Unfortunately for me, I knew very little about Rick Nelson before I began my half-assed research this week, but after reading his Wikipedia entry I discovered he had a hell of a career (and one of the more interesting bios I've read). Nelson got his start thanks to his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, who were known for their musical talent before Ozzie hit upon the idea of a TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, featuring his family...which would run from 1952-1966 (it was said that America watched "Ricky" Nelson grown up before their eyes). In the late fifties, Rick Nelson began a music career, starting as a teen idol, that would last until his death. Nelson also appeared in numerous movies and television shows. For his musical career, he released thirty-six albums, one of which hit #1 and two others which broke the top ten. He also released 91 singles, 52 of which charted, with two #1's (between 1957 and 1962 only Elvis had more singles chart than Nelson). Nelson was in the second class of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, won a Grammy, was listed at #91 on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Artists of All-Time, is considered one of the forefathers of music videos (thanks to his dad), one of the forefathers of country rock, and ranks behind only Carl Perkins as a rockabilly artist. Sadly, Nelson's career was cut short when he died in a helicopter crash in 1985 at the age of 45. His twin sons Gunnar and Matthew had a string of hits in the 1990's with their band entitled, appropriately enough, Nelson.
Fun Fact: Rick Nelson had the first #1 hit on Billboard's newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart with his hit "Poor Little Fool" in 1958. And it's probably the kind of fact that only an old fart one time record store manager would appreciate....
"Garden Party" was released as a single in 1972 and was later added to his album titled, surprisingly enough, Garden Party. It would go on to reach #6 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the last hit single of his career.
"Garden Party" was written in response to a bad experience Nelson had while performing at an oldies show at Madison Square Garden, Nelson was no longer a teen idol and he and his band, The Stone Canyon Band, showed up with longer hair and bell bottom jeans and played some honky tonk songs in addition to his earlier hits...and the crowd booed. Now there is some dispute as to whether the audience was booing Nelson or a group of police mistreating some protesters, but Nelson wrote his version of the events down and went on to have a hit single with it. First of all, Nelson's lyrics are an absolute wonder--the song could have been bitter or angry, but Nelson goes about telling his story with a fine eye for detail (and a hell of a gift for name dropping without naming names) and with an understated bravado that touches upon both his resignation and his love for music. There's a world weariness to his vocals, but you can still feel his joy from performing and the steeliness in his resolve to navigate his career the way he wants. It's one of the first country rock songs (you can't tell me the early Eagles didn't learn a trick of two from this one) and may be the nicest "fuck you" song in rock and roll history. A stellar song from an underappreciated (at least by me) artist.
Lyric Sheet: "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..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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