“Garden Party” is Rick Nelson’s account of his appearance at a Rock ‘n’ Roll revival concert, which took place at Madison Square Garden, New York City, on October 15, 1971. Other stars on the bill included Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Bobby Rydell.

Nelson had been one of the most successful teen idols of the early years of rock ‘n’ roll, before moving on to record pioneering, but less commercially successful country rock music in the mid-’60s. Accompanying the new music was a new image that had little in common with the rockabilly persona that the nostalgia-driven Madison Square Garden audience might have expected. Nelson turned up with shoulder length hair, a purple velvet shirt and bell-bottoms – a situation that he would describe as follows in “Garden Party”:

After sitting through new material by Nelson and his Stone Canyon Band, including a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Country Honk” (a country version of “Honky Tonk Women”), the Madison Square Garden crowd began to boo and a disappointed and hurt Nelson cut his set short. At least, that was Nelson’s interpretation of the event. It has also been suggested that Nelson wrongly assumed that boos directed at disturbances in the crowd were meant for him. Whatever the truth, it prompted Nelson to write a fine country rock track that would be his first Top Ten hit since 1963.

Although “Garden Party” was inspired by a disheartening experience, it doesn’t take the form of a frustrated rant. Instead, Nelson came to accept the crowd reaction and view it as a learning experience, as highlighted by the chorus:

This point is reinforced by the one of the song’s most memorable lines:

Nelson tells us that two former-Beatles were in attendance for the Madison Square Garden show, namely John Lennon and George Harrison. They are identified by the lyrics “Yoko brought her Walrus” and “Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan’s shoes, wearing his disguise,” respectively. The Walrus reference of course relates to the Lennon-penned Beatles track “I Am The Walrus.” The “Mr Hughes” reference is less obvious and is often wrongly thought to apply to Howard Hughes. In fact, Hughes was a name that Harrison used in order to remain anonymous when travelling, and the “Dylan’s shoes” lyric was probably a reference to a Dylan covers album that Harrison was planning.

Further evidence of Nelson’s lyrical inventiveness comes with the line “I said hello to Mary Lou, she belongs to me” because “she belongs to me” highlights not only his enduring association with the monster hit “Hello, Mary Lou,” but also his 1969 cover of the Dylan song “She Belongs To Me.”

Nelson breathed life into these fine lyrics with a strong country rock melody sang in typically laidback fashion, ably backed by his Stone Canyon Band.

Rick Nelson – “Garden Party”

Authorship

“Garden Party” was written by Rick Nelson.

Recording date

“Garden Party” was recorded in the spring of 1972.

Musicians

The following musicians played on “Garden Party”:

• Rick Nelson – guitar, lead vocals
• Allen Kemp – lead guitar, background vocals
• Tom Brumley – steel guitar
• Stephen A. Love – bass, background vocals
• Patrick Shanahan – drums.

Kemp and Shanahan had played together for years, as both had been members of The Poor, along with Randy Meisner, who played bass with the Stone Canyon Band until he was replaced by his former Goldrush bandmate Stephen A. Love in 1971. Meisner would join the Linda Ronstadt band, which would morph into The Eagles after parting with Ronstadt.

Tom Brumley had played with Buck Owens for years before joining Nelson’s band in 1969. He regards the “Garden Party” album as one of the highlights of his career.

Chart performance

“Garden Party” peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 29, 1972.

Cover

John Fogerty – “Garden Party”

Former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman, John Fogerty, covered “Garden Party” for his 2009 album “The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.” The Eagles’ Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit joined vocal duties with Fogerty on the track.

This is an enjoyable cover, but holds no surprises as the original arrangement is followed closely.

There will be a new Song of the Week on February 6.

Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party” is available on the album “Garden Party” and on a number of compilations, including “Ricky Nelson’s Greatest Hits.”

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Ricky was one of the most likeable stars of the rock ‘n’ roll era, with his laidback rockabilly style and smooth delivery. Among his many hits were “Hello Mary Lou,” “Lonesome Town,” “It’s Late,” “Believe What You Say,” “Poor Little Fool,” “Travelin’ Man” and “Stood Up.”

After the hits began to dry up in the mid-60s, Ricky moved into country rock and produced some fine songs, although not repeating his early success. His final top 40 hit was the excellent “Garden Party” in 1972, which hit number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

Ricky Nelson – “Lonesome Town”

For more on Ricky Nelson, check our Ricky Nelson 70th birthday tribute

Ricky Nelson is best known for his early rock ‘n’ roll recordings, made while he was on the American sitcom “The Ozzie and Harriet Show.” The weekly promotion from that show helped Ricky secure 30 top 40 hits between 1957 and 1962, which put him third behind Elvis and Pat Boone in that period.

Among those 30 hits were classics such as “Hello Mary Lou,” “Lonesome Town,” “It’s Late,” “Believe What You Say,” “Poor Little Fool,” “Travelin’ Man” and “Stood Up.”

Here’s four of his biggest and most memorable hits.

Ricky Nelson – “Believe What You Say”

Ricky Nelson – “It’s Late”

Ricky Nelson – “Hello Mary Lou”

Ricky Nelson – “Lonesome Town”

Ricky Nelson had made his big screen debut in 1952 with “Here Come the Nelsons” and with his rock ‘n’ roll career taking off soon found himself with more movie offers in the late 50s. In 1959, Ricky put in a solid performance alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in Rio Bravo. He also did well the following year starring with Jack Lemmon in the less memorable “The Wackiest Ship in the Army.”

The hits began to dry up for Ricky Nelson in the mid-60s. It was in this period that he began to change his musical direction and move towards a more country sound, with albums such as “Bright Lights and Country Music,” “Country Fever” and “On the Flip Side.” Ricky was one of the pioneers of country rock, but his accomplishments in this area are overshadowed by the success of his early records.

Here’s two tracks to highlight Ricky Nelson’s prowess as a country singer. The first is from Ricky’s 1966 album “Bright Lights and Country Music” and the second from the 1967 album “Country Fever.”

Ricky Nelson – “You Just Can’t Quit”

Ricky Nelson – “Salty Dog”

Ricky Nelson did still make the occasional dent on the charts, including “She Belongs to Me” (#38) in 1969 and the classic “Garden Party” (#6) in 1972, which was his final top 40 hit.

In his last few years, Ricky was back on the road delighting his fans with his classic rock ‘n’ roll songs. Ricky and his band were killed in a plane crash on December 31, 1985 on the way to a New Year’s Eve gig in Dallas,Texas.

Headline News story from night of Ricky Nelson’s death

Let’s conclude with a great performance from just months before Ricky died.

Ricky Nelson – “Garden Party”

Ricky is sometimes overlooked by rock historians, but he had a solid band in the early days, including the great James Burton, and made some good rockabilly tunes. From 1957 to 1962, he had 30 Top-40 hits, which made him the third most successful singer of the time, behind Elvis (53) and Pat Boone (38).

In the mid-60s, Ricky became a pioneer of country rock, but had limited chart success. His final Top 40 hit was the classic ‘Garden Party’, which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and went Gold.

A new generation heard Ricky through the appearance of ‘Lonesome Town’ on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack album in the early 90s. Here’s Ricky singing it on the Ossie and Harriet Show in 1958:

For more Ricky Nelson videos, head over to the rock ‘n’ roll video pages.

Today also marks the birthday of the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, who influenced countless giants of popular music and none more so than the great Eric Clapton. Johnson would have been 98 today. Here’s Clapton paying tribute to his hero: