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Fact #93099

When:

Short story:

Rick Nelson is booed during an oldies show at a Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA, when he plays some of his newer songs. Incensed by the crowd's response, he will pen the song Garden Party, which will go to No6 in the charts in the USA, heralding a new period of success for the former teen idol. [Other acts performing on this night are Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell, Bo Diddley, The Shirelles, The Coasters and Gary 'US' Bonds.]

Full article:


David Hirschberg (audience) : The story most often told is that Rick was booed off the stage because he had long hair and played new music. In fact, Rick received a very warm hand when he came out on stage, notwithstanding his appearance. His 25 minute set consisted of Be Bop Baby, Hello Mary Lou, Feel So Fine, Poor Little Fool, My Babe, She Belongs To Me, Lonesome Town, Believe What You Say and Honky Tonk Women.

All were well-received, except for My Babe, a five minute long hard rock arrangement of the blues standard, bearing no relation to Rick’s 1958 recording. The booing didn’t really start until after Rick left the stage following Honky Tonk Women. It seemed the fans didn’t like the idea of Rick closing his portion of this Rock’n’Roll Revival Show with a Rolling Stones number.

In any event, what the media didn’t report was that Rick then returned to the stage and encored with Travelin’ Man, at which point the boos immediately turned to cheers. By the end of the song, the boos were forgotten (by the audience at least) and he exited in triumph.

True, he was upset enough to write a million-selling song about the incident, but I believe he simply misunderstood the fans’ reaction.