Song: "Promises I've Made"
Writer: Emitt Rhodes
Original Release: 1970
Performer: Emitt Rhodes
Album: Emitt Rhodes
"Promises I've Made" was a Pandora discovery for me. I loved it so much that I couldn't believe I'd never heard it before! After all, late '60s and early '70s pop is my wheelhouse (in case you haven't noticed). One would think a McCartney-derived song by such an obviously gifted artist would have come across my path before. But no. I'd never even heard of Emitt Rhodes, though I learned soon afterwards that his song "Lullaby" (same album) had been featured in The Royal Tenenbaums.
The Emitt Rhodes story is a sad one, that of a huge talent chewed up and spit out by a heartless recording industry. His first album met with considerable critical and modest commercial success, peaking at #29 on the pop charts. Like his musical hero Sir Paul, Rhodes played and sang all of the parts, then over-dubbed. However, because of this time-intensive process, he was unable to meet the demands of his contract. Dunhill, the recording company, sued him and withheld royalties. Understandably embittered, he moved on to other things, working mostly as an engineer and producer for Elektra Records. There is an apparently excellent documentary about Rhodes called One Man Beatles, available on various streaming services. I haven't watched it yet but I'm curious.
Hey AS, I'd not heard of him either. Had a listen and he does have some elements of a young Paul McCartney. What a shame the way he was treated by the recording industry. I'm sure that's not an uncommon story, sadly.
ReplyDeleteFor every success story, there are thousands who fall short.
DeleteIts sad truth, but this happens. He has a nice voice.
ReplyDeleteHe sure does.
DeleteI'll have to try to make time today to reconfigure my hardware so I can listen to this one.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can. This was a great discovery for me.
DeleteHas a lot of Paul in his voice, which can be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteHope he is happy and can work on his music.
cheers, parsnip
He's managed to keep steadily employed. That is a decent measure of success in itself.
DeleteLife sucks when it comes to music industry. He has a lovely voice. Glad he moved to other things. It is too easy to burn up.
ReplyDeleteIt can. Most fall well short of stardom but if you can find steady work, it can be highly gratifying.
DeleteSad about him.
ReplyDeleteIt is. Can't help feeling frustrated on his behalf.
DeleteHe does sound like Paul McCartney. Too bad he got screwed over by his label.
ReplyDeleteIt is too bad. It does show the risk of going it alone, though. From a strictly artistic point of view, his do-everything approach is admirable but it falls short of practical. It's different when you're already an established megastar and the label knows they'll make a killing off your work. They'll cut you a lot more slack.
DeletePerhaps the moral of this story: delegating is good.
Hadn't heard of this guy either. He does have a young McCartney sound. I may have to look up his documentary. Sounds cool, and yes, a bit sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, through the magic of social media, people are rediscovering his music nearly 50 years later. Life can't be all bad.
Delete