Oct 15th in Pop History
On this day, October 15th, in…
• 1971 - Rick Nelson plays the "Rock & Roll Spectacular" concert at Madison Square Garden. The guest list included John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison, to name a few. The concert featured 50 stars Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell, The Shirelles, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, and a few others.
When Nelson plays some newer songs, instead of his classic songs from the 50s and 60s, the audience boos. He had came on stage dressed in the then-current fashion, wearing bell-bottoms and a purple velvet shirt, with his hair hanging down to his shoulders.
Nelson later wrote the song Garden Party about the experience, and it becomes a huge comeback hit for him the next year, 1972. It totally revived his career, and gave him many more years of touring and performing. Garden Party tells of various people who were present at the concert, but he sings it in obscure, oblique references (such as “Yoko brought her Walrus,” referring of course to Yoko Ono and John Lennon).
Wikipedia’s article on “Garden Party” suggests some interpretations as to the references in the song lyrics:
A garden party; October 15, 1971's Rock 'n Roll Revival, the concert itself at Madison Square Garden in New York;
My old friends; fellow performers at the concert: Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell, The Shirelles, The Coasters, Bo Diddley;
Yoko's walrus; (Beatle) John Lennon;
Mr. Hughes; (Beatle) George Harrison, who was a next-door neighbor and good friend of Nelson's. Harrison used "Hughes" as his traveling alias;
(Mr. Hughes) hid in Dylan's shoes; Harrison's planned (but later abandoned) an album of Bob Dylan covers;
I said hello to Mary Lou, she belongs to me; Nelson's song Hello Mary Lou, which he played at the concert; also a reference to She Belongs to Me, a Bob Dylan song covered by Nelson;
I sang a song about a Honky-Tonk; The Rolling Stones song Honky Tonk Woman; the song that allegedly caused the booing;
And it was time to leave; Nelson's subsequent departure, before the concert had finished;
Out stepped Johnny B. Goode; Chuck Berry's song Johnny B. Goode;
Playing guitar like a-ringing a bell; the line in Johnny B. Goode, "he could play guitar just like a-ringing a bell;”
I'd rather drive a truck; Elvis Presley once worked for a time as a truck driver, having famously been told after several failed auditions to "stick to truck driving because you're never going to make it as a singer"
Garden Party was Nelson's last top 40 hit on the US pop charts, climbing all the way to number six. The song topped the Billboard Easy Listening Chart, for two weeks. It made it to number six in both Australia and South Africa, and number one in Canada. Nelson toured off and on for another 14 years, until his untimely death in a plane crash on December 31, 1985, flying from Alabama to Dallas, Texas for a concert. The plane was his own plane, a Douglas DC-3, which had been experiencing a history of mechanical problems. All seven passengers aboard the plane died. Only the two pilots survived.
Rick Nelson’s Song Summary:
“But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well;
You see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.”
Garden Party
The Best of Rick Nelson
Also, on this day, October 15th, in…
• 1946 - Happy Birthday Richard!! American record producer, arranger, pianist and composer Richard Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He and sister Karen were of course The Carpenters
• 1957 - Elvis Presley’s first Christmas album, titled Elvis' Christmas Album, is released. It goes on to become the overwhelmingly best-selling Christmas album of all time
Also, on this day in…
• 1977 - Paul Simon releases Slip Slidin Away
• 2014 - At the St. Louis club Blueberry Hill, Chuck Berry performs for the last time. The rocker, who dies in 2017, played monthly gigs at the venue starting in 1996
