Cult music heroes are usually people who are not accepted into mainstream at that time because they are considered too unusual to tolerate. Then there are cult music heroes like Emitt Rhodes, who became that way for no good reason whatsoever. I first heard about Rhodes, when his song Lullaby was featured on Wes Anderson’s 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, but was recently brought back into my attention when my brother brought home The Emitt Rhodes Recordings (1969 - 1973). This is a collection of all his albums from 1969 to 1973, which has long been out of print and I would highly recommend.

Compared to musical acts such as Phil Keaggy, Harry Nilsson and Paul McCartney, Rhodes easily got a music contract with ABC/Dunhill after his band the Merry-Go-Round broke up. His contract stated that he must produce a new album every six months. His self-titled debut LP is as close as you’re going to get to a perfect pop album. Like Macca, he recorded this album in his home studio and played all of the instruments. The critically acclaimed album managed to crack the Top 40 in 1971 and his career seemed to be on the fast track. But maybe it was too fast, because the record label pressured Rhodes to fulfill his contract and keep on putting out a new album every six months. It was too much work for the 21 year old, who at that time was still living at home with his parents. His next two releases Mirror and Farewell To Paradise bombed on the charts and because it took two years for these albums to come out, he was sued by his label and his contract was suspended. Emitt said, “There were lawsuits and lawyers and I wasn’t having any fun anymore. That’s it. Simple as that. I worked really hard and there was no reward,” At age 24, Emitt Rhodes quit the music industry, he had burned out.

Today, Rhodes lives in the same neighbourhood he grew up in, living in a house across the street from his parents’ old house. He rents out his small studio and makes an honest living. Although there have been occurrences where Rhodes may return to the studio and hammer out hundreds of demos the world has never heard, but every time the label runs out of money and without money, Rhodes can’t move forward.