Emitt Rhodes - R.I.P.

I was VERY sad to hear that Emitt Rhodes had passed away early Sunday morning at the age of 70.  He made a HUGE impact on my life and I have probably spent over a thousand hours listening to his music throughout the years.

I first discovered him when his first Dunhill solo album was released in 1970.  There was a pretty extensive radio campaign here in Chicago promoting this record ... and I loved every piece of every track I heard.  The single, "Fresh As A Daisy," was catchy as can be ... and got some airplay at first ... so did "You Should Be Ashamed," the track that probably sounded the MOST like Paul McCartney, which is probably what got it played in the first place.  (I was shocked to hear that, just like McCartney did on his first solo album, Emitt played ALL of the instruments and handled all of the vocals, also writing and producing every track.  And he SOUNDED a lot like Paul, too!  This had to be one incredibly talented human being!)

That first album consumed me ... I virtually never took it off the turntable (and even bought the cassette copy, too, so I could listen to it in the car.)

Suddenly, as this LP started to take off and make its way up the chart, A&M Records quickly released "American Dream," ANOTHER solo LP that he had recorded for them the year before.  

The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to hear.  I probably went to more than fifty record stores trying to find The Merry-Go-Round album before I finally found one at Rose Records downtown.  Funnily enough, I had asked them if they could order it for me ...kind of their specialty ... and they told me no, it was long out of print and I likely wouldn't even find it in the cut-out bin.  Then, after checking the racks EVERY time I visited (and I'm guessing that was at least another 25 times), it just miraculously showed up there out of the blue ... so naturally I grabbed it.  (In the meantime, I DID find a copy of the LP on reel-to-reel tape, which I scooped up immediately, thinking it was better than nothing since I was NEVER going to find this album on vinyl!)

Soon, his second Dunhill album was released ... "Mirror" ... not quite as strong as the first, but there were still enough tracks there to keep me listening.  (Of course by now I had already recorded a few of my OWN songs, playing every instrument and handling every vocal ... trust me ... it's harder than it looks!  Lol)

And then there was an incredibly long wait ... almost an eternity ... before his third Dunhill album came out ... 

I remember seeing ads for it in newspapers and running out to several stores, trying to buy a copy, only to be told that it had been delayed ... again.    

When I did finally land a copy, it was a bit of a disappointment ... it really didn't sound like the Emitt Rhodes I loved on those first two LPs.  (Of course at this time, I didn't know ANY of the back story ... I just chalked it up to Rhodes trying to grow himself as an artist by coming up with a more sophisticated sound.  Unfortunately, he kind of lost me in the process as there wasn't anything "poppy" enough to keep me interested.)

And then nothing ... for over FORTY YEARS!!!

Oh, you'd hear the occasional rumor now and then ... Emitt was working on new material ... he's going to do some surprise appearances in small clubs ... he's producing The Bangles (what?!?!) ... he's working on a new album ... once I discovered the Internet, I found other devoted fans who swapped underground tapes of little bits and pieces that made their way into our hands.  (I used some of this "downtime" to explore Emitt's band BEFORE The Merry-Go-Round ... somebody put out a "best of" Palace Guard CD and, although Rhodes was part of that band, his influence is nowhere to be found ... a MAJOR disappointment for me.)

After the news of his passing was circulated, I was surprised to see that just over 600 people went to an old Emitt Rhodes posting that I had on the website from when his final album came out in 2016 ... 

They were evidently "googling" for ANYTHING Emitt-related and happened to come across our FH Site.  (Pretty cool to get this sudden influx of traffic ... just so sad that it had to be under these circumstances.)

I also watched a documentary last night about Emitt Rhodes called "One Man Beatles" ... unfortunately a tag he'd have to live with his whole adult life.  (Talk about undue pressure!)

I had seen bits and pieces of this film before, but never the whole thing.  Some VERY cool and interesting footage (especially the early TV stuff), but Emitt really comes across as just a VERY unhappy man.  It's a shame to think that a man with that much creativity and talent just set all of his musical gifts aside to live a life of self-imposed loneliness.  Very, very sad.

Anyway, links for the 2016 FH piece and the documentary are shown below ...

As well as an in-depth piece written by Clark Besch, a regular Forgotten Hits contributor who was also a MAJOR Emitt Rhodes fan.

The Documentary (approx. 1 hour in length ... and somewhat depressing ... but you DO get to hear a few musical gems along the way ... can be viewed here:  The One Man Beatles

Our FH Piece from 2016, featuring a review of his first new album in over 40 years:  EMITT RHODES 
(the music links are no longer working ... but you can sample his music thru all of the usual sources)  

****** 

EMITT RHODES from Clark Besch, the BIG fan:   

When I learned that Emitt Rhodes had passed away, I could only think "a life wasted."  This guy was so talented that he was one of my MUSIC heroes for life.  After having three LPs in the early 70's and finding out that he was the lead singer in the Merry-Go-Round, a band that I loved in '67, I still cannot fathom that it took thirty-some years before we would have another album from him.  Finally, in 2016, he released a new album, "Rainbow Ends," and it was filled with cool songs, but every one was a sad tale for the most part.  I could not find a "Holly Park" or such in it anywhere.  Emitt could do melancholy well, but his music transcended beyond being a Beatles soundalike.

In 2016, me, with three of my gems:

I was 15 when that first Dunhill LP came out, but I had collected Emitt Rhodes' music since 1967, when I first heard "Live."  Then, we taped his band playing the "You're a Very Lovely Woman / Listen Listen" medley off Hollywood Palace.  From there, I collected as many 45s, CDs,  LPs, 8 tracks, imports, DJ copies, publishing, internet info, TV tapes, demos from his Palace Guard 45s to the Merry Go Round stuff, to his solo career.  

In 1971, I was entering high school and his records were on my turntable endlessly and over the years, I compiled more and more records and made my own tapes, and then CDs to play in my car.  HECK, I wasn't even driving when his last LP came out!  In the 80's and 90's, Bootleg CDs came out with his stuff and I bought them.  Then came a rash of good (and not so good) sounding CD LP reissues and compilations.  But, I sure wished for something new from Emitt.  My brothers and I were devastated when the announcement came down in mid-1970 that the Beatles were no more.  When I first heard Emitt's first Dunhill LP late that year, I was amazed and felt (like many) that he was like a second coming of the Fab 4.  From there, my collection of his records grew rapidly.  That is, until he disappeared in 1973 and I had no idea what had happened. 

For me, in a life without the Beatles in 1971, Emitt was my answer.  I first heard his songs on beloved KEYN-FM in Wichita and was mesmerized.   Without the fabs, I turned to Emitt's music and luckily there was a LOT to hear.  I had no idea why at that time, but it was almost like a Beatlemania thing with just over three dozen new Emitt songs between November, 1970 and November, 1971!  A plethora of great music for me to dive into every day.  

The first Emitt Dunhill LP was basically the "go to" for most any fan today and then.  It was/IS just awesome.  As many know, I made my own radio station charts because I hoped to be a DJ one day, and the music was important and making my own surveys was, too.  All my fave radio stations had them and I was right there with a top 100 to 200 chart every week.  Emitt's first single, "Fresh as a Daisy," was awesome, but I thought the second 45, "With My Face On The Floor," was THE pick of the litter on this LP.  BOTH zoomed to #1 on my charts when released.  My chosen second single hit flopped miserably.  I was surprised.  How does an artist who is not an FM artists per se' have a Billboard top 30 LP without having a hit single?  "Fresh as a Daisy" reached only 54 on the Hot 100 but the Lp went to #29! 

I had a feeling that the third 45, "Live Till You Die," would be a hit.  We moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, from my childhood home of Dodge City, Kansas, the first week of June, 1971. Omaha's KOIL was playing it right away and I had been charting the new single since the LP came out.  However, despite my enthusiasm, another stiff developed.  Besides, there was ANOTHER Emitt LP already!  He'll hit with it, I'm sure!
Below is my chart from my last week in Dodge City.  Note Emitt held #1 and 2 on my LP chart as well as #1 on the 45 chart, holding off my #1 song of the entire year of 1971 at #2.

"The American Dream" Lp was on a different label, but was almost as awesome as the Dunhill one.  Note that #23 is flying up already and destined to be his breakthrough, even tho I had had this as an original 45 in 1967.  It had been a top 10 hit in Los Angeles that year.  OK, so no hits came from this album, which I soon learned was another "cash in" on old unreleased songs from a label trying to make a few bucks.  It didn't matter, for me it sounded new. 

Late in the year, his second Dunhill LP, "Mirror," was released.  Again, an excellent work, altho not as good as the first.  Once again, I believe Dunhill chose an incorrect song for the 45 side in "Really Wanted You."  Good song, but the title track "Mirror" was BY FAR the best song for me (#2 as only an LP cut).  Don't get me wrong, my own charts ended ranking "Really Wanted You" as third best on the Lp behind "Better Side of Life."  The single got no notice, as did the second single, "Golden Child of God."  I had NO idea at the time that Emitt's career was basically over, as far as the public was concerned.  One year of excellence and rave reviews and little sales wore on both Emitt and his record company. Today, it still makes no sense, but the back story on Emitt tells us a lot. 

During the summer of '72, with the Vietnam war raging on, he released a one-off 45, "Tame the Lion," complete with lyrics on parchment paper written in calligraphy, inserted in DJ 45 sleeves.  The KC automated FM station WDAF-FM played it for awhile, which was cool.  It was good for a protest record, but was this a protest against his record label instead?  I had no idea, but knowing what I know today, it could have been.  The single again had no sales ... but was a #2 on my chart.

 

His third LP on Dunhill arrived in stores over a year later, just in time to be a Christmas present for me in December, 1973.  I should say that it arrived in SOME stores.  I found it only in ONE store EVER when it came out.  ONE copy and I got my mom to get it before anyone else bought it -- this is Lincoln, with plenty of record stores.  I was happy to see it had a lyric sheet this time.  As excited as I was to hear this new product from an idol, I cannot deny the let down when I listened.  I kept waiting for those GO TO tracks, but they weren't there.  The LP was better and better with every listen and today, I know all the songs, but I found "Shoot the Moon" to be my fave of the bunch with several also rans in the mix.  Even worse, there was never a 45 pulled from the LP!  How could that be?  First, you couldn't FIND the LP and no 45 to sell it?  What gives?  

That was it.  I would live with old Emitt records, playing them for decades and buying new CD and LP releases of the same songs hoping for even ONE thing new.  It happened a time or two, but until the late 90's, I had no idea why he was so down about the music industry.  Still, I am glad he did the 2016 "Rainbow Ends" Cd and I love those songs, too.  Overall, there are over 70 Emitt songs well worth one's time to remember.   

EMITT RHODES from Clark Besch, the "back story": 

Emitt as actually BORN in mid-state Illinois!  He got started in LA with the Emerals and then Palace Guard as the drummer / occasional singer.  The latter's song, "Falling Sugar," reached the top 15 in LA in 1966.  The band became well-known as the house band at the Hullabaloo club in LA.  They recorded several singles, but recorded few if any original tunes.

The Merry-Go-Round was a new story.  

With Emitt, they hit it big in California with two 45s, "Live" and "You're a Very Lovely Woman," both reaching the top 10 and both mild national hits.  Their sound likened to the Beatles certainly did not hurt their image either.  Emitt loved the attention and the girls ripping at their clothes and really WAS living the Beatles' lives on a small scale.  They seemed to be a band "on the way to the top."  However, two flop singles followed their initial successes. 

Now, 1968 looked like the year of the Merry-Go-Round.  In February, their record label, A&M, started publicity campaigns in trades and newspapers.  On March 16th, the band released a single that many would proclaim as their best and they would perform it on nationwide TV the same day on the "Hollywood Palace" to screaming fans.  "Listen, Listen" seemed to be the perfect Beatle-esque song to catapult them to rock stars national fame. 

Below is grainy footage of the show performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLOJhu-SqXINlO7psSSX2r-w&v=IgmioAfzhXE

In a February, 1968 interview, Emitt tells of the band already being five songs into an album similar in concept to "Sgt. Pepper's" called "The Puppet Show."  "It's about life in general and describes things that happen in your life while growing."  Every song was to be written by Emitt.  Everything seemed to be perfect and Emitt was happy with the progress of himself as a songwriter / singer / band leader.

This might be about the time things started to sour.  

Larry Marks had been the band's producer for A&M.  He had previously been producer for hitmakers like Chad & Jeremy, Phil Ochs, Gene Clark, Chris Montez, Keith Allison and others.  He had written songs, too.  

He wrote famous NYC DJ Harry Harrison's Christmas 45 "May You Always" as well as the oft-recorded "Shadows & Reflections" song.  NOW, he would also become the first person other than Emitt to have a writer's credit on an MGR 45.  The B side of "Listen, Listen" was a Marks written tune, "Missing You."  This seems to fit well with a producer who had worked with James Guercio, who attached his name to Buckinghams hits during this time and garnered half royalties from those singles.  Larry would get the same for "Listen, Listen" should it become a hit.  I cannot believe that Emitt was thrilled with that option.

Unfortunately, this brilliant 45 failed, as did the summer of '68 beautiful "Til the Day After."  The band's situation was getting a little tense within and without the sales, the band broke up.  Emitt had not liked the way A&M had changed the sound of his songs to fit their mold by adding strings and horns that he felt did not fit his songs.  He left the label but A&M released the second album of demos and 45 sides as an Emitt solo effort in mid-1970.  With no promotion at all, it disappeared and was hardly even available to public buying.  I am so lucky to have an original copy. The above mentioned 1968 interview about the concept album had mentioned "Someone Died" being a song about Emitt's grandmother, so many of the LP cuts that would be heard first by many on the "American Dream" album in 1971 were recorded by 1968. 

Late 1970 brought the signing of Emitt to a solo recording career at Dunhill Records.  It brought both the good and bad things of a recording contract.  An unexpected "push" to the new career move would be the mid-1970 announcement that the Beatles had broken up.  Just as Emitt's debut album was released in November, 1970, he would start touring to promote it and one of his first stops was on Cleveland's nationally syndicated teen dance show, "Upbeat!"  "Listen Listen" had been a top 5 record in Cleveland two years earlier and the TV show allowed people to hear Emitt speak about how he wrote, produced and engineered his album in his home, playing all the instruments himself.  This fact was certainly NOT lost on people who knew that Paul McCartney's first solo album, a mere six months old at the time, had been recorded in similar fashion.  On "Upbeat!," Emitt made the rather odd choices of performing "Ever Find Yourself Running" and "Promises I've Made" in lieu of any of the three singles coming soon from the LP.   

Despite the TV coverage, many thought the album was REALLY the Beatles.  Coming off of the previous year's "Paul is Dead" rumors, it was easy to make the possible idea that Emitt was just a disguise for a new Beatles album.  It would work years later when the Klaatu album was released , too.  Barry Richards' Maryland radio interview from this time bears out the myth.  It can be heard here: http://www.emittrhodesmusic.net/radiointerviews.htm 

Not to cover everything I said above again, the LP was a mild first success and the A&M album was reissued with a new cover and possibly hurt sales of the first album in the process.  Who knows?  Undeterred by the lack of a hit single, the second album, "Mirror," was again released with Emitt doing it all.  He had better equipment so there was less hiss, but the album was not quite as good as the first and now he was tied to a two albums a year contract with Dunhill and had just finished album #2 and needed to promote it and get on with his contract of which he was lagging behind on already due to being a true "One Man Beatles." 

By early, 1972, the dream was crumbling.  Emitt was in lawsuits with Dunhill, but still had to give them product by contract.  He would make public comments that "money is important to Jay Lasker, but it can't be my primary consideration.  I'm trying to create something that is magical and personal."  Meanwhile, the president of ABC/Dunhill made the comment that "Yeah, the kid is making music for himself.  But he also has got to make music for all those people out there who buy albums and listen to radio.  I mean, if he's gonna do that, I'm supporting a really expensive hobby.  After all, we're in this business to make money" ... as he gestured to his gold albums on the walls of his office. 

That was not exactly the way artists get promoted in the press, but that was taken from a 2-3-1972 Detroit newspaper.  Nuff said. Anything Emitt did was not promoted from then on and his last Lp in 1973 basically closed the door on his music output until 2016. 

SO, there is so much more about Emitt that I do NOT know and that is in his great 2000 period website: 
http://www.emittrhodesmusic.net/   
Any mistakes I have made, I chalk up to still learning about this icon that I knew little more of than his great music when I was buying it originally.  One more great thing to check out is the "One Man Beatles" documentary from 2009. You can download it here until Sunday, July 26th:  https://wetransfer.com/downloads/362be79b7ce330e26dc996f0447917e320200720184411/7e251f

Thanks, Clark ... I know what an Emitt Rhodes fan you are ... and we are both feeling some pain this week for sure.

The documentary is worth checking out (either by clicking on the Vimeo viewing link above or downloading the link that Clark provided if you want to own it)  

I also found links to two major newspaper articles last night as news of Emitt Rhodes’ passing circulated ...

The New York Times felt compelled to write a nice obituary tribute …  
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/arts/music/emitt-rhodes-singer-dies.html  
OMG, I had forgotten ALL about him doing that God-Awful Gabe Kaplan record!!!  I remember thinking at the time “What on EARTH is Emitt thinking, working on a piece of crap like this?!?!”  Had TOTALLY forgotten about it .., which is probably just as well!  (kk) 

And The Chicago Tribune ran something, too … https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ent-emitt-rhodes-dead-20200720-zvfwfvastbdvpjajkeckwj4gui-story.html  

Sadly, the world was cheated out of 40 years of potentially great music by an incredibly gifted artist.  There is one woman speaking on film who says that when Emitt's new album was released in 2016, she went back and listened to his first Dunhill albums again ... records she hadn't played in forty years ... yet the minute she put them on, she could sing along with every single word ... because she had played them SO much at the time.  (I'm sure every FH Reader out there can relate to that experience with your OWN favorite LP's from the '60's and '70's ... no matter how long it's been since you last heard them!) 

I wish there was more to say ... maybe we'll hear from a few other Emitt fans in the weeks to come ... but I will close by saying that his music TRULY touched me.  I wish I had had the chance to meet him ... that our paths could have crossed somewhere down the line ... NOT because I think I could have in ANY way changed him (as he was a loner unto himself for the bulk of his life) ... but more so because I think our knowing each other might have inspired a new spark here and there ... and maybe we would have been treated to a few more great Emitt Rhodes albums along the way.  (kk)