Can we talk about early-mid70s West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock?

Seeing Scott's comments about "el-lay loverman stuff" reminded me that I've never followed up my post from way the hell upthread about Emitt Rhodes. A few months back I finally happened into a vinyl copy of Farewell To Paradise, his last set for Dunhill. Dude was definitely heading in that direction. Is it just me, or was he actually getting better as he went on? I know most people (including the manager of the shop I got it from) swear by the self titled debut, but I feel his playing on FTP is tighter and more varied than on his previous "one man band" efforts, giving off the illusion that other people were in on the session. Not to mention that his songwriting was more eclectic then it had been since the Merry-Go-Round era. Too bad there wasn't an immediate follow-up, altough though Rhodes may have been too far gone by that point. His liner notes are painfully earnest about "how hard it is to do this" and so on.

I've not investigated anything by Emitt Rhodes beyond the Merry-Go-Round cd that Rev-Ola issued a few years ago, and I loved that. Are any of his Dunhill LPs on CD at all?

Farewell To Paradise is, I've got a copy...prolly hard to find, though...certainly worth it, less Macca-esque than his earlier stuff...

The Rhodes Dunhill albums were out on CD from One-Way, but are long OOP. Both Varese Sarabande and Edsel have done best of's (the edsel one even has all the tracks from the s/t album), but whaddaya know, they are also OOP.

*Paging Hip-O Select*

No not Hip-0 Select, Emmit Rhodes should be in print longer than a month... (I only have the s/t plus a single of "Really Wanted You," myself.)

...maybe Sundazed should be the ones reissuing Emitt Rhodes, not some label like Hip-O Select or Rhino Handmade who will only have it around for a day.

"His liner notes are painfully earnest about "how hard it is to do this" and so on."

those were rough years for him!

Not a lot of competition in the one-man-band field those days, I would imagine. Rundgren & McCartney and who else?

Wasn't he contracted to produce a new album of materia every six months, or something ridiculous like that? Hard to do on your own.

xpost

http://www.onemanband.org/omb-photo/one_man_band-aeroclube-stage.jpg

Er, that should have been 'material'. Obviously.

Not a lot of competition in the one-man-band field those days, I would imagine. Rundgren & McCartney and who else?

Stevie Wonder and John Fogerty (Blue Ridge Rangers).

Well, Fogerty was still a year or two away from making "solo" records, wasn't he? (And Stevie needed somebody to play bass, or at least program his Moog to do so.)

Isn't Emmit's Farewell LP from '73? Well, so was Fogerty's Blue Ridge Rangers record, which he played and sang everything on, so he was definitely in the one-man band competition.

Hmmm, you're probably right - I'm only familiar with the self-titled album. Maybe I've got the chronology wrong.

Your're both right. There's overlap, but Rhodes started his one-man band in 1970, if I'm not mistaken.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/393407.jpg

Does anybody know if the Longbranch Pennywhistle record has ever been reissued? I've never heard it.

Okay, they weren't from the West Coast, they were from the UK, but if Christie's "Yellow River" ain't a country rock classic, then Linda Ronstadt has hair on her teeth. The album of the same name wasn't much, but the song itself is what 1970-era Byrds SHOULD have sounded like.

I don't get the Hip-O Select hate. Haven't they only sold out of, what, like one title so far during their existence? Although yes it probably would be better if Sundazed or Rev-Ola handled the Rhodes solo joints.

I don't hate Hip-O Select (or Rhino Handmade) per se, I guess it's just the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't aspect that fucks with me. But if you say Hip-O has only sold out of one title, then I believe you. I just figured both of these labels' catalogs were only available for a short period of time.

A few months back I finally happened into a vinyl copy of Farewell To Paradise... Is it just me, or was he actually getting better as he went on?

Hmmmmmm, the more rocking stuff on that album is kinda boring to me, the ballads are nice, some of his best songs are definitely on that album tho

I listened to Emitt Rhodes and Mirror again this afternoon. Both solid, with some good rockers on the latter ("Really Wanted You" just screams 'hit single')

Now Playing:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/315F1A2TR4L._SS500_.jpg

So great. It's like mash-up of Astral Weeks and Histoire de Melody Nelson coated with nice dash of LA grime.

RFI: any suggestions of stuff in the vein of the L.A. Getaway album? next time i DJ i want to build a set around that particular sound. i know about some of the more well known artists but i'm looking to add in some more obscure (run, surmounter!) music from that same style.

this thread makes me angry coz i still can't find that d@mn corbett & hirsh album! I suspect I'll be posting the same thing every three months until 2011...

well, according to amazon, the tags associated with that LA Getaway album are:

classic rock (95)
john mayer (66)
taylor hicks (65)
definitive 200 (62)
white stripes (62)
david gilmour (47)
american idol (46)
pink floyd (45)
rock (42)
squeeze (1)

the gospel, blues rock immediately makes me think of the Band although they don't really sound all that much alike. and maybe a bit of the Terry Melcher s/t album

man i just love that john phillips album mentioned in the original post
been listening to that and the first crosby album over and over, perfect for the warm weather

i still can't find that d@mn corbett & hirsh album!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mike-Corbett-Jay-Hirsh-Rock-Vinyl-LP-Record_W0QQitemZ260224098283QQihZ016QQcategoryZ306QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

Thanks. I was really hoping to get it digitally and not pay this much, but I think it's probably worth the hassle for me by now.

Anyway, about LA Getaway, haven't thought it through, but what about Bobby Whitlock's self-titled album? Maybe a little too southern fried.

Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard

^^^^^is this good? i love the cover art haha

gonna pick up that Country Funk re-issue, sounds very buffalo springfield

i have the album. it's just ok. pretty Byrds-y. need to rescreen it

Other Music has a couple of samples up, totally hits my sweet spot

As above, what comes to mind re L.A. Getaway is like Grin & Crazy Horse & such. The Carp album with Gary Busey gets into that territory a little bit, too.

fyi: very good album that you can probably find cheap and that belongs on this thread (and i can't remember if i mentioned it here before):

http://www.coolforever.com/temp/redeye_redeye_lp.jpg

redeye (1971 - pentagram records)

hadn't played it in a while and put it on the other day and if anything i like it more than ever. great guitars. great harmonies. cool poppy tunes with a western/cali vibe.

sorry, 1970.

and i REALLY need their second album. that one came out in 1971. i figure i'll find one eventually.

the one lone rateyourmusic review pretty much says it all:

"Stoned cowboy music similar to the Bead Game or a more psychedelic America, this one is a minor classic. They must've pressed a shitload of these, as factory sealed copies still show up for 10 bucks or so. Heads'll approve of the grass related subject matter on many of the tunes, and squares'll dig the CSN inspired harmonies, so really, for 5 or 10 you can't go wrong, can you?"

That one just plain *looks* like a winner. Potheadedness is generally a plus with this kind of music.

Do you guys know THE MUSKRATS "Progressive Country" LP? That one rules. I have a UK press, not sure if the band was Brtiish or not.. Good stuff. Nice harmonies.

I also just got the 2nd P F Sloan LP. I wish his records were easier to find, though this one was QUITE affordable.

http://wanderer.spb.ru/images/wanderer.w5720.big.jpg

Cleaned and then jammed out to the first side of this before work this morning.

And this one did the trick last night:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J8MRZERFL._SS500_.jpg

Slightly weaker than his debut. Kind of Neil Youngesque. David Lindley, Ben Keith, and of course David Crosby assist.

I just picked up a 2nd copy of "Gypsy Cowboy"--this one is for my pal.

Also, I mentioned it on the vinyl thread, but this '79 private I picked up the other day is KILLER. "Slain By An Angel" by Steve Haggard. No relation to Merle, as far as I can tell. Dedicated to Gram Parsons, with a full band that actually play really well together. Some dope fuzz leads on a few tracks.

I also just got the 2nd P F Sloan LP. I wish his records were easier to find, though this one was QUITE affordable.

I was just looking at Ace records website, and they've got a "Best of The Dunhill Years 1965-1967" Sloan comp in the pipeline. Maybe individual titles to come?

can't remember if i or anyone else mentioned this one, but it was born to be here, marlin greene's one and only album (i think) *Tiptoe Past The Dragon*. playing it now, i'd forgotten how great it was. such a beautiful stoned cowboy vibe. recorded in L.A. and Muscle Shoals, and Memphis. 1972. Elektra. so breezy and nice. and varied too with lots of great production touches. you can probably find it cheap too.

http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/marlin-g.jpg

oh i also picked up the third burrito brothers album the other day, but i haven't played it yet. the first parsons-less one.

another good one i picked up the other day:

http://www.soundfinder.jp/image_item/529143_1_30229190.jpg

moon martin's old band! good rural rock with nice guitars.

From a recent post on Rolling Country:

Dwight Yoakam just finished a good bandshell(good band, too) version of "No One Else Can Make Me Do The Things You Do," which made my Nash Scene Top Ten last year. Is his Buck And Be Proud album good? Just got through my first listen to reissue of Yellow Hand's s/t from 1970.They do a bunch of Stills and Young songs from a Buffalo Springfield album that never did come out, it sez here (so they're on the bootleg of Stampede?) I think Neil did release a later version of "Down To The Wire." That's the one where the four-part close harmonies kinda crowd me, plus they sound particularly in there between the Grassroots and Three Dog Night, just this combination of by-the-numbers and overemphasis. But, if you've got any tolerance for Stills early solo and Manassas stuff, this is mostly like that (still chunky harmonies, but with a touch of plaintiveness/querulousness to balance the manliness, and allowing the lyrics to come through just enough, so personality simulated, but dumb complaints and inspiration not heard too clearly)(also get Neil's sufficently stylish, punky bitchy folk-rock putdowns on "Sell Out)." And Delaney Bramlett/Mac Davis "God Knows I Love You," which coulda maybe shoulda been a hit for somebody. Also, the lead singer, Jerry Tawney, steps up front on some okay self-writs, and "My World Needs You" would be good for Gary Puckett. (After our recent exchange, I saw G.P. in an ad for Biloxi's Hard Rock Casino, with David Allan Coe and Stevie Nicks! All on different nights, dang it). Yellow Hand's drummer keeps rushing and then almost stumbling over the beat, and mostly they do seem more singers than players, but overall seems okay.