Garden Party 12/11/19

On October 15, 1971, a "Rock & Roll Revival" concert was held at Madison Square Garden in New York. Headliners included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Ricky Nelson. It would not go well for Rick.

He played some of his old hits...but when he launched into some new material, the crowd began to boo. It got so bad, he left the stage...and the building. The experience bothered him so much, he wrote a song about it and filled it with all sorts of vague (and somewhat snarky) references to the event.

To everyone's surprise, in 1972, this "Great Song of the '70s" went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as #6 on the U.S.Top 40 chart. He would not chart on the Top 40 again, and died way too soon in a 1985 plane crash.

(NOTE: The page that contains the video not only tells the complete story, it explains the all the references. Just click on "Show More.")