Australian singles charts:
Garden Party entered the Kent charts on 4 September 1972 and peaked at #6. It was #45 on the Top 100 of 1972.
Album:
The song is on Garden Party which entered the Kent album charts on 25 December 1972 and peaked at #67.
Songwriter:
Rick Nelson
Producer:
Rick Nelson
Record label of Australian release:
MCA
Wikipedia:
The “garden party” in the song’s title and lyrics refers to Madison Square Garden, New York, where Rick Nelson performed at a Rock ‘n Roll Spectacular concert in 1971. Many greats of the early rock era were there, including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Bobby Rydell. When it was Rick’s turn, he began by playing some of his older songs, but the crowd began to boo when he turned to newer material.
In the chorus of Garden Party, Rick sings: “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.”
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Party_(Rick_Nelson_song)
Lyric references:
– My old friends; fellow performers at the concert Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Bobby Rydell
– Yoko’s walrus; John Lennon (Lennon’s song I Am the Walrus)
– Mr. Hughes; George Harrison – (Mr. Hughes) hid in Dylan’s shoes; Harrison’s planned (but later abandoned) album of Bob Dylan covers
– Out stepped Johnny B. Goode; Chuck Berry’s song Johnny B. Goode
– I’d rather drive a truck; Elvis Presley worked for a time as a truck driver.
More lyric references: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Party_(Rick_Nelson_song)#Lyric_references
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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