Rick Nelson's 'Garden Party'- Who really hid in Dylan's shoes?

"OK, Ricky Nelson, he did a lot of my songs, Ricky Nelson. I wanna do one of his called 'Lonesome Town.' Actually I heard this song when I was about oh, say I dunno, two years old. It really had an impression on me . . . Thank you. Thank you, Ricky." Bob Dylan, July 15, 1986.

Rick Nelson singing Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" 

Eric Hilliard "Ricky" Nelson was born May 8, 1940, in Teaneck, New Jersey. He grew up in the public eye, appearing in various radio programs, movies, and television shows while very young, usually with his parents, Ozzie and Harriet, and his brother, David. Starting in 1957, Ricky began performing as a singer on TV's The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet, and a string of hits singles followed, including "Poor Little Fool", "Lonesome Town", "It's Late", "Travelin' Man", and "Hello Mary Lou".

Nelson recorded top-notch material, but was not taken as seriously as he should have, due to his connections to famous parents and appearances on a television sitcom. However, he did have some heavy supporters, including Sun Records legends Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley,  and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also has a big influence on many young listeners, including The Beatles, John Fogerty, Linda Ronstadt, and Bob Dylan.

At first, Ricky was signed to a one-record deal with Verve, thanks to his father. Ozzie then negotiated a deal with Imperial, which gave Ricky more creative control. Soon, Nelson formed his own hand-picked band, featuring future Presley and Shindig! guitarist James Burton.

After his string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s ended, Rick Nelson became a pioneer in what is now known as country-rock, although, once again, he was not appreciated in his time. In 1970, Nelson released an live album, Ricky Nelson In Concert, which was recorded the previous year at the L.A.'s Troubadour club. The record featured three Dylan compositions: "She Belongs to Me" (a top 40 hit), "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and "I Shall Be Released". On his 1971 album, Rudy The Fifth, Nelson also covered "Just Like A Woman" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit".

Nelson was still part of the oldies circuit in the early 1970s, even though he had progressed musically over the previous few years. On October 15, 1971,  he joined Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and others for a Rock and Roll Revival show at Madison Square Garden. Nelson heard the crowd booing at one point, thinking they did not like his new musical direction, and it inspired Nelson to recall the incident in song. The result,  "Garden Party", brought Nelson near the top of the charts one last time.

The song references various musicians, including John Lennon ("Yoko brought her walrus") and Chuck Berry ("Out stepped Johnny B. Goode") as well as Dylan - with the song "She Belongs To Me", and in the line "Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes, wearing his disguise".  I had always assumed that this was a reference to Dylan himself, who was thought to have been a rock and roll Howard Hughes at the time - an eccentric recluse. However I came across this interpretation, from The Straight Dope:

"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" is more obscure, but presumably had something to do with Harrison's habit of traveling incognito.

I'm not sure where the information came from, but it's certainly nothing I came across before.

Ironically, it turns out that the crowd was probably not booing Nelson at the Garden, but some inebriated concert goers being ejected from the show by security.

Dylan with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, July 4, 1986

Dylan was an obvious fan of Ricky Nelson. James Burton, in fact, was offered a place in Bob Dylan's first touring band, but turned it down due a heavy work schedule.

While hosting his Theme Time Radio Hour program, Dylan played some of Nelson's records, including 1957's  "Waiting In School" (for the subject was "School"), and  "Hello Mary Lou" ("Hello") and "Travelin’ Man" ("Around The World Part II"), both from 1961.

Here's Dylan on the "Hello Mary Lou" single, with "Travelin' Man" on the flip:

“One person we got to say hello to is someone who said goodbye much too soon. He’s the man who brought rock and roll into America’s living rooms. Here’s a song that reached number 9 on the Billboard Charts…then they turned it over, and the B side went all the way to number 1.”

In Chronicles Volume One, Dylan also wrote about Nelson's music, circa 1961:

"He was different than the rest of the teen idols, had a great guitarist . . . I had been a fan of Ricky's and still liked him, but that type of music was  on its way out . . . I'd always felt kin to him, though. We were about the same age, probably liked the same things . . .I felt we had a lot in common. In a few years' time he'd record some of my songs, make them sound like they were his own, like he had written them himself. He eventually did write one himself and mentioned my name in it. Ricky, in about ten years' time, would even get booed while onstage for changing what was perceived as his musical direction. It turns out we did have a lot in common."

Dylan also probably related to Nelson's view of nostalgia - "If memories are all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck".

Rick Nelson died in a plane crash, December 31, 1985. In 1986, Dylan performed "Lonesome Town" 54 times in concert.

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