''Perspective'' is the seventeenth studio album by American singer

Rick Nelson Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he began a ...

, and his eleventh for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. The album was a departure from Nelson's previous rockabilly records and an experiment in a more contemporary orchestral style. Like Nelson's prior album ''Another Side of Rick'', it was produced by John Boylan. Boylan selected a number of contemporary songs for the album, including four by

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

, who was not yet a well known songwriter. He also contributed two of his own songs, while Nelson's wife

Kris The kris or is a Javanese culture, Javanese asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although ma ...

performed vocals on "Hello to the Wind" (a joint Boylan/Nelson composition) and supplied album artwork. The album was recorded in California in 1968, Nelson's only recording that year. It was not released until nearly a year later. Neither of the two Boylan-produced albums were a commercial success. Although Nelson grew to dislike ''Perspective'''s overproduced style, he credits the album with clarifying his future musical direction. "''Perspective'' with those songs was a complete experiment and those Steve Miller type sound effects between tracks were my idea.... I'm not sorry I did those things because, if anything, it made up my mind as to the way I wanted to go... I just simplified the whole thing and went back to the formula of drums, bass, and guitar. That's where I'd always been most effective." The album was released on compact disc by Ace Records on September 29, 1998, as tracks 13 through 23 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 1 through 12 consisting of Nelson's 1967 studio album, ''

Another Side of Rick ''Another Side of Rick'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer Ricky Nelson, Rick Nelson, and his tenth for Decca Records. It was released on November 13, 1967. Jimmie Haskell arranged the album and John Boylan (record producer), John B ...

''.

Bear Family Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

included the album in the 2008 ''For You: The Decca Years'' box set.

Reception

Richie Unterberger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that "Nelson did have good taste in selecting material, covering songs by Paul Simon, Richie Havens, Harry Nilsson, and Randy Newman, all of whom (except Simon) were little known by most of the public in 1967; indeed, Nelson covers five Newman songs in a row to end the album, creating the effect of an aborted "Nelson Sings Newman" concept record. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' selected the album for a "Pop Special Merit" review, and described as "an appealing, left - field type of tune" Historian

John Einarson John Einarson (born 1952) is a Canadian rock music historian, journalist and writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Einarson is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including biographies and autobiographies of Neil Young, the Guess Who, ...

stated that Nelson's albums "Perspective and

embraced both

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

, with covers of

Eric Andersen Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, Rick Nelson, and many others. Early in his career, ...

Nilsson Nilsson is a Swedish surname and the fourth most common surname in Sweden. The name is a patronymic meaning " Nils's son". Nils was a very common name, especially in 19th century Sweden. People with the surname * Anders Nilsson (disambiguation) ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

, and

. The eclectic choices reveal an artist still searching for a style that would reconcile his past and give him a future."

Reception

Track listing

Side one

Side two

References