I don't believe I've heard it in its entirety. I really should give it a proper listen. Is Sixto Rodriguez worth checking out? Does he write in a style similar to McCartney's and Rhodes'?
He Plays guitar and sings … melody, words—things like that. Any similarity to the aforementioned pretty much ends there. ALL 3 are very talented. Unique unto themselves.
"Mirror" has a bit of a rockier edge than the first album, which I like, the first album is more or less wall-to-wall (power) pop. We should also mention the album, "The American Dream", which was credited to Emitt Rhodes but is really a Merry-Go-Round album, which sounds more like McCartney or, in places, Harry Nilsson, than his actual solo albums.
I remember buying 20x4 as a teenager and being so bummed...between this fake Paul track and fake Beatles Peace of Mind, this boot was a huge disappointment.
Rodriguez is worth checking out. Read his story, it's really interesting. IMO, he is more Dylan-esque, than McCartney/Rhodes. And definitely check out the Emitt Rhodes self titled.
Thanks for the recommendations Does Neil Finn also belong in the conversation? Any similarities to McCartney and Rhodes?
You tell me… Humphrey Bogart has more in common with Marilyn Monroe than does your house cat, but that’s not saying much.
I've been hearing some good stuff about Neil Finn and was wondering if his work is similar to McCartney's and Rhodes'.
not that familiar to me—was he in Crowded House? In the broadest sense, similar, I guess. …. Every soul singer owes Sam Cooke
I'm not that familiar with him either. I should probably check out one of his albums and see for myself.
Finn's music has Beatle-like qualities but I wouldn't categorically call it McCartney-sounding. To @d.r.cook, yes, he was lead singer in Crowded House.
So, as far McCartney-sounding music goes, who are some songwriters worth mentioning? I've heard 10cc is supposedly Wings-like, but unfortunately I haven't really heard much of their work.
10cc was very Beatle influenced in general but with a very original, progressive quality. One if their big album tracks from the early seventies is Wall Street Shuffle if you care to you tube it.
He had a Billboard top 30 hit from his first album ( which I think may have been actually his second album). Plus he made the Billboard hot 100 a couple of times in the 60's with the Merry-go-round including with this song which the Bangles covered in the 80:
So... The American Dream sounds even more like McCartney than Emitt Rhodes and Mirror? I should give it a listen.
Looks like the music press started the comparison around the time when Emitt's debut album came out. This quote is from the December 19, 1970, issue of Cash Box. "Touted as a new McCartney with the arrival of his first LP, Emitt Rhodes now spreads into the singles area with a particularly grand track from the best-seller album. Sprightly top forty selection." The song being discussed above is Fresh as a Daisy. This quote is from the November 13, 1971, issue of Record World: "ABC/Dunhill's Emitt Rhodes first played the Troubadour nine months ago with little stage presence and an array of tunes invested with the melodic beauty of Nilsson/McCartney."
I mean, seriously, more people need to hear this song. It's got pretty much everything going for it. The way he goes through the chords in the beginning instead of just playing them straight. Pure genius.
Does anybody know if McCartney has ever talked about Emitt Rhodes in an interview? Did they ever meet each other? Paul must have been impressed with Emitt, I think.
It's a truly astonishing song. It's almost as if Paul would've eventually "arrived" at writing this song if Emitt hadn't gotten there first. Love Will Stone You is a better song than God Only Knows.
I’ve always wondered why Emitt Rhodes’ debut album is considered so much better than anything else he ever did. I think that his sophomore album Mirror is just as good, it’s just too short is the only problem; less than 30-min long. And I wish they were better sounding albums. I was not impressed with their sound on cd, so picked up very nice vinyl editions and they also are not sonically impressive.
