Classic Art has Had Its Day

Sorry it's been a while. Been busy for once and a little uninspired. Well, regardless, here's the Creation.

It wasn't just their heaviness (probably the heaviest until the MC5 came around, IMO) that made the Creation so ahead of their time. It was also their postmodern take on performance and their un-pretentious artiness of which today's artists' minds are not even capable of dreaming. Well, that and playing the guitar with a bow. Naturally, only the Germans got it.

Most informed people today know "Making Time" from the classic film Rushmore, but until then, "Painter Man" was their best-known song. These are two of their best and show the band at their peak with Kenny Pickett on vocals. The band was a staple of the original mod movement along with the Kinks, the Action, and the Who (Pete Townsend even offered guitarist Eddie Phillips a spot, which probably would have made the Who a better, yet less commercially successful band.) The band really re-wrote the rock format. With that in mind plus their loudness I would consider them beginning of "proto-punk." They do, however, keep in touch with the trends of the time with numbers like "If I Stay Too Long" and clovers like "Cool Jerk" plus the best cover I have heard of "Like A Rolling Stone." "Nightmares" and "For All That I Am" may be the quintessential mod tracks and forget proto-punk, "How Does It Feel To Feel?" is basically heavy metal in its most original form. A change of pace, "Ostrich Man"'s arrangement is a classic that shows the Creation had as much power to go in the baroque direction as their contemporaries. This is essential listening, plus one of the most bad-ass album titles which I was lucky enough to find at Barcelona's (where it is easily available) Révolver Records.


The Creation - Our Music Is Red - With Purple Flashes

God In Heaven, Won't You Help Us, Please

The most surprising thing that I ever heard about Emitt Rhodes was that this very album was EVERYWHERE at one point in time. Of course, the guy telling me this may have just been being a jerk as he charged me something like $15-20 for a not-quite-spectacular condition at Cheapo Records in Cambridge. However, considering the four years I had spent absorbing this rare masterpiece I hold no regrets on that purchase.

This album is often described as what Paul McCartney's solo records should have sounded like - I would agree, despite no negative feelings about many of his solo albums. There is a definite specifically McCartney Beatles vibe here and if you have a problem with McCartney even within the Beatles you really have to leave... obviously. This is the perfect pop album of its time, as it should be considering Rhodes' pedigree with L.A. pop group Merry-Go-Round (whose influence is heard directly on The Bangles) he splices the major influences of UK and Los Angeles guitar pop of the era here. What is extra cool is that Rhodes played and "produced" everything on here on a four-track, placing him among the likes of early one-man bands as Todd Trundgren, R. Stevie Moore, and yes, McCartney himself.

It is a true shame that these days the only people that know Rhodes are the geekiest of music lovers and die-hard Wes Anderson fans (myself both), whose The Royal Tenenbaums featured the short "Lullabye" (as per recomendation of Jason Schwartzman!?). The rest of the songs are of that quality, in particular "Promises I've Made" and the one-two punh of "With My Face On The Floor" and "Somebody Made For Me," so be sure to pick this up becasue it's either here or a long, expensive search... or another blog, I'm sure. Essential for fans of Big Star, The Beatles, and the Yelllow Pills series.


Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes (1970)