Emitt Rhodes's music failure- what happened?

Canonization finds a lot of 'odd ducks'. There is a now famous Canadian painter named Emily Carr. While she was alive people found her very disagreeable, not socially acceptable, housed animals they found a nuisance, associated with other people whom were likewise frowned upon. Some of her biggest 'fans' as it were later might not have been able to stand her as a person when she was alive. I think this can hold true for many sorts of artistes, Van Gogh to Ted Nugent, whose skills and uniqueness are indisputable. The greatest Nick Drake or Syd Barrett fanatics might not have been able to communicate with the actual individuals as they might imagine, may even have caused serious distress.

 

Its interesting because I heard Rainbow Ends knowing nothing of this mental state until yesterday and the record never clicked for me. I tried to just say "oh he is just older and more bitter now and less seasoned in the studio" but the record actually does give you a negative feeling without even knowing his personality. So I guess it does represent him quite well, but in a lot of ways it is uncomfortable to listen to.

I'll always love his original records and Merry Go Round regardless. But it is sad to know his soul was broken so badly and he didn't seem to get it together before he died. Interesting, however, how there is just no enjoyment or happiness present in those later years. He even straight up says he is depressed and life sucks, etc. Disturbing look into how the rest of his life went...

 

Emily Carr is even taught in Canadian school curriculum, or she was when I was in school in the 90s/early 00s. Now, I don't remember any of it but her name... but it was.

 

We may never have definitive answers to these questions, so we can only speculate.

From all I've read over the years about Emitt — and this is strictly a guess on my part — he seems like the kind of musician and songwriter with a vision that he preferred to realize on his own, without any help. I recall reading of fist fights in the studio with at least one other member of The Merry-Go-Round, and that may well have soured him on the concept of collaborating with others.

Whether restrictions such as those you mention were worked into his contract (by either side) is a point of interest, but as you say there seems no doubt in any case that the contract was ridiculous and inhumane on the face of it, and it's a shame Emitt didn't have the means or the will to fight it.

For someone who believed in his music and had demonstrated the ability to compose and record some amazing songs, I would have to think what he went through at the hands of Dunhill was a soul-crushing experience. Those who look askance at the person Emitt became as a result of this (and I'm sure, other factors) might profit by paying some attention to the old American Indian maxim that says something about not criticizing another until you've walked a mile in his moccasins.

There seems to always be this notion that "Well, if the exact same thing had happened to me, I would have handled it differently." This is fatuous reasoning, because you would have gone into the situation with an entirely different set of life experiences than the person in question.

 

I believe I have read before that he was really proud of doing it all on his own, so I think it was certainly by choice and also perhaps because of his own pride.

 

The fight was between Bill Rinehart and Eddie Shaw, but yeah, that may have played a part in Emitt’s move away from a band dynamic. Rinehart was let go as a result, but eventually, Emitt came to share his enmity for Shaw.

 

I find this whole notion of “canonization” vague and exasperating.

 

Is $969 to much to pay for music of this exceptional quality?

In all seriousness, never got the one seller who sells a cd for 10x what other sellers are asking. Perhaps they are exploiting a market loophole I'm unaware of.

 

Huh? I see one for $19.99 canadian here: whoops, sorry I see it's gone now.

 

As I recall he was 17 when that album was released. It is a totally under-the-radar classic IMO (well, maybe not under-the-radar here, but it's an obscurity to most people). So much talent and potential. That Merry-Go-Round album is just wonderful, whether in mono or in stereo. I'd recommend it to any fan of '60s folkrock sounds.

The Merry-Go-Round - The Merry-Go-Round | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic

"The Merry-Go-Round's self-titled 1967 album is a breathtaking blend of chiming folk-rock guitars, British Invasion harmony vocals, baroque pop arrangements, and pure pop songcraft that sounds daisy fresh in 2005. The Beatles are a huge influence, and there is plenty of McCartney in Emitt Rhodes' sweet vocals and their vocal harmonies. You can hear the Byrds a bit, some Left Banke (especially on the sweeping orchestral pop gem "You're a Very Lovely Woman"), some L.A. garage on rockers like "Where Have You Been All My Life" and "Lowdown"; the group definitely didn't exist in a vacuum. But there are some songs that are quite unique and original like "Time Will Show the Wiser" with its otherworldly sped up and backward guitars and enchanting melody, the bouncy and warm hit single "Live," and "Had to Run Around," an exquisite ballad whose tender beauty foreshadows Rhodes' classic 1970 Emitt Rhodes album. These songs, and the overall quality of the songs and the group's loose and earthy playing, help lift the album above the pack and should lead to it being mentioned in the same breath as Love's first album or Buffalo Springfield's first when talking about classic American debut albums of the '60s."

 

When “whatever happened to Emitt Rhodes” was an enigma to me, the idea of him recording a new album was like a pipe dream of mine. By the time he re-emerged and I got a sense of what he was about, my enthusiasm for new stuff was nonexistent. I still tried to give it a listen but it did nothing for me.

 

It simply means Wes Anderson used your song in a film.

 

The Left Banke is another underrated gem from that era. It says something about how amazing the music was at that time that bands like Love, The Left Banke and Merry Go Round were under the radar.

 

Yeah, at the end of the day, no one much liked "Fast" Eddie Shaw. The whole 'Shaw decided not to pay me royalties when the Bangles covered 'Live' and I let it go because I hate lawyers' thing has always struck me as probably some sort of half truth.

 

Definitely on the same page with regard to Love and The Left Banke, as are many around here. It's amazing how much amazing music was being produced that never got much anywhere after being released. The era really was exploding with creative energy.

 

This is a 1980 demo/early version of “I Can’t Tell My Heart”. Never released.
Compare this to the majestic version on “Rainbow Ends”. It’s night and day.
Chris Price saved the day and made Emitt Rhodes a great last album.

 

The 2016 version:

 

Well that's not true. At the time Rhodes recorded his first solo album, two album a year contracts were still fairly standard (though granted that had just started to slow down at the time, becoming normally one album a year by the mid-70s, then one album every year and a half by the early 80s, then one album every two years by the mid to late 80s etc... until the present day when the norm is only 2 or 3 albums a decade).

The problem was him doing everything (writing/arranging/producing/engineering/playing/singing) himself as it slowed him down considerably, but I highly doubt that was a demand of the record company that he record that way, since what reason would they have to care with whom he recorded his albums? However I could see them potentially having a problem if they knew he was intending to record his albums in a toolshed rather than in a proper studio. Plus even aside from that, signing an artist to specifically do everything himself was a super high risk proposition that I have a hard time believing any record company would be comfortable with - let alone demand!

Its possible (depending on the terms of his publishing contract that he was required to only record originals, but then that would probably only apply if the record company also owned his publishing and were demanding a minimum number of compositions per year to fulfill the contract). Otherwise why would the record company care if he threw in a few cover songs to fill out an album as/when needed? Of course it could have just been him being stubborn in wanting to only record his own originals.

It seems most likely to me that the whole one-man band thing was totally his own idea. How could a record company even demand that of someone anyway? How many people would even have the ability to comply with such a demand? How would the record company even know he had the ability to play every instrument himself before signing him, unless he specifically told them.

Heck its even possible that he decided to and began recording completely on his own without the record company's knowledge of it, after already signing the contract.

 

Again, he was super proud of his original accomplishment (as he should have been) so it was his own choice. I do think maybe there was pressure to repeat the formula for marketing purposes as a "one man Beatles" or something though. He also had to TEACH himself the instruments using records and books from the library, which took some time. The man taught himself violin this way in the shed because he wanted violin on a track...

 

It happens with a lot of people that were either eccentric or disagreeable, or out of the mainstream of thinking, in some way, during their whole lives.
Yet these "disagreeable qualities" are downplayed and/or erased somehow and these very same people somehow attain Sainthood in death.
Death polishes off ALL their negative qualities, if your character has some redeeming qualities in others.
John Lennon being a perfect example.
My hypothesis is the Beatles are "canonized" BECAUSE John was needlessly murdered, not in spite of his murder.

 

I almost bought "Fresh As A Daisy" in my early record buying days...December 1970. Excellent song! I had to skip it because my allowance money wouldn't cover it...what made me into a huge Emitt Rhodes fan was hearing his earlier group the Merry Go Round in the late 70s. Songs like "Live" and "Time Will Show The Wiser" turned me into a lifelong fan.

 

No, you’re right, it wasn’t true. I shouldn’t have been so glib.

 

Well, i wouldn't have signed a contract that required me to deliver 6 albums in 3 years. That's for sure.

 

If only it had something to do with Pachelbel!