As if this year couldn't get any more horrible.
The moment I saw Emitt Rhodes trending on Twitter I knew he was dead.
His death was announced on Twitter this afternoon by Tony Blass, who produced the 2009 documentary about Rhodes called The One Man Beatles.
Blass did not indicate a cause of death. However, Rhodes has battled diabetes for many years. He was 70.
Born in Decatur, Illinois, Rhodes' family made their way to Hawthorne, California - the hometown of The Beach Boys. Not even in his teens, Rhodes began drumming with a group called The Emerals which would evolve into The Palace Guardsmen. Wanting to record his own songs and sing lead, Rhodes formed The Merry-Go-Round in 1966. The group had minor hits with "Live" (later covered by The Bangles in the 1980's) and "Time Will Show The Wiser" (which was covered by Fairport Convention).
Rhodes is best known for a trio of albums he released while with ABC-Dunhill Records - Emitt Rhodes (1970), Mirror (1971) and Farewell to Paradise (1973). These albums were entirely self-produced in a studio in his garage. Rhodes wrote all the songs, sang all the vocals and played all the instruments.
While critically acclaimed, the albums did not sell well. Complicating matters was that Rhodes signed a three-year, six album contract. Rhodes, a perfectionist, would often take a year to record a single album. ABC-Dunhill sued Rhodes for back royalties. Consequently, Rhodes would not release another album for 43 years. In 2016, after years of renewed interest in his work, Rhodes released Rainbow Ends to critical acclaim.
As I mentioned the other day in my appreciation of Fanny, Emitt Rhodes was one of the artists of the late 1960's and early 1970's I discovered on YouTube and never stopped listening. I am but scratching the surface of Rhodes' genius and I don't think I can do it justice.
The best I can do is leave you with my favorite Rhodes song "Golden Child of God" off his second album Mirror. R.I.P.
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