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Windfall was Rick Nelson's killer follow-up to his late-1972 album Garden
Party, and it exceeded any creative expectations that the artist or his
audience could possibly have had. It also featured a new version of his
Stone Canyon Band, and a brace of original songs growing out of that new
membership. Nelson, displaying more confidence than he'd had since the
mid-1960s, delved not only into some achingly beautiful corners of country-rock,
but also harder rocking territory and also more soul and funk-oriented
sounds than anyone believed possible. Nelson and company start off with
"Legacy," an original by new lead guitarist Dennis Larden, which
picks up right where Garden Party left off and ought to have been a hit
in its own right; then he pulls off one of the great transformations in
rock & roll history, sounding tougher than tough on Nelson's own "Someone
to Love," with some of the loudest guitar ever heard on one of his
records, and then drifts into a seductive, bluesy country mode with elements
of reggae in "How Many Times" (written by bassist De Witt White);
Larden's volume-pedal dominated performance on "Evil Woman Child"
is something else new to a Rick Nelson record, but no one could have been
prepared for Nelson's vocal, bouncing across syllables like the best rappers
of the 1980s; and Larden's "Don't Leave Me Here" brings us back
to country-rock. Side Two hews closer to country-rock, starting with the
superb rocker "Wild Nights in Tulsa" and getting better from
there -- "I Don't Want to Be Lonely Tonight" even intersects
with Creedence Clearwater Revival, or the Eagles in a harder-rocking moment,
and "One Night Stand" is another hit that should have been,
and "Windfall" is one of the best originals Nelson ever cut.
It's all a pity that nobody was listening, because Windfall was the crowning
glory of Nelson's albums for Decca, and as solid a piece of '70s music
as any early rock & roller this side of Elvis Presley ever delivered.
(by Bruce Eder, All
Music Guide)
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| Over his last three albums, Rick Nelson has attained the
heights of creativity which even the excellence of his early work never
prepared us for. In the year or so since Garden Party, anticipation among
his audience has run high. And now, Windfall fulfills most expectations,
but with a few surprises.
Nelson seems to be fronting an all-new Stone Canyon Band; the sound,
though, is none the worse for the changes. The big shocker is in the songs
themselves. After building his stature as a songwriter throughout Rick
Sings Nelson, Rudy The Fifth and Garden Party, he has stepped back and
allowed Dennis Larden, a former member of Every Mother's Son, to write
or co-write most of the new material.
Rick Nelson has relied on favored songwriters in the past, most successfully
Johnny Burnette and Baker Knight, who even make an appearance here with
"I Don't Want to Be Lonely Tonight," an album highlight. But
that was before Rick himself could write as well as he sings. Ironically,
Larden writes as though he's imitating Nelson's style, so the songs come
off as good but second-rate Nelson. Two exceptions are "Legacy"
and "Don't Leave Me Here," which are superb.
Nelson's own material is the best, especially "Someone To Love"
and the single, "Lifestream," which, to me, is the album's highlight.
Despite Larden's real contribution, I hope for the pleasure of more Nelson
tunes on the next album. Which is not to say that Windfall isn't a thoroughly
enjoyable record. It is, and more. With Rick Nelson, that much can always
be taken for granted.
- Greg Shaw, Rolling Stone, 3/14/74.
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