The Merry-Go-Round were a Los Angeles based pop band, best known for the singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes and featuring Joel Larson on drums, Gary Kato on lead guitar, and Bill Rinehart on bass. The band released only one album, The Merry-Go-Round (1967). "Live", the first single from their album, was a top 10 hit at both KHJ in Los Angeles and KGB in San Diego, although it failed to crack the top 50 on the national charts. Lovely Woman was their biggest hit, even though it may also have been limited to the Southern California area.

The Merry-Go-Round performed at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival in 1967 on both days of the music festival. They closed the show on Saturday June 10 and were the second to the show closer on Sunday June 11. This music festival is important because it occurred before The Monterey Pop Festival but did not have a movie to document it for the ages (see List of electronic music festivals).