PATSY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (22)
By:
September 15, 2026
One in a series of enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, analyzing and celebrating our favorite… Country Music of the Fifties (1954–1963)! Series edited by Josh Glenn. Qobuz playlist here.
RICKY NELSON | BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY | 1958
Ricky Nelson was a born star – literally. His parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, had a long-running hit television program, The Ozzie and Harriet Show, where they played fictionalized versions of themselves. As baby Ricky grew up he became a part of the show, and as he grew into his teenage years, he became one of television’s first teen idols.
Teenage Ricky showed an interest in music, and at age 16, partly to impress a girlfriend, he decided he’d make a record. His dad procured him a recording contract, and Ricky laid down a (honestly not very good) cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.” He performed it on The Ozzie and Harriet Show a few weeks later, and that was all the impetus millions of teenyboppers needed to rush to their local record stores. The record hit number four on the Billboard charts.
Ricky continued to do safe, nonthreatening songs on his family’s TV show. The kids loved the songs, the country music aficionados ignored them. That was about to change.
Brothers John and Dorsey Burnette were the nucleus of a harddriving rockabilly band called The Rock and Roll Trio (naming a band was much easier back then). In a tale right out of a movie, the brothers came to Hollywood, bought a map to the homes of the stars, drove to Ricky Nelson’s house, and literally staged a sit-in, refusing to leave until Ricky came out and agreed to hear their musical offerings. Amazingly, this tactic actually worked, and faster than you can say “crossover hit” Ricky was back in the studio, recording the brothers’ songs. The first release was one of the all-time great proto-rock/rockabilly/country songs, “Believe What You Say.”
The lyrics are all innocent, puppy love fidelity:
I believe what you say
When you say you’re going steady
With nobody else but me
I believe what you say
When you say you don’t kiss
Nobody else but me
Lyrics like these were of no interest to the hard-core country music fans, whose songs were more often about infidelity – infidelity that went way past just kissing. But this record – this great record — also had a secret weapon; the guitar sound of James Burton. Burton played the iconic twang guitar in “Oh! Suzy-Q,” and he laid down a guitar sound on “Believe What You Say” that no country fan could resist. It hit the Top 10 on the Country charts (not to mention number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100).
That this song manages to thread the needle of being innocent enough for teenage fans brought up on G-rated television while carrying undeniable bonafides for serious country fans was remarkable, and is still wonderful to this day.
PATSY YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn. Nadine Hubbs on Marty Robbins’ EL PASO | Elizabeth Nelson on Dave Dudley’s SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD | Lynn Peril on Jean Chapel’s WELCOME TO THE CLUB | David Cantwell on Porter Wagoner’s MY BONFIRE | Will Hermes on Johnny Cash’s RING OF FIRE | Mimi Lipson on Loretta Lynn’s I’M A HONKY TONK GIRL | Charles Hughes on Roger Miller’s YOU DON’T WANT MY LOVE | Eric Weisbard on Lefty Frizzell’s THE LONG BLACK VEIL | Steacy Easton on Jean Shepard’s A SATISFIED MIND | Josh Glenn on Johnny Cash’s THE REBEL — JOHNNY YUMA | Carlo Rotella on Buck Owens’ CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS | Annie Nocenti on Patsy Cline’s THREE CIGARETTES IN AN ASHTRAY | Douglas Wolk on Lucky Starr’s I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE | Will Groff on Ray Price’s NIGHT LIFE | Jonny Auping on Willie Nelson’s CRAZY | Brian Berger on Ernest Tubb’s THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS | Jason Grote on Bill Browning and His Echo Valley Boys’ DARK HOLLOW | Peter Doyle on Willie Nelson’s FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY | Sam Glenn on Johnny Cash’s BIG RIVER | Mark Richardson on Elvis Presley’s BLUE MOON | Adam McGovern on Elvis Presley’s BLACK STAR / FLAMING STAR | Chris Spurgeon on Ricky Nelson’s BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY | Stephen Thomas Erlewine on George Jones’ WHITE LIGHTNING | Devin McKinney on George Hamilton IV’s ABILENE | Annie Zaleski on Patsy Cline’s WALKIN’ AFTER MIDNIGHT.
ALSO SEE: DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (25 of our favorite Country records from 1964–1973) | & more Country at HILOBROW, including short appreciations of Gene Pitney, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens, George Jones, June Carter Cash, Charley Pride, and many others.
JACK KIRBY PANELS | CAPTAIN KIRK SCENES | OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP | TYPEFACES | NEW WAVE | SQUADS | PUNK | NEO-NOIR MOVIES | COMICS | SCI-FI MOVIES | SIDEKICKS | CARTOONS | TV DEATHS | COUNTRY | PROTO-PUNK | METAL | & more enthusiasms!