Emitt Rhodes is one of those musicians that you just cannot believe didn't become a household name. He was originally a member of the psychedelic pop group The Merry-Go-Round and went on his own when they split up in 1969. His first self-titled, solo release came out the following year and features Emitt on all vocals and every single instrument. The album was recorded in Emitt's parents' garage and has the feel of the first McCartney album and a bit of early Todd Rundgren.
I first heard Emitt on the soundtrack to "The Royal Tenenbaums" (apparently, the song "Lullabye" was included in the film from a recommendation by Jason Schwartzman) and I dug around record bins for a while to find anything by this elusive recording artist. Eventually, I came across the self-titled album at Time Machine Records.
Recently, Justin and I were mixing some BH tracks and he gave me copies of Emitt's other three albums. His whole catalog (including some rare singles) is now available in box set form from Hip-o Select. Though he has remained in the music business, Emitt recorded just these four brilliant albums between 1970-1973.
The good news is apparently a documentary called "The One Man Beatles" is in the works and Emitt is preparing new tracks!
