Dylan Debuts His Cover of Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party"

I saw Bob Dylan singing Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party" in San Diego (on May 15, 2025) a few days ago on YouTube. I posted a link to it on all my social media. But I had to say more. In no order of importance (because I think all of these points are important):

Dylan's voice is outstanding. I mean, his voice was already sounding better in his 2020 Rough and Ready LP, with a standout performance in his "Murder Most Foul" lament about the assassination of JFK, finally joining Phil Ochs' "Crucifixion" and Dion's "Abraham, Martin, and John" with a song worthy of that devastating tragedy that changed the course of the world, but Dylan's vocal in "Garden Party" has a real depth and subtlety, hitting some notes with a fluency almost approaching that of "Lay Lady Lay".

This cover shows, again, how much Dylan is a mentch. He must have greatly appreciated:

(1) That Ricky Nelson recorded a fine cover of Dylan's 1965 "She Belongs to Me" back in 1969. This was the icing on the covers cake of The Byrds recording Dylan's 1965 "Mr. Tambourine Man" also in 1965, Cher recording Dylan's 1964 "All I Really Want to Do" in 1965, and Richie Havens recording Dylan's 1966 "Just Like a Woman" in 1966. Dylan of course was already a hugely successful folk artist with both his own recordings and covers from Peter, Paul, and Mary ("Blowing in the Wind") and Joan Baez ("God on Our Side"), as well as a top of the chart rock artist with his 1966 Blonde on Blonde album. But Nelson's recording of "She Belongs to Me" put Dylan permanently in the pantheon of writers of rock hits recorded not only by other artists, but artists who were already towering icons of rock 'n' roll.

(2) Dylan no doubt also enjoyed hearing his name in "Garden Party" ("Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes"). This was, after all, certainly more appealing than what John Lennon said about Dylan explicitly in 1970 in "God" -- "I don't believe in Zimmerman" -- which must have been especially irritating since the use of Dylan's family name rather than his stage name was a put down in itself, with its implication that "Dylan" was just a mask. And Nelson's shout out was a whole lot better than Lennon's put down of Dylan (without mentioning his name) in The Beatles' 1970 "I Dig A Pony" -- "... feel the wind blow, you can indicate everything you want". (It was no doubt no consolation that Lennon took a shot The Rolling Stones in that great song as well).

There's something very, I don't know, comforting, in reciprocal covers. It shows, at least to me, that there's something fair and good about this cultural universe we all inhabit. That's an important discovery, because the world we inhabit deals out all sorts of disappointments and betrayals (especially in show business, as well as politics and other kinds of business).

Dylan, when he broke through in the 1960s, was an absolute master of lyrics, at the zenith of that craft. Cole Porter previously held that position, and John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison were often close seconds, but I've always thought that Bob Dylan held and still holds that position alone. It's good and gratifying to now see him make his mark in the increasingly important micro-genre of covers.

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See also: Dylan's "Murder Most Foul": Among His Very Best Lyrics and "A Complete Unknown": A Nearly Completely Superb Biopic, Slightly Alternate History

And here are Ricky Nelson's twin sons Gunnar and Matthew talking about Dylan's cover of their father's song (begins about 3 mins into the video):

See also It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles (chapter 8), where Ricky Nelson dies in 1996....