I have a soft spot for Ricky Nelson...I've been a fan since I was 7 years old. I grew up with the earliest incarnation of the Disney Channel, way back when it was a "Premium Channel" on cable. I loved so many regular programs on that network, but one that I especially glommed onto was the syndicated reruns of a 1950s/60s sitcom called "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet". If you're not familiar, it was a real life family all playing a fictionalized version of themselves in an idealized suburban household. One of the two sons was.....you guessed it...Ricky Nelson.
I never missed an episode from the day they started running the show. As Rick got older, he became interested in music and developed both the capacity to sing and play guitar. At the time I was watching, the country was also in the middle of a major late 50s/early 60s nostalgia wave that I loved and got completely swept up in. My mom bought me cassette tapes called "Gold & Platinum" with compilations of some of the biggest hits of the era by various artists...I couldn't get enough. So, when Ricky embarked upon his music career in the show, I was hooked immediately.
To this day I nearly always play both "Hello, Mary Lou" and "Travelin' Man" in my live sets at in person events. I really am a fan! LOL
Rick had a phenomenal run of success, having gotten a hell of a head start in show business being the favorite character and teen heartthrob in a popular American Network TV series for 14 years. But one day, he was out of fashion. Nobody wanted him to be something new, but nobody wanted to buy what he used to do anymore either. He was lost and in a career funk, but started experimenting with a blend of country and rock music that eventually helped pioneer what would be called the "California Sound" of the early 1970s coming out of Laurel Canyon. Other acts like the Eagles had more commercial success with it, but Rick was right at the center of spreading it around in the clubs and jam sessions going on in the scene at the time.
On October 15, 1971, Rick was invited to perform his old hits at a special event called "Richard Nader's Rock 'n Roll Spectacular" at Madison Square Garden in New York City along with a slate of other popular acts from that era. The idea was for everyone to look as much as possible like they did in their heyday, and play the songs everyone remembered the way they remembered them and create a very nostalgic and sentimental experience. Rick showed up as the guy who was pioneering the California Sound in bell bottom pants, a purple velvet shirt, and hair down to his shoulders. He played some of his old songs, but also included a newer one, and the crowd started booing him. Now...full disclosure, there are some reports that the booing was in response to some police action taking place in the back of the arena, but they aren't conclusive, and at any rate, Ricky believed strongly that they were booing him for not looking and sounding like they expected.
Sometime later, Rick had the idea of writing a song about the experience and feverishly jotted the lyrics down on a piece of paper....it has writing on on the side margins, and every other place there was space because he didn't want to break his train of thought long enough to get a second sheet. After cutting the song with hs then band, "The Stone Canyon Band", it was released as part of an album also called "Garden Party", and dropped as a single....it climbed to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over 8 million copies, becoming his most successful single, and the final Top 40 hit of his career. Ironically after having his biggest ever hit single, written about doing what satisfied him even if it didn't please others, he shortly thereafter started cutting his hair to look like the Ricky Nelson of old and doing only nostalgia shows. But the success of "Garden Party" was a triumph all the same.
I think what comes to mind about this song is the need for reinvention sometimes. We all have seasons in our lives that call forth new desires, new challenges, and new endeavors from us. Sometimes a habit or routine that had been the basis for success and happiness in a different season becomes untenable in the next one. Sometimes people who were a good fit in your life at one point evolve to a place where they are not anymore. And a lot of people won't like it when you let yourself flow with the evolution to new things...even as some evolve right along with you.
The question we all have to ask ourselves is, do we stay in a stasis out of the comfort of what we already know, or do we let ourselves grow and expand even if it disappoints some people. Everyone gets to make that choice for themselves, but I can't stand to stunt my expansion. I only get this life once, and if I'm being called in a direction, I assume it's because there is more opportunity for joy, insight, learning, and constructive challenge in following it. I can't let other people's discomfort with it stop me. Neither did Rick...and I'm proud of him for it. Even when he did start doing a nostalgia act, maybe it was because it's what he wanted to do....and maybe it was just the best way to make money because what mattered most to him was providing for his family. I don't know. But I do know that on October 15, 1971, he had the courage to present himself as he actually was to an audience only interested in who he had once been. That's worthy of a blue ribbon in my book.
Enjoy my cover of this song from a livestream show I did on July 15, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, and then check out a great performance by Rick himself with his band from the iconic classic television series "Midnight Special".
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If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube