Garden Party

Album

Garden Party

Label

Decca Records

Genre

Country rock

Composer(s)

Rick Nelson

Entered Chart

Jul 29, 1972

Peak Date

Nov 4, 1972

Released

July 1972

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Decca 32980

B-Side

So Long Mama

As a child, Nelson starred with his parents on The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet and became a teen idol as a singer in the '50s. He had a string of hits, but by the mid '60s he was no longer in demand as The Beatles were dominating the American music scene. On October 15, 1971, he played a "Rock & Roll Spectacular" show with fellow '50s stars Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Bobby Rydell at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He was expected to play his hits, and at first he obliged, opening with "Be-Bop Baby" - not one of his more meaningful songs but a consistent crowd-pleaser. After delivering a few more hits and getting rousing ovations, he started playing newer material, including his country-rock cover of "Honky Tonk Women" from his yet-to-be-released album Rudy the Fifth. For that one, he moved to the piano, and when he finished the song and walked back to his guitar, he heard an unusual sound: booing. Nelson had been playing his newer songs at collage shows, and they were well-received. This audience was different though, comprised of some oldies purists who thought the experience was about the hits and nothing but the hits. The booing unnerved Nelson, who played one more song before cutting his set short and leaving the building. This experience prompted the former teen idol to write "Garden Party," which became his first US Top 10 hit since 1963's "For You." He died in a plane crash in 1985 at age 45. This song expresses the importance of doing what feels right to you. Nelson sings: You can’t please everyone So you gotta please yourself It's a valuable lesson he learned at the concert that inspired the song - even though it was a rough evening, he came out of it stronger and determined never to be a nostalgia act. This was one of the few songs Nelson wrote himself, and it was very important to him. Rick's son Gunnar wrote in a Chicken Soup for the Soul article: "After a lifetime of pretending to be a character he wasn't - wearing the sweater on Monday on the set of Ozzie and Harriet after being a real rock star on the weekends - he was writing and performing for his own pleasure and satisfaction. The song was based on his experience at Madison Square Garden. He turned what could have remained the darkest day of his life into his brightest shining moment. Just when the music industry considered him a relic, filing him away as yesterday's news, he had the biggest hit of his career and it was totally autobiographical. As I was becoming musical as a kid, he told me that he would have given away all of his #1 records for success like this because it was a piece of his life, of his heart. The victory belonged to him alone. He told me then that the best thing in the world to be as an artist is a songwriter first and foremost." (Have a look at Nelson's handwritten lyrics to "Garden Party") The line, "Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes, wearing his disguise" is a reference to George Harrison, who used the alias "Mr. Hughes" when he was on the road. Harrison, who was friends with Nelson, was planning an album of Bob Dylan covers, but that project never came to fruition. These lines refer to songs Nelson played at his Garden concert: I said hello to Mary Lou, she belongs to me And when I sang a song about a Honky Tonk It was time to leave "Hello Mary Lou," from 1961, is one of his most popular songs; "She Belongs to Me" is a modest hit (#33 US) from 1969 - when he played it the grumblings began in the crowd. "Honky Tonk Women" is the one that got him booed off the stage. Nelson made the Hot 100 just once more: with "Palace Guard" in 1973 (#65). He kept performing until he died in a plane crash in 1985, and while he didn't do oldies shows, he was happy to play at least some of his hits. "Garden Party" was often the last song in his sets. Looking back on Nelson's experience at Madison Square Garden, it's clear that Nelson did not get into the spirit of the event, as instead of giving the crowd his old hits they had come to enjoy, he showed up with long hair, a sequined outfit, and new songs. Kent Kotal at Forgotten Hits puts it in perspective: "Nelson wasn't one of the artists typically invited to these Oldies Revival Shows, and since he had been playing all along with his Stone Canyon Band (featuring an odd 'oldie' here and there as part of his act, including a somewhat 'countrified' version of 'Hello Mary Lou'), he REALLY didn't know what to expect, or fully understand what the crowd had come to hear. Ironically, a decade later his stage show was virtually non-stop back-to-back oldies hits, very true to their original arrangements, and Ricky's voice truly did improve with age. The good news was that one of the biggest songs of his entire career came out of the experience." Rick's twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew, are a musical duo called Nelson. They had some hits in the early '90s, including the US #1 hit "(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection ," and while their father stopped playing his old songs when he faded from glory, Nelson not only continued to play their old songs at state fairs and other shows, but their father's as well. In the '00s, the Nelson twins put together a show called "Ricky Nelson Remembered" where they play many of their dad's songs. "Garden Party" is a big moment in the show, as it marked a turning point in Rick Nelson's career. When we spoke with Matthew in 2016, he said: "He loved music, and he gave his life for it. With 'Garden Party,' getting booed off the stage for playing some new tunes and looking different, he just kind of got to a place where it just came through him." Al Kooper's memoir Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards devotes a few pages to the experience of working with Rick Nelson. Nelson had signed with Epic Records shortly after Garden Party, and Al Kooper relished the opportunity to produce him. At first Kooper wanted to reunite Nelson with his guitarist from the 1950s, James Burton. But Burton wanted too much money and Epic balked. Next Kooper had to scramble for a back-up plan, and ended up producing an album of Nelson singing covers of a diverse series of hits from other bands. Epic Records was less than enchanted with this decision, to say the least, and refused to release the album. Even after Nelson's death! Nelson explained in ZigZag, 1974: "It's a pleasant tune, and catchy. After the people have heard it a few times, they begin to listen more to the words and discover what it's about. Some people, though, think that the song is about some desire I might have to return to the Fifties. It's really just the opposite, of course – I'm trying to put a stop to all that."

Ooh-ooh-ooh

I went to a garden party
To reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories
Play our songs again
When I got to the garden party
They all knew my name
No one recognized me
I didn't look the same

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

People came from miles around
Everyone was there
Yoko brought her walrus
There was magic in the air
And over in the corner
Much to my surprise
Mr Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes
Wearing his disguise

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

Lot-da-da
Lot-in-da-da-da

Played them all the old songs
I thought that's why they came
No one heard the music
Didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou"
She belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk
It was time to leave

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

Lot-da-da
Lot-in-da-da-da

Someone opened up a closet door
And out stepped Johnny B Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell
And lookin' like he should
Now if you gotta play at garden parties
I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang
I'd rather drive a truck

And it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
See, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself

Lot-da-da (lot-da-da-da)
Lot-in-da-da-da

And it's all right now, yeah
I learned my lesson well
You see, you can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself