Emitt Lynn Rhodes is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer born February 25, 1950 in Decatur, Illinois. When he was five his family moved to Hawthorne, California. Considered by many as "the one man Beatles," his solo recordings of the early 1970s show a clear Paul McCartney influence in both vocals and musicianship. Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles The Palace Guard (as the group's drummer) and The Merry-Go-Round (multi-instrumentalist), leaving the drums to the expertise of Joel Larson.
Recording career
The Merry-Go-Round had a recording contract with A&M Records when they disbanded in 1969. Rhodes recorded songs at A&M for a solo album to be entitled The American Dream, but A&M decided to not release it at the time. Rhodes then decided to go out on his own and bought equipment to make a recording studio in his parents' garage. Rhodes recorded his first album (Emitt Rhodes) in that home studio. He got a recording contract with ABC/Dunhill Records, who released his album, as well as the next two albums he recorded (Mirror and Farewell to Paradise). Rhodes got a $5,000 advance for Emitt Rhodes, which he spent on recording equipment. His first album was a critical success – Billboard called Rhodes "one of the finest artists on the music scene today" and later called his first album one of the "best albums of the decade". The album reached number 29 on the Billboard charts. The single "Fresh as a Daisy" reached number 54 on the pop chart. Meanwhile, shortly after Mirror was released in 1971 by Dunhill, A&M decided to release their old recordings of The American Dream, which confused record buyers. Mirror did reach the top 200 on Billboard's album chart. In 1973 Dunhill released Rhodes' final album, Farewell to Paradise.
Rhodes wrote all of the songs on his albums. On Emitt Rhodes, Mirror, and Farewell to Paradise, he played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocals while recording himself in his home recording studio. He used a four-track recorder for the instruments for Emitt Rhodes and transferred those to an eight-track recorder to add the vocals. He used an eight-track recorder for Mirror, and Farewell to Paradise. The mixdown engineer on Farewell to Paradise was Curt Boettcher, the producer and musician who is best remembered for his work on the "soft pop" albums by Sagittarius and The Millennium.
Rhodes' contract with Dunhill called for an album every six months (six albums over three years) – a schedule that was impossible for Rhodes to meet, due to writing all of the songs and recording each instrument and vocal individually by himself. Dunhill sued Rhodes for $250,000 and withheld royalties because of his failure to deliver albums on the timescale required by the contract. Emitt Rhodes took nearly a year to record, Mirror took nine months, and Farewell to Paradise took over a year.
Later
After Farewell to Paradise, Rhodes left the music business as a performer and released no more material, except on compilations. He continued to record his songs in his studio, but they were unreleased except for one song on Listen, Listen. He worked as a recording engineer and record producer for Elektra Records. He runs his own studio for recording other acts.
Rhodes' song "Lullabye" (from Emitt Rhodes) was featured in the 2001 Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums.
In 2009, after many years of rumors as to the possibility of a new CD, Emitt has once again entered the recording studios with a new band and all new material. He is joined by the co-founder of The Grass Roots and The Merry-Go-Round drummer Joel Larson, co-founder and former bassist for Counting Crows, Matt Malley and guitarists Jim Rolfe and Dan Mayer.[1]
In January and February 2009, Italian director Cosimo Messeri shot a documentary movie about Emitt Rhodes's vicissitudes: life, past, present, troubles and hopes. The movie, untitled for the moment, is in the post production phase.[2]
Discography
Studio albums
Collections
- Daisy-Fresh from Hawthorne, California (The Best of the Dunhill Years)
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- Daisy-Fresh includes all of the songs from Emmit Rhodes, six songs from Mirror, four songs from Farewell to Paradise, plus the single "Tame the Lion".
- Listen, Listen: The Best of Emitt Rhodes
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- Listen, Listen contains five songs from The Merry-Go-Round, one song from The American Dream, seven songs from Emitt Rhodes, four songs from Mirror, two songs from Farewell to Paradise, plus the single "Tame the Lion" and the previously-unreleased 1980 song "Isn't it So".
- The Merry-Go-Round: Listen, Listen: The Definitive Collection
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- A nearly complete collection of Merry-Go-Round songs, almost all written and sung by Rhodes. The The Merry-Go-Round (stereo version) and American Dream LPs are included in their entirety, as are the mono mix of "Time Will Show the Wiser" and a few non-album singles. Not included are the mono mix of The Merry-Go-Round and the unique single mixes of "Come Ride, Come Ride" and "'Til the Day After".
- Royal Tenenbaums: Collector's Edition CD
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- "Lullabye" appears.
- The Emitt Rhodes Recordings (1969-1972), two CDs:
- CD 1: The American Dream (all thirteen songs from both versions) and Emitt Rhodes
- CD 2: Mirror, Farewell to Paradise, plus the single "Tame the Lion"
Singles
- "Time Will Show the Wiser" (with Merry-Go-Round)
- "You're a Very Lovely Woman" (with Merry-Go-Round) #94 on pop chart
- "She Laughed Loud" (with Merry-Go-Round)
- "Listen, Listen" (with Merry-Go-Round)
- "'Til the Day After" (with Merry-Go-Round)
- "Fresh as a Daisy" #54 on pop chart
- "You Take the Dark Out of the Night"
- "Live Till You Die"
- "With My Face on the Floor"
- "Love Will Stone You"
- "Really Wanted You"
- "Golden Child of God"
- "Tame The Lion" / "Those That Die"
References
- Emitt Rhodes: Recorded at Home, by Kevin Ryan, Tape Op #33, Jan. 2003, pp 44–50.
- Emitt Rhodes Song Book, published by Thirty Four Music Co., 1971
External links
