In the 1960s, as a teenager in a popular local Southern California band (The Paper Fortress), I was able to meet and get to know Emitt Rhodes professionally and personally. He was not an easy person to know, though he had an "easy going" persona.
Albeit posthumously, his story is finally being told, aesthetically recognized in this graceful documentary. And ironically, the film is superbly directed and written not by an American (who would likely be more familiar with Rhode's considerable work) but rather, by Italian Cosimo Messeri, who took an interest in this quirky and often misunderstood musician.
Rhodes began his musical career in 1964 at age 14 as the drummer for the Hullabaloo Club house band, "The Palace Guard," in Hollywood, California. He was occasionally "allowed" to leave the drums and perform a few solos such as "Michelle" on his guitar. He left "The Palace Guard" in 1966 to create his own group, "The Merry-Go-Round." The band had a few local hits ("Live" and "Lovely Woman") but with a meager recording contract with A&M Records, the group finally disbanded in 1969.
Rhodes subsequently went out on his own, building a recording studio in his parents' garage. He recorded his own material, and using multitrack technology, painstakingly performed and recorded, track by track, all of the instruments and vocals. A year later Paul McCartney would do the same with his first post-Beatle solo album, "McCartney," released in 1970.
Rhode's first album with the Dunhill record label was a critical success, with Billboard heralding him as "one of the finest artists on the music scene today." The album reached number 29 on the Billboard charts, but Rhodes would never again record or release anything as successful.
Rhodes's contract with Dunhill required him to release an astonishingly unrealistic six albums over a three year period! This was a brutal schedule, which he was unable to meet, mainly because he was doing all of the writing and recording by himself. Dunhill sued Rhodes for $300,000 and withheld all of his future royalties. Rhodes was devastated.
Essentially, his music career abruptly ended in 1973 as a result of his trial with Dunhill. He was remarkably silent for the next 43 years, remaining obscure and relatively underground until the release of his last album, "Rainbow Ends," in 2016.
This documentary beautifully introduces the viewer to the life of the man, Emitt Rhodes, a brilliant yet shamefully forgotten artist. He passed away July 19, 2020. He was 70.
