Bob Dylan's Garden Party

Dylan reached back to Rick Nelson's "electric" moment in 1972 to close his set during the Outlaw Tour's stop in Chula Vista, CA.

So far this year, Bob Dylan’s sets on the Outlaw Tour have been surprising even the most jaded die-hards. As Adam Selzer reported in Ray Padgett’s standard-bearing Dylan ‘stack, Flagging Down the Double E's, the Minnesota Bard has been pulling out deep cuts, even deeper covers, and apparently just having a blast switching things up.

Last night’s tour stop in Chula Vista, CA, was no different. Jettisoning the most recent opener, “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” for previous opener, “Things Have Changed,” the rest of the set seemed to reinforce the latter’s sentiment. In addition to trading the spot most recently reserved for “It Ain’t Me, Babe” for “Simple Twist of Fate,” he offered up the covers he unveiled on opening night in Phoenix: “I’ll Make it All Up to You” (a Jerry Lee Lewis Sun Records B-side written by Charlie Rich) and the Willie Dixon-penned blues, “Axe and the Wind” (originally recorded by George “Wild Child” Butler), but he also whipped out the Bobby “Blue” Bland-associated “Share Your Love With Me.” But he wasn’t done.

Later, he gave the crowd the gift of the Love and Theft track, “Lonesome Day Blues,” then even reached back for the ever-elusive “Blind Willie McTell” (both songs were last performed in 2017). After following “McTell” with “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” however, came the real surprise: Dylan and his band returned for an encore of Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party.”

“Garden Party” was a hit for Rick Nelson (who’d dropped the “y” for a decade by then) in 1972. The song’s origin story is as legendary as the tune itself. The “garden” refers to Madison Square Garden. The song recounts the evening of October 15, 1971, when a rock’n’roll revival-type show was held with legends of the pre-Beatles era hitting the stage to play their big hits for the crowd. Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Bobby Rydell were on the bill along with Nelson, who by then was backed by his Stone Canyon Band. In the crowd were rock luminaries such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others (George Harrison is thought to have been the “Mr. Hughes” referred to in the song).

Nelson was, by the early ‘70s, tuned into the “new” sounds of Laurel Canyon, singer-songwriters, and country-rockers of the era. So much so that he and his band rocked through a version of the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” After which, he heard what he thought were boos from the audience directed toward him, although it could have been due to the heavy police presence at the event.

Seeing all this play out, Nelson left the stage but returned after the organizer, Richard Nader, urged him to go back out and “play his hits.” When he returned and offered up “Hello Mary Lou” and the like, the crowd roared.

The parallels to that night and Dylan’s electric moment at Newport in the summer of 1965 cannot be overstated: Nelson leads his new band through a handful of country-rock tunes before a crowd geared up for a night of ‘50s nostalgia, while Dylan plugs in and blasts loud rock'n'roll at an audience expecting the acoustic folk of his first four albums. Nelson returns and begrudgingly gives the crowd what they want, while Dylan, well, returns with an acoustic guitar, yes, but only to tell everyone watching that “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” As for Nelson, closing with the line, “If memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck,” “Garden Party” became his “Maggie’s Farm” moment.

Ultimately, Nelson’s refrain speaks to both him and Dylan: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.” That line has long been a mantra for Bob, even if it took him over 50 years to finally sing it. He even slyly delivered the line about “Mr. Hughes” hiding “Dylan’s shoes.”

Ultimately, hearing Dylan sing “Garden Party” in 2025 sounds inevitable, like it was in the master’s plan all along. And who knows? Maybe it was.

Click here for last night’s full setlist from BobLinks.