Rick Nelson Garden Party Lyrics:
(Ooo-ooo-ooo, ooo-ooo.)

Went to a garden party, reminisce with my old friends,
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again.
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name,
No one recognized me, I didn't look the same [4] .

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so ya gotta please yourself.

People came from miles around, everyone was there,
Yoko brought her walrus [5] , there was magic in the air.
An' over in the corner, much to my surprise,
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes wearing his disguise [6] .

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so ya gotta please yourself.

Lott-dah-dah, lott-in-dah-dah dah.

Played them all the old songs, I thought that's why they came,
No one heard the music, we didn't look the same.
I said hello to "Mary Lou [7] ," she belongs to me.
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk [8] , it was time to leave.

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so ya gotta please yourself.

Lott-dah-dah, lott-in-dah-dah-dah.

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode [9] ,
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should.
Now, if you gotta play a garden [10] party, I wish you a lotta luck,
But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck.

And it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so ya gotta please yourself.

Lott-dah-dah (lott-dah-dah-dah), lott-in-dah-dah-dah.

An' it's all right now, yeah, learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself.


[GARDEN PARTY [1]
[Written by: Rick Nelson
Performed by: Rick(y) Nelson [2]
Appears on: Garden Party-1972 [3] , Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band
(1969-1976)-1995, Singers & Songwriters: 1974-1975 (Various Artists)-2000,
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/GYR4 ]
The Essential Collection-2004, et al.]

[1] Rick Nelson's star was fading in the mid 1960s, even though he dropped
the "y" from his name as a show of maturity. He tried valiantly to regain
the top of the charts, but it seemed the British invasion was thwarting him
at every turn. In October 1971, Rick was invited to play in a reunion show
at Madison Square Garden, alongside such early rock luminaries as Chuck
Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and
others. By this time he was heavily into the country rock genre. When he
mixed in new material with his old music, the audience began to boo. Whether
it was really their reaction to their idol's new look and sound, or, as one
report states, ". . . there were reports that police were in the back moving
people out, and in the political spirit of the early 70's the crowd was
actually booing the police activity," Rick felt the crowd was booing him. He
wrote about the experience in "Garden Party."]

[2] Eric Hilliard Nelson, better known as Ricky, joined the cast of his
parents' ABC sitcom, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," in 1952 at age
11. A fall 1956 episode had him organizing a rock'n'roll band in high
school. Then in an April 1957 telecast he was drafted to perform with a
local band and sang a currently popular Fats Domino hit, "I'm Walkin',"
which promptly became a real-life, million-selling record for him. Ricky
went on to be one of the biggest stars of the early rock and roll era.]

[3] Transcribed from the track on this album.]

[4] Rick had grown his Presley-esque hair to shoulder length, and had a more
mature appearance than what the "Oldies" crowd remembered.]

[5] John Lennon and Yoko Ono were at the concert. Lennon, of course, was
responsible for the Beatles song, "I Am The Walrus."]

[6] Mr. Hughes isn't Howard Hughes, as most people think, but refers to
George Harrison, the ex-Beatle. Rick Nelson was good friends and next-door
neighbor to Harrison, and was also a good friend of Bob Dylan. "Mr. Hughes"
was the alias Harrison used while traveling, and "hid in Dylan's shoes,"
apparently refers to an album of Bob Dylan covers Harrison was planning that
never came to fruition. "Wearing his disguise" referred to Harrison's habit
of traveling incognito.]

[7] Hello Mary Lou" is a song written by Father Cayet Mangiaracina as, "Merry
Merry Lou," and later as, "Hello, Mary Lou." by U.S. singer-songwriter, Gene
Pitney and performed by Ricky Nelson in 1961, where it reached #9 on the
Billboard music charts.]

[8] In the mid-'60s Nelson made strides to move in a decidedly country
direction, hence the reference to honky tonks.]

[9] "Johnny B. Goode" carries a message so basic that the song has become the
inspiration for every kid who ever wanted to be in a rock & roll band or
become a rock & roll star. Written by Chuck Berry, (who was at the concert)
the original version on Chess was also the first session that Berry utilized
overdubbing to play the now famous guitar solos, a fairly new idea for rock
& roll back in the 1950s. The song is so simple in its genius that it has
become adaptable in countless cover versions, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Jimi
Hendrix to Buck Owens to the Grateful Dead and as long as there are guitar
bands and crowds that want to rock and sing along, somebody will be on-stage
playing, "Johnny B. Goode."]

[10] The garden referred to is Madison Square Garden, where the
aforementioned benefit concert was held.]
Lyrics: Garden Party, Rick Nelson [end]