Emitt Rhodes

Wes Anderson's movies have always such carefully and well selected soundtracks. They usually feature a mix of more and less known artists from the sixties onwards, that go very well with the director's hipster image. The one that stuck with me the most is the soundtrack to The Royal Tenenbaums. Among The Rolling Stones or Paul Simon, it also contains a few hidden gems from musicians I'd never heard of before. Namely Emitt Rhodes, a man considered by many "the one man Beatles".

And that description is actually spot on. His music shows clear influence of the fab four and especially Paul McCartney. Rhodes' eponymous debut album sounds like what fans of Paul wanted to hear from him in the post-Beatles era. In 1970, the album made its way to #29 on Billboard charts.

Rhodes wrote all of the songs on his albums, he played all of the instruments, sang all of the vocals and recorded everything in his own primitive home studio. After three more years, three other records and a conflict with his label, Rhodes stopped performing and releasing new material. Which is a pitty, really. Because his fantastic eponymous album is a true masterpiece of the early 1970s.