Download Instrumental if you like…    We’ve got a gig coming up that the host calls a “garden party”. There’s something about partying in a garden that doesn’t quite ring true to me, but this classic tune by Ricky Nelson just has to be performed.  “Garden Party” was Nelson’s biggest hit.

If you remember a TV show called “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet“, you’re older than dirt.  I only remember it from reruns, so I guess I’m still a youngster.  Ricky starred with his parents in this late 50’s sitcom and was often featured playing a guitar and singing his little heart out.  He soon became a teen idol with an impressive string of hits.  But because The Beatles dominated the music scene in the 60’s, Ricky Nelson wasn’t much in demand anymore – much like Bobby Rydell and The Beach Boys.  The “British invasion” took out a lot of American stars.  In my humble opinion, it was worth it.  The music industry is fickle at best.

In 1971, our hero was invited to play in an “oldies” concert at Madison Square Garden.  He was booed off the stage.  The crowd showed up ready to hear the old hits they remembered from their teen years, but Nelson chose to play new tunes and, worse yet, he’d let his hair grow long – what a cad! He did do a couple of his hits – “Hello, Mary Lou” for one – but when he swung into “Honky Tonk Women” the audience turned on him.  He abruptly ended his performance and stalked off, declaring that “he’d rather drive a truck”.  Really, Ricky?

But he couldn’t let that kind of humiliation go – so he wrote a song about it – this one.  The lyrics tell the whole story with such choice lines as “When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name/no one recognized me, I didn’t look the same”.  And then there’s “I said hello to Mary Lou, she belongs to me/but when I sang a song about a honky tonk, it was time to leave”.  Kinda sad, isn’t it?  The classic final line is “But if memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck”.

This is probably one of the most personal songs ever written.  Though not exactly exciting or even danceable,   I think it’ll be worth performing at this upcoming “garden party” job we’ve got.  If it doesn’t go well, I’ll just buy me a brand new F-150 and be done with it.