Nelson’s sons throw garden party for dad

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

A good party goes on forever.

Gunnar and Matthew Nelson will appear in “Ricky Nelson Remembered” before a sold-out house Saturday at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts. They will sing the hits of their late father Ricky Nelson: “Lonesome Town,” “Travelin’ Man” and, most ironically, “Garden Party,” Nelson’s last hit, recorded in 1972.

Nelson wrote the song after being booed off the stage for taking a countrified stab at the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman.” He sang:

If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck.

But if memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck.

So here are his twin sons — who broke through on their own in the early ’90s with glam pop — singing the memories of their father.

Teddy Thompson does not sing the songbook of Richard and Linda Thompson. Miles Nielsen hasn’t done a show of Rick Nielsen or Rick Nelson hits.

Well, Frank Sinatra Jr. has sang in the shadow of his father.

“You can’t take ‘Garden Party’ out of context,” Gunnar Nelson said from his home in Nashville, Tenn. “If memories were all I sang. So that’s not all we do. To honor our father, we close the show with ‘Just Once More,’ a song Matthew and I wrote which really impacts people. Its never been released, so its not a memory.

“I’m sure our father was stuck in a loop. You write a song that spikes the ball in the end zone about singing memories, and then you have to sing that song the rest of your life because it is your biggest hit. A Nelson would find that funny.”

Rick Nelson had 30 top 40 hits between 1957 and 1962, more than any other artist besides Elvis Presley. He died in a New Year’s Eve 1985 plane crash northeast of Dallas. He was 45.

At the time of his death Nelson was dialed into the Southern California country rock popularized by the Eagles — a band that included Nelson’s original Stone Canyon Band bass player, Randy Meisner. Nelson re-recorded “Dream Lover” (written by Bobby Darin) with the Bongos. He did a stunning minimalist version of Bob Dylan’s “Mama You’ve Been On My Mind.”

On Saturday, Gunnar and Matthew will perform acoustic and electric in a 90-minute set. For some shows they’re joined by a touring band that includes keyboardist David Morgan, an original member of Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band; Doobie Brothers guitarist Skunk Baxter, and drummer Brian Burwell. Gunnar said the tribute show is going to Las Vegas for a residency at a major hotel.

Nelson still tours as its own entity. “Lighting Strikes Twice,” the duo’s new power-pop record, will be released Feb. 15 on the Frontiers label. “I’m proud of this record and wanted to get it out ever since we were pre-empted by grunge,” he said.

The tribute idea began six years ago when the Nelson twins played a Thanksgiving tribute at a U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan.

“We never played our dad’s music,” said Gunnar, 43. “Ever. The base commander was a huge Ricky Nelson fan. The audience didn’t know Rick Nelson’s music. Come to think of it, they didn’t know our music. They were out on the dance floor and loved the music for what it is.”

“Ricky Nelson Remembered” incorporates archive footgage from the “Ozzie and Harriet” television show in which Nelson starred, interview footage with friends, storytelling and songs. The Nelson twins were 18 years old when he died.

“He was our best friend,” Gunnar said. “We bonded on music from the time we were 12. He really gave his life to rock ’n’ roll. He was given a choice [in 1959] after he did ‘Rio Bravo’ with John Wayne and had done so well. Howard Hawks told him to concentrate on movies. But he loved music. The year he died he was doing 300 shows a year — and he was on his way to perform.”

Nelson would have been a perfect Traveling Wilbury.

The “Mr. Hughes” reference in “Garden Party” is actually Wilbury George Harrison, who was Rick Nelson’s neighbor. And Wilbury Bob Dylan was a Rick Nelson fan, writing in his acclaimed Chronicles memoir, “I’d always felt kin to him. ... 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. In about 10 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.”

Gunnar said, “A lot of his friends were in the Wilburys. Dylan and my dad were friends. Dylan appreciated my dad’s smooth, effortless delivery. They should have asked our dad. He was a guy who came out with his own songs when people were having songs written for them. He did the whole rockabilly thing. Then he reinvented himself with country rock. When he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [in 1987] he was credited with inventing country rock. He was the guy who put the Marshall Amp behind the steel guitar. He made enough money from the ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ show that he could come from inspiration and not desparation. To hell with what people thought, he was going to do what he wanted to do.”