Description:

Rhoades' musical career dates back the formation of the Hahavishnu Orchestra in 1975. The Orchestra was a 12-piece musical comedy troup traveling nationally until 1978.^[1] The name of his 1970s group, the Hahavishnu Orchestra, is a take-off on the name of John McLaughlin's popular 1970s jazz/fusion group The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

During this period, Kurt Loder (of Rolling Stone & MTV) was quoted proclaiming Rhoades as "one of the most savagely gifted writer/performers in the country today".^[2]

The music of the Orchestra is often compared to The Fugs, Frank Zappa and even The Tubes.

On New Year's Eve 1977, Rhoades and the orchestra appeared on the James Brown Future Shock television show on fledgling WTBS.

In January 1978, Rhoades performed with the opening act for the American debut of the Sex Pistols.

1979 saw the release of Rhoades' first LP, Burgers From Heaven, with its title song appearing in the Jim Varney film, Fastfood in 1988. Rhoades performed the title song on the now cult classic Bill Tush WTBS late-night comedy sketch show Tush during 1980-81 in the early days of cable television, as well as performed as the Idolators on Georgia Championship Wrestling as the ring music for wrestler Austin Idol. The Outlaws also recorded a cover of Rhoades' "The Lights Are On (But Nobody's Home)" on the 1979 album In The Eye Of The Storm.

From 1981 to 1984 whereabouts of Rhoades are extremely sketchy. In 1985, Rhoades assembled The Men from Glad and released his second LP, Better Dead Then Mellow. in 1989, Rhoades began his stand-up comedy career.

In 1991 he released a compilation of his first three albums called Before and After His Time. In 1992 he released his fifth album, Cowpokin' & Udder Love Songs which got airplay across the country.

Working non stop and receiving airplay from syndicated radio shows such as "The Dr Demento Show" & "The John Boy & Billy Big Show" has helped to create a large following and leaving little time for Rhoades to perform with musical groups. He performs on rare occasions as the drummer for The Electrifyin' Sissies, which include record producer Brendan O'Brien, Rick Richards from the Georgia Satellites, and radio personality/rock historian Rex Patton.

In 1994 he released his 6th LP, The Lean Years 1950-1994. The album received even more airplay with his infamous 'U Suck Beer" commercials which have become his trademark in his standup.

In April, 1999 he released his seventh LP titled Radio Daze...The Shroud of Tourin'. This CD is a parody of radio deejays from all over the U.S., and close to forty different performers with satire of bad gospel music, commercials, and unfunny morning radio shows.

In May 2001 Rhoades released his eighth comedy and music recording entitled Rhoades....All Over The Map. The CD was aptly titled as it contained various musical styles such as jazz, country, swing, heavy metal, rockabilly and more. Also, on this CD are versions of a couple of his songs recorded live in a rare radio interview and recorded live standup from the Punchline in Atlanta.

On September 12, 2009, Rhoades regrouped many of the original members of the Hahavishnu Orchestra for a one night only celebration at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia. Most recently, Rhoades played drums in the Santa Fe scenes in the 2009 academy winning movie, Crazy Heart.