BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: MARSHMALLOW SKIES BY RICK NELSON (DECCA, 1967). EPISODE #91

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This recording, composed and performed by the criminally underestimated Rick Nelson and his right-hand man James Burton, is a tone poem of psychedelic disorientation. It lopes along, taking its sweet time, floating in mid-air, then seeps out through the singer’s enthralled brain in a sensual vortex. It reminds me of my virgin night of acid enlightenment, when I crawled across my cousin’s floor, following the swirling carpet patterns, whispering: “Oh, Wow,” over and over again.

The tune features the sitar, a trope of the time, sensitively voiced by a musician mysteriously listed as “unknown,” and they stand out as the unsung hero of the whole enterprise. Appearing as it did in 1967, Marshmallow Skies signifies that time in Rick’s career between his teen idol period and when he emerged, fully realized, as a progenitor of country rock. He’s in experimental mode here, searching for a new direction. And, with characteristic aplomb, he makes his case convincingly.

An interesting side note: “Marshmallow Sky” is also a flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream - and, a sweet smelling iris which resembles floating clouds. Appropriate, I think.

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