Obvious statement alert: the music industry at times has a taste for its own young. History is littered with examples, and perhaps few are as tragically poignant as that of the man once referred to as "the one man Beatles", Emitt Rhodes.

Rhodes released a string of fantastic, self/home made records in the late 60's and early 70's whose highlights equal, and at times even surpass, any of those found on the post Fabs output of Messrs. McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr.

Over this past weekend, Rhodes granted a rare interview to New Jersey radio station WFMU. That interview has been archived and can be heard here. The interview makes for some pretty uncomfortable listening. I'm quite frankly torn between recommending this to all ER fans or just simply wishing it out of existence. Rhodes unveils some rather disturbing confessions surrounding the career of his first teenage band The Palace Guard, espouses a particularly dark view of humanity and life in general and continually peppers his remarks with some rather left-field fixations that verge on homophobia. Interviewer Michael Shelley does an admirable job here of maintaining some semblance of composure and narrative. The end result is equal parts fascinating and disturbing. At the very least, Shelley bookends his conversation with a nice sampling of Rhodes' music.

Delving into Rhodes' back story certainly sheds light on why the man seems so haunted today. Rhodes was raised in the very same Hawthorne, California neighborhood that birthed Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. At the tender age of 14, Rhodes played drums for a local favorite combo called The Palace Guard. By age 16, he was writing songs and fronting the Merry-Go-Round. The Merry-Go-Round signed to A&M Records and achieved a modest level of regional success.

Watch The Merry-Go-Round perform a medley of their hits at the Hollywood Palace. (Don Knotts appearance bonus alert.)



The M-G-R disbanded in early 1969, but still owed A&M one record. Rhodes turned in The American Dream album, a mixture of M-G-R leftovers and new solo recordings made in A&M's Hollywood studios featuring members of the Wrecking Crew.

Listen to a young Emitt Rhodes, brimming with confidence and optimism here on a track from The American Dream.

Emitt Rhodes, "Let's All Sing" (1969)
find it on The Emitt Rhodes Recordings [1969-1973]

A&M passed on The American Dream, but Rhodes spent his savings on an Ampex four-track recording console and set up shop in his parent's garage. He created demos that earned him a solo deal from ABC-Dunhill. In 1970, the first fruits of these labors was born. Critics and radio responded favorably to the self-titled debut; sensing an opportunity, A&M released the previously shelved The American Dream. The young artist suddenly had two competing albums in the market place! While this first snafu certainly lowered the ceiling on the sales of Emitt Rhodes, the album has since grown in stature and has become a long-lost classic.

From there, things would only get more troubling and vexing for the young songwriter and performer. His recording contract stipulated that he was to somehow provide a new release every six months. Preferring to write, produce and perform everything on his own at home, Rhodes fell further and further behind schedule and was eventually taken to court by his own recording company to the tune of $250,000, an amount that dwarfed anything he initially earned from his signing.

Despite the impossible circumstances, Rhodes still managed to produce two further albums, 1971's Mirror and 1973's aptly titled Farewell To Paradise. Neither album match the high-water mark of the self-titled debut, but are not without their own charms. Rhodes maintained his "made at home" ethos, but greatly expanded his sonic and instrumental palette in the process.

Watch the promotional video for "Birthday Lady", a track from 1971's Mirror.



Listen to the heartbreaking "Blue Horizon" from 1973's Farewell To Paradise. It's a long fall from the sunny heights of "Let's All Sing".

Emitt Rhodes, "Blue Horizon" (1973)
find it on The Emitt Rhodes Recordings [1969-1973]

Still if anything hopeful can be gleaned from the WFMU interview its the exciting news that Emitt Rhodes is finally hard at work again on new material. Richard Thompson even is scheduled to visit and provide contributions (Fairport Convention covered The Merry-Go-Rounds' "Time Will Show The Wiser" on their first album, in fact). Can't wait to hear it.

To learn more about Emitt Rhodes and his music, please visit EmittRhodesMusic.net and the Emitt Rhodes Band Myspace page.

Misadventures In Record Collection Anecdote: Some time in the last couple of years, I stumbled into a moderately priced, excellently preserved vinyl copy of "Farewell To Paradise". While the first two Emitt Rhodes records are somewhat easy to come by in the used bins, this one is something of a white whale. When I brought it home, I realized I actually had something even rarer than an actual copy of this record; my copy is a mispressing that is correctly labelled, but somehow features music by someone who is most definitely *not* Emitt Rhodes.

Thankfully, just last year Hip-O-Select released this excellent collection that over two discs features all four Emitt Rhodes records.