The July 27 edition of The Devo Rock Show featured a tribute to singer/songwriter Emmitt Rhodes who passed away at the age of 70 on July 19.
Click here to listen to an archive of the show.
Rhodes first gained attention in the Los Angeles-based The Merry-Go-Round. The band, which formed in 1966 and was signed to A&M Records where they released their only album, a self-titled effort, in 1967 with Rhodes as the lead singer. They would follow with a series of singles for the label before breaking up in 1969.
A native of Hawthorne, Calif., Rhodes, like many of his contemporaries, was heavily influenced by The Beatles and The Byrds. His joined his first group, The Palace Guard, in 1965. They would don red uniforms of royal British guardsmen when performing and became local favorites in southern California. The Place Guard briefly included drummer Don Grady who was part of the cast of My Three Sons.
A multi-instrumentalist and talented songwriter, Rhodes would go solo, signing with ABC/Dunhill and releasing a debut self-titled and self-produced solo album in 1970 featuring songs written and performed by Rhodes on all of the instruments. The album, which reached No. 29 on Billboard’s album chart, drew critical acclaim and Rhodes was immediately compared to Paul McCartney. The song “Fresh As A Daisy” became a regional hit in the Los Angeles area and went to No. 54 on the Billboard singles chart.
Anxious to capitalize on the success of Rhodes, ABC/Dunhill released the album The American Dream which featured material recorded with session musicians during Rhodes’ time in The Merry-Go-Round. This was not received well as it didn’t sound like the material written and performed solely by Rhodes.
Two more albums of material written and performed by Rhodes were released by ABC/Dunhill including, Mirror and Farewell To Paradise. The label wound up suing Rhodes over the pace of his recording saying he wasn’t keeping up to schedule. Friends of Rhodes described him as being upset and feeling betrayed by the record company and this led to his leaving the record industry. He eventually wound up working as a staff producer for Elektra Records.
In 2000, Rhodes completed a solo record for the Rocktopia label that was set for release, but the record company went out of business. He returned to recording in 2009 and released a new version of the Merry-Go-Round song “Time Will Show The Wiser” with the Nick Vernier Band that was previously covered by Fairport Convention. In 2011, he released three songs recorded with Debbie and Vickie Peterson of The Bangles, but these were withdrawn shortly after release due to litigation and were unavailable until 2015.
In 2016, fans were finally rewarded with a new solo album by Rhodes called Rainbow Ends. It features contributions by Aimee Mann, Jason Faulker, Bleu, Taylor Locke, Susanna Hoffs and others. It was met with favorable reviews and features the classic sound of the early 70s Rhodes releases.
Featured on the program were songs from The Merry-Go-Round, his solo albums and covers by bands like The Bangles and Fairport Convention.