. Very clean and easy to follow. Especially the audio and videos and not having to leave the page.
Thanks! I sure do try to make it easy to look at and read.
I love reading and listening to all things about Ricky Nelson. His short life was filled with so much fun, success, heartache, and failures. His whole family must have been amazing, for I have never read or heard anything bad or wrong about them. It was a time of innocence and discovery. A time the sights and sounds of Ricky Nelson bring crashing back into your consciousness. A time you wish you could have been frozen in forever. For those that grew up then, they will always be the very best of all times. Dying young as he did, Ricky Nelson never had to grow old like the rest of us, and thus remains young forever.
Thanks for the wonderful memories!
I’m very glad that Randy got to experience being in a band with Rick. Those are memories I bet Randy cherishes to this day.
I am the girl in the second photo at top at Rick’s right elbow, long black hair and a white long sleeve top. Picture was taken by Charles Dees of Stars and Strips. This was in the Press Club at the Stars and Stripes compound in Darmstadt, Germany. I got to talk to Rick and his wife on break and get his autograph. He was really pretty shy it seemed.
You had a very enviable experience by being able to sit so close to Rick and Randy while they performed. It looks very tight where they were set up. In fact, Rick looks like he could sit on the drums. LOL. I have heard that Rick was shy, and Randy, too. Thanks so much for the extra details about the name of the club and the photographer’s name! I added those above.