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In My Life
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Merry-Go-Round w/ Emitt Rhodes Al Kooper, the famous keyboardist/writer/producer used to say that for him, playing the blues was like putting on pajamas, both made him feel real comfortable. To me, listening to my old records makes me feel real comfortable too. They are like old friends. In some cases, they have aged gracefully, whereas some simply fail the test of time. My turntable, CD player and cassette deck are in constant use so I can relax with my old friends. I have always been a fascinated by not only the record, but the liner notes and pictures as well. As an avid collector of vinyl, cd's and cassettes, I know which artist records for which label and why some record companies are better than others. I know that you can rely on certain producers to give you an excellent product time and time again. I have also become familiar with the various session people who are repeatedly called upon to play on many records. Most of all, I have always felt that the pictures on the album cover give the listener great insight into the relative health and well being of the artist. For example, take a look at the first album released by the Who (Decca 4664) entitled "The Who sings My Generation." They are young, innocent, loud and brash. Even before you play the first cut, you know what type of album this will be. Take a look at an early Rod Stewart album when he was with the Faces or when he first went solo. Once again, you know that Rod and his pals were rock'n'roll animals and that the album was going to be fun to listen to. As both the Who and Rod Stewart became popular, their albums became slick and polished and so did their photos. I'm not saying that the subsequent albums were bad. On the contrary, the Who and Rod created some great albums later in their careers. What I am saying is that their public persona changed by virtue of their pictures on the album covers. The brashness and excitement was replaced by poses given to them by photographers. In many cases, you can sense that the artists were struggling with success as evidenced by their pictures. Even my favorites, the Beatles have a far different look on the Abbey Road cover than they did on Meet The Beatles. They sure don't seem as happy or come across as vibrant as they once were. To use an album title by the aforementioned Mr. Stewart, every picture tells a story. As I have said in previous columns, there is the "2 out of 3" rule a person must use when browsing through the racks in search of the obscure record that hopefully will turn out to be a gem. One needs knowledge of the LABEL, familiarity with the PRODUCER and finally knowing the previous works of the SESSION MUSICIANS or GUEST ARTISTS on the record. If two or more of the three are known, then you can be assured that you have a better than average chance to find a gem. A&M Records was founded by Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss. The combination of musician and businessman made this label an incredible success. Some of the greatest albums ever recorded came from A&M. To me, an unknown group on this label always had a better than 50/50 chance to be worthwhile. In the late 60's, the US music scene was looking to bring over European groups and/or make the US groups look like British groups. I came upon The Merry-Go-Round and noticed it was on A&M and produced by a well-known person named Larry Marks. Two out of three ain't bad, so I bought it. The picture shows four young men in mod suits that could have been British or American. You couldn't tell where they were from based on the picture or the liner notes. They were young men who had a certain charm. The main musician was named Emitt Rhodes, which I thought was a cool name. The Merry-Go-Round released one album (A&M 4132) and seven singles in the late 60's. Neither the album, nor the singles were hits. The first cut on side 1 of the album called "Live." This is an excellent tune that is in the style of the Beatles. Great background harmonies and clean guitar work. Nothing fancy, but its beauty is in its simplicity. You say to yourself that you must have Beatles on your mind. Then you hear the next cut, which is called "Time Will Show The Wiser" and you have to say that there is more than a coincidence here, but let's go to the next tune called "On Your Way Out." This one is my favorite and you could swear that Ringo is the drummer. The same story repeats itself through the rest of Side 1. Not only can you imagine that these are the Beatles under an assumed name, but also, the songs are great. They are clear, crisp with tight harmonies and excellent musicianship. On more than one song, Emitt Rhodes sounds more like George Harrison than George Harrison does. Listen to "We're In Love" on Side 1 and the likeness to Harrison is astounding. Side 2 continues in the same manner as Side 1. You know it's not the Beatles, but the songs, production and presentations are Fab Four. My favorite song on Side 2. Is "Early In The Morning" which once again outbeatles the Beatles. I remember trying to find out information on the group, but they seemingly did not exist outside of the record. To further confound the situation, they release a single called "Listen Listen" which carries the theme further. I was convinced that the Merry-Go-Round were really the boys from Liverpool. Clearly, they were not and I never found out whatever happened to them. A number of years later, I found an Emitt Rhodes album on Dunhill/ABC (DS 50089). Emitt is looking pensively through a windowpane that has been blackened by a fire. Inside is large picture of him and the following quote, "I have to say the things I feel; I have to feel the things I say." (One-Way Records has released this album on CD# 22078) Emitt plays all the instruments and sings all the leads and harmonies. The album is good, but nowhere near as good as the Merry-Go-Round. I especially like "Live Till You Die" and "With My Face On The Floor,' but that's two out of twelve. Some years later, I found Emitt on another Dunhill/ABC (DS 50122) album called "Farewell To Paradise." Emitt had written, arranged, produced, engineered, played all instruments and sang all songs on this album. He had a beard and didn't look real happy. The album is decent, but in 1973, this album doesn't come close to the Merry-Go-Round album released five years earlier. One can only speculate what happened to him in the five years. The bottom line is that we not only derive pleasure from hearing our groups, but we can also learn about them by paying attention to the entire package. To me, Emitt Rhodes was an enormous talent that somehow didn't get to stardom. His career is chronicled in songs and pictures. If he is alive today, I hope he is making music somewhere for someone. If this guy is pumping gas or working in anything other than music, it would be a crime.
"cause I believe in you
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