I don’t know about most of you, but before I saw the movie “Searching for Sugarman”, I had never heard of Detroit folk-rock singer Sixto Rodriguez, who recorded and performed, simply as Rodriguez. Now before you run off to Google to look him up, I will warn you now. His sad, fascinating and intriguing story is remarkable, and instead of reading up on him, I can not recommend any higher, the musical documentary film mentioned above. The less you know about Rodriguez before you start watching the movie, the more fascinating it is. Today we look at his most successful album, “Cold Fact”.
Rodriguez, who sounds like Bob Dylan with a greater vocal range, never reached much commercial success in the United States, but oddly was extremely popular in Australia and South Africa. It is all a part of his fascinating story. Overall, I think this album is fantastic and it really surprises me he wasn’t more of a success in the U.S. and worldwide. I don’t love the first two songs, but starting with the beautiful “Crucify Your Mind”, which may be the most elegant and gorgeous song on the album, the rest of this album is outstanding. The lyrics across all of this album are profound and relevant to the time as well as today, and there are a lot of really catchy songs on here. “This Is Not a Song, It’s an Outburst: Or, the Establishment Blues” is great, and I also really love “Forget It”, “Inner City Blues”, and the quirky but infectious “I Wonder”, one of his biggest hits in those faraway lands.
So, if you ever use this blog an inspiration to feed your musical curiosity, do yourself a favor. Go watch the film “Searching for Sugarman” first, listen to this album second (as much as you like), and THEN read more about the artist we know as Rodriguez.
A Lifetime-Plus of Music 