photo #1802614

It was on December 31 1985, that Rick Nelson and six others, including several band members as well as Nelson's girlfriend, Helen Blair, were killed. It is suspected that a faulty in cabin heater had caught fire in mid flight, causing an emergency crash landing. Rick had a strong dislike for flying, but refused to take the bus. So in May 1985, he had decided to purchase a private plane. He had purchased this 1944 Douglas DC-3 for $118,000. The plane had once belonged to the DuPont family and later Jerry Lee Lewis. The plane, unfortunately, was plagued by a history of mechanical problems. A line from Rick's 1972 recording, "Garden Party". That was a great song. Perhaps his greatest. And for those who may not know, the song is about a concert performance he had done at Madison Square Garden, hence the title, "Garden Party". It was October 15 of 1971 at Richard Nader's Rock & Roll Revival concert. It included many of the popular artists of the early Rock & Roll era. The Coasters, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bobby Rydell, The Shirelles, Gary U.S. Bonds and .. Rick Nelson. It was basically a Rock & Roll revival. Nelson, however, came on stage wearing current attire, which consisted of bell-bottom pants and a purple velvet shirt, with hair down to his shoulders. He began singing his hit song, "Be Bop Baby", "Hello Mary Lou" and other of his songs from the 50s and 60s. However, he then began to sing his newer material, including a country rock cover version of the Rolling Stones tune, "Honky Tonk Woman". This was from his yet to be released album, "Rudy The Fifth". For this song, Rick had laid down his guitar and had moved over to the piano. After he had finished the song , the crowd began booing. He had been playing his newer songs at various collages, and were well-received. This audience, however, was different. This crowd was comprised of oldies purists who believed the concert was about the oldies hits and nothing but the oldies hits.. which he did.. at first, but then began to play his newer material instead of giving the crowd his oldies hits that they had come to enjoy. Rick Nelson was generally not an act invited to oldies shows, and I guess he didn't quite know what to expect. I mean, he had been performing his newer material at colleges and it was always well received. I guess he just didn't know quite what this audience was about. I guess he'd thought they were the same as the college crowds he had been playing to. Now, some have said there was some kind of police action in the back of the audience, and that Nelson had taken it, that the booing was directed toward him. I really don't know. And, maybe they *were* booing him, because this was basically an oldies event, and there he was sing a new song. Anyway, he sang one more, left the building, and didn't return for the finale. "Garden Party" was his last top 40 tune.