Garden Party

Background

"Garden Party" is the third track of The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, the ninth solo album of John Fogerty with new material. The collection is a follow-up to Fogerty's first solo album The Blue Ridge Rangers which consisted of covers of old country and gospel tunes and came out in 1973.

Recording of The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again started in October 2008 at Village Recorders in Santa Monica with engineer Mike Piersante. The album was arranged and produced by John Fogerty. It was released in August 2009. The album peaked at #24 in the USA, #1 in Norway and #3 in Sweden. . 

Rick Nelson's "Garden Party" has always meant a lot to John Fogerty. He learnt a lot of record making by watching and listening to him. Fogerty also inducted him into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. A line in the lyrics "you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself" has also a special meaning to Fogerty (Ken Dashow, Interview with John Fogerty, PRX, August 27th, 2009; Leslie Framm, Interview with John Fogerty, WXRP, New York, September 2nd, 2009)

Fogerty's version feature's harmonies from Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles. John recalled the session In the USA Today interview:  "I did spring it on Don Henley, in a slow way. Before 10 seconds went by, he was on board. He showed up with Timothy Schmit. They were born to sing it." (Edna Gundersen, Interview with John Fogerty, USA Today, October 19th, 2009).

Personnel

Vocals: John Fogerty, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmidt

Guitar: John Fogerty

Drums: Kenny Aronoff

Bass: Chris Chaney

Steel guitar: Greg Leisz

Fingerstyle guitar: Hunter Perrin

"Garden Party" was the first collaboration between Fogerty and one or more members of the Eagles. Fogerty also played "A Peaceful Easy Feeling" for the memory of Gleen Frey in a concert in Las Vegas on January 22nd, 2016.

Trivia

"Garden Party" entered the BBC Radio 2 'A' playlist in the UK on September 29th, 2009. It was probably the first time Fogerty made this list (Steve Stone). 

Live versions

The world premiere of the live version of "Garden Party" was seen at Americana Music Conference at Mercy Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 16th, 2009.  He also performed the number regularly on the subsequent tour in the USA in fall 2009 and in Europe in summer 2010. The song made a short return to the programming during the concerts mainly in Scandinavia in June and July 2012.

Fogerty also performed "Garden Party" in PBS Live By Request at Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles. The concert was aired live in the USA on November 7th, 2009. 

Critical reception

"The self-indulgence of "When Will I Be Loved?" may be matched when John decides to sing "Garden Party" (joined by Eagles Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit). The Rick Nelson penned song was a long whine from a faded teeny bop of how no one wanted to see his deep side. It was plastic soul but, goodness knows, Ricky Nelson had a right to sing it. John Forgerty?" -The Common Ills, August 23rd, 2009.

"It's particularly rewarding to hear Fogerty saluting Nelson, since it was Nelson who was one of the first artists to cover any of Fogerty's non-Creedence material when he did a great version of "Almost Saturday Night" shortly before his death." -Kevin O´Hara, Mass Live, August 23rd, 2009.

"On Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party”, Timothy B. Schmit and Don Henley show up putting their best foot forward with a thick layer of harmonies that recall Nelson’s original track."  -The Sounds Country, September 15th, 2009.

"The song that sticks out most for me is "Garden Party," Rick Nelson's 1972 hit about the negative response he received when he brought his country band to a 50's revival show. The line in the chorus that goes "You see you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself" has a universality to it which still resonates after all this time. Nelson's embrace of country rock was a major influence on the early recordings of The Eagles, and Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit were very appropriate and very effective choices to provide backing vocals on Fogerty's version." -Scott, The Armchair Critic, December 30th, 2009.

"Whereas the first album contained classic and obscure country/folk/gospel tunes, “Rides Again” expands the range to include country-leaning songs by rock and pop artists. An example is Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party,” easily the best track here. Nelson once covered “Almost Saturday Night,” and Fogerty’s reciprocation is made even sweeter by vocal assists from Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit, since it was Nelson who helped paved the way for the Eagles’ country-rock success." -Good New Music. 

Fans' views

"I know John did this one as a tribute to Ricky Nelson and a remembrance of John's lean years (similar in that way to what Broken Down Cowboy was on Revival). Nothing jumps out at me on this one and I think John tries to sound a little too perfect sometimes on these songs and it makes the vocals a bit weak."

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