Bob Dylan is routinely hailed as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. This is a man, after all, who in 2016 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his achievements for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” 

An astonishing several hundred artists have covered Dylan’s songs, including Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, The Beach Boys, Michael Bolton, and even English clarinetist Acker Bilk. Because of this, discussions of songwriting and Dylan usually focus on his own work, or perhaps other artists’ interpretations of it.

In a 2017 interview posted on Dylan’s official website, though, the singer was asked a very interesting question: “A lot of other songwriters have mentioned you in their songs—John Lennon in ‘Yer Blues,’ Ricky Nelson in ‘Garden Party,’ David Bowie in ‘Song for Bob Dylan.’ It’s quite a list. Do you have a favorite?” 

Bob Dylan’s Favorite Song About Himself

Dylan’s unequivocal answer was “Garden Party.” This might be surprising to some, but veteran fans would have known that Dylan’s fondness for Ricky Nelson goes back a long way. 

Nelson was born in 1940, just a year before Dylan. He was something of a child prodigy, acting in radio and television shows from the age of eight. In 1959, Nelson starred alongside John Wayne in Howard Hawks’ seminal Western, Rio Bravo. 

It is as a recording artist, however, that Nelson is best remembered. He made 25 albums over his lifetime, with an incredible 49 singles registering on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Eighteen of those broke the top 10, and two hit the No. 1 spot. 

Writing in his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan stated of Nelson: “I’d always felt kin to him… He sang his songs calm and steady, like he was in the middle of a storm, men hurling past him. His voice was sort of mysterious and made you fall into a certain mood.”

The True Story Behind Ricky Nelson’s “Garden Party”

“Garden Party” has an interesting backstory. Nelson penned this number in 1972, as a response to having been booed during a performance at Madison Square Garden the year before. 

The occasion had been billed as the Rock ‘n Roll Spectacular Volume VII, and featured legends such as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. Nobody is quite sure why Nelson was booed, with some suggesting the crowd was actually reacting to aggressive behavior displayed by the police. 

On “Garden Party,” Nelson wittily namechecks many other musicians, some of whom were present that day. Dylan himself is mentioned in the line: “(Mr. Hughes) hid in Dylan’s shoes.”

The song was released as a single, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard pop chart. Listening to it now, it’s not hard to understand why Dylan was drawn to the track’s gentle charms. Dylan even covered the song himself onstage in 2025.

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