anyone familiar with this guy? i discovered his stuff last summer after hearing dmb cover one of his songs. not only is this guy a great musician and song writer, he's got a super fascinating story.
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, also known as Rodríguez or Jesús Rodríguez (born July 10, 1942), is an American folk musician from Detroit, Michigan. His career initially proved short lived, with two little-sold albums in the early 1970s and two Australian concert tours. Although retaining a loyal following in Australia, unknown to Rodriguez, his albums became extremely successful and influential in South Africa. According to the film-makers of the documentary about him, Searching for Sugar Man, sales of his records outnumbered those of Elvis Presley in South Africa. He was rumored there to have committed suicide.[1]
In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact Rodriguez, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career. This is told in the 2012 Academy Award–winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, which helped give Rodriguez a measure of fame in his home country
I find it bizarre that he was so little known in The States - growing up in Oz the guy was certainly pretty well known. I started listening to him the same time I started listening to Dylan, in the early 80s. He's been part of my musical life ever since I can remember.
About 3 years ago I was down at the beach, kicking back. We have beaches that you can drive and park on where I am, so dude pulls up about 30m away, gets his chair out, cracks a beer and starts with the Rodriguez album on the car stereo (Coming From Reality from memory). Great tunes for a perfect sunny day at the beach.
Yeah, speaking as a South African, "Cold Fact" was considered an essential album for a serious music fan's collection. I went to see him when he did his SA tour. He was fine live, but that album is a piece of personal history for me.
i'll never understand why he's not popular in the states. i think his voice is awesome, and his lyrics are some of the best ive ever heard. i dont like to use the word "poetic", but listen to his words, its the only way i can describe them. his music is a really cool mix of all kinda stuff going on in the 60s. its like folk rock mixed with elements of pop, like motown stuff, and psychedelic stuff. this guy is simply great, its so strange no one knows who he is around here.
