Country Fever

{{Infobox album

| name = Country Fever

| type = studio

| artist = Rick Nelson

| cover = Country Fever.jpg

| released = April 17, 1967

| genre = Country

| length = 28:53

| label = Decca

| producer = Charles "Bud" Dant

| prev_title = On the Flip Side

| prev_year = 1966

| next_title = Another Side of Rick

| next_year = 1967

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Country Fever

| type = studio

| single1 = Alone

| single1date = October 1966

| single2 = Take a City Bride

| single2date = April 1967

}}

Country Fever is the fifteenth studio album by American singer Rick Nelson, and his ninth for Decca Records, released on April 17, 1967. The album features Nelson's composition of "Alone" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Walkin' Down The Line", Nelson's earliest Dylan cover.

The Single from the album, "Take a City Bride", debuted on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, in the issue dated June 10, 1967, peaking at number 58 during its five-week stay.{{Cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop0000whit_j3j5/page/254/mode/2up |title=Joel Whitburn's top country singles, 1944-1993 |date=1994 |publisher=Record Research |isbn=0898201004 |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisc. |pages=254}}

The sessions also produced a couple of numbers taken from old Sun Records by Elvis Presley; "Mystery Train", which was included on the album.{{Cite book |last=Selvin |first=Joel |url=https://archive.org/details/rickynelsonidolf00selv/page/170/mode/2up |title=Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation |date=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |isbn=978-0-8092-4187-3 |location=Chicago |pages=170}} He sampled the classic country catalog, including "You Win Again," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow." "Alone" was a self-penned tune while "Walkin' Down the Line" was the first Bob Dylan song that he recorded.{{Cite book |last=Homer |first=Sheree |url=https://archive.org/details/ricknelsonrocknr0000home/page/86/mode/2up |title=Rick Nelson, Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer |date=2012 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6060-1 |location=Jefferson, N.C. |pages=86}} These songs formed a kind of semi-autobiographical trilogy, as he sketched himself as a desolate but determined loner. Jimmie Haskell arranged the album and Charles "Bud" Dant produced it, this was the last of fifteen consecutive Nelson studio LPs, produced by Charles "Bud" Dant.

The album was released on compact disc by Ace Records on June 23, 1998 as tracks 12 through 24 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 1 through 12 consisting of Nelson's 1966 album, Bright Lights and Country Music.{{cite web |title=Bright Lights & Country Music/Country Fever |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bright-lights-country-music-country-fever-mw0000039748 |access-date=15 September 2024 |work=allmusic.com |publisher=}} Bear Family included the album in the 2008 For You: The Decca Years box set.{{cite web |title=For You: The Decca Years |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/for-you-the-decca-years-mw0000495779 |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=AllMusic}}

Reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}

| rev2 = Record Mirror

| rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus Press |page=1020 |isbn=9781846098567 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0000unse_v3u2/page/1020/mode/2up |access-date=22 August 2024}}

| rev4 = Billboard

| rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |date=April 29, 1967 |title=Pop Spotlight & Special Merit Picks: Country Fever |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA48&dq=rick%20nelson%20country%20fever%20billboard%201967&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q=rick%20nelson%20country%20fever%20billboard%201967&f=false |magazine=Billboard |page= |pages=48 |volume=79 |issue=17 |editor=}}

}}

Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said that "Country Fever continued the country direction of Nelson's previous album, Bright Lights & Country Music, and the approach of each record was similarly weighted toward interpretations of country classics".{{cite web |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |title=Rick Nelson - "Country Fever" - Album Ratings & Reviews |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/country-fever-mw0000838251 |access-date=2023-10-08 |publisher=Allmusic}}

Cash Box in its Pop Best Bet Album review, stated "Nelson faithfully translates the lyrics in a voice that is both mellow and sincere.{{Cite magazine |date=April 29, 1967 |title=Cashbox Album Pop Best Bets Reviews: Country Fever |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox28unse_39/page/n31/mode/2up |magazine=Cash Box |pages=31 |volume=28 |issue=39}}

Record Mirror described the album as "one of his consistent perfromaces" and stated that "His own compostition is more than honky-tonk can rare with treatments by long-time country greats.{{Cite magazine |last1=Jones |first1=Peter |last2=Jopling |first2=Norman |date=23 September 1967 |title=Peter Jones new albums reviewed by Norman Jopling: Bumper Month for L.P.'s' Albums issued by Sinatra, Geno, John Mayall, Johnny Cash, Rick Nelson, Gene Vincent,Tony Hatch, King Curtis, Ventures, 5th Dimension, Proby, Ben E. King, Slim Whitman, Jefferson Airplane, Julie Andrews, Francoise Hardy & David Garrick |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/67/Record-Mirror-1967-09-23.pdf |access-date=20 May 2024 |magazine=New Record Mirror |page=8 |issue=341}}