July 10th 1942 Detroit, Michigan, Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was born. Today on what is his 79th birthday I will take a little peek into the mysterious musician's life and his extremely beautiful, yet bittersweet story. You may not know the name, but what is a concrete cold fact, you damn well should! I am pretty hopeful though I can tell you a thing or two about the man, the myth, and of course the now legend and what makes him so rad! (you could say Rad-riguez. Forgive me, terrible joke I know) So saddle up and strap in tight, for today is all about you Rodriguez my man! Without further delay, I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think.
So after releasing two unsuccessful albums, Cold Fact (1970) and Coming from Reality (1971) and a handful of singles, Rodriguez disappeared into obscurity and it appeared that he had just vanished from the face of the earth completely. His music was totally a flop in the States and made no real waves at all, nobody seemed interested and just as quickly as the albums were released, he himself would be forgotten very quickly also. Despite his music's failure to appeal to the American masses, it turned out that over in Australia and South Africa, Rodriguez was a sensation and his music was greatly loved and revered, so much in fact he became a platinum selling artist in South Africa. How Rodriguez's music found its way from the States though remains relatively ambiguous and not fully clarified, however one account claims that an American girl was visiting her partner in South Africa and bought along a copy of the album Cold Fact, her boyfriend and his friends enjoyed the record and instantly wanted to buy it themselves, sadly this was not possible, but digging the music so much they would not let this deter them from owning it, instead they simply just recorded it onto a tape from their American visitor's record and began distributing multiple copies of the album in and around their circles until soon everybody had one. Rodriguez was proving to be extremely successful and somewhat of a household name within South Africa, but the nagging question that remained on the lips of all was, who is this guy? Why do we not know anything else about him other than the music, and the pictures on his album's? Usually with any other musician or celebrity, information was always to hand and easily accessible, yet Rodriguez remained an enigma.
To add another layer of intrigue, a great deal of rumours began circulating, one stated that he had performed on stage and it was a complete disaster, everything was off and the show just didn't go to plan. Rodriguez was heckled and ridiculed by onlookers, he managed to stumbled through the show. But, after he had struck the last chord on the final song of the set, he pulled out a loaded pistol and blew his own brains out in front of the once hostile crowd, who now all sit silenced and stunned. Then another very extreme rumour claimed that he had killed himself on stage by setting himself on fire in front of a crowd. Up in smoke, and gone forever it seemed. Why would a person do such a thing? Or things, Who knows? But one thing for sure is, they did help elevate this fascinating character way up to almost mythical territory and create an unexplainable buzz not quite felt during these times. Whilst Rodriguez's music took grip and the speculation of his life and story continued, it was at the height of the apartheid era. Oppression was rife all over South Africa, free thinkers and people who spoke out could be jailed. Lots of things were sanctioned, censored and manipulated. So when a dude comes along and starts singing about anti-establishment, and that it is OK to think differently and want changes within society, people started to listen. A movement was building, and it needed its speaker, and it needed its anthem, Rodriguez's music would provide that. Naturally though, it progressed to the point were his music was not allowed to be played on the radio, it was considered too radical and far too outspoken for the powers that be. It was not uncommon practice for his work to be destroyed using sharp instruments, cutting and scratching away at the vinyl, in particular the grooves that contained the so called bad songs that people should not hear.
So whilst all of these events took place, back in Detroit, it turned out as you may have guessed, Rodriguez was alive and well, only he had no idea what was going on in South Africa and was living a very different lifestyle to what the legends would have you believe. At the time Rodriguez didn't even know about any of it, and was living quite the reclusive, humble life you just would not have imagined for someone with such a voice, and way with words that so clearly were making a clear crystal statement, folks could relate, and that's powerful. So what exactly was he doing? Well for many years he worked in construction and various labour jobs, and his music was a side gig, something he wanted to further though, so when the music career did not pan out, he simply returned back to the normal day to day working man's life he already knew, doing everything and anything to provide for his young family. Rodriguez was a star, and he didn't know about it, nor did anybody else for that matter, to them he was just an ordinary fellow, with no more, and no less than they did. As a person Rodriguez remained quite a shadow, some thought he was a drifter or homeless, he just lived the ordinary life and people just did not think at all that this guy was anything special, and being the humble spirit he is, he never really spoke about his music either, he was nothing more than just a face in the crowd. Rodriguez firmly believes that in life all you need are three things, food, clothing and shelter, the rest is just icing, further adding to his humbleness.
It would not be until years later that Rodriguez would find out about his musical success and achievement's over in South Africa. A tour followed and he soon quickly laid to rest those wild stories and myths that had built up over the years about him, he was alive and kicking, and he sure as hell could still string together a great set for audiences to enjoy. In 2012 a documentary film was released titled Searching for Sugar Man and chronicles the story of two fans and their desire to track down Rodriguez and find out the real truth and not just the fiction. After years and years and a seemingly unobtainable objective, they did indeed find the Sugar Man and was able to fully tell his story, they met with the man and after about three years of trying, Rodriguez finally agreed to sit down and be interviewed and be involved in their film. He was stunned by all of this and was not quite sure how to react, up until that point he had lived in the same Detroit house he had done so for the last forty years, and his music was something of the past, long gone, or so he thought. The film was praised highly and was a critical success, even bagging itself an Oscar award (though Rodriguez himself missed this and was asleep when it was announced the film had won, as he doesn't own a TV set, his daughter had to call him and tell him the news).
New tours were quickly offered to Rodriguez and he swooped them up gratefully, the people of South Africa would now be able to see him in his full glory on stage, and take in the music that had become the soundtrack of their lives, up close and in person. Rodriguez would soon have money coming in that he had never imagined possible, he was living the life he had always dreamt of, but money doesn't really mean shit to this guy, he's more than happy to give it away to friends and family and remain living the quiet life he knows only too well. Rodriguez could not be more grateful though for the chance to get his music back out there, and pick up where he had left off all of those decades ago, maybe now he would take his place up there amongst the great American Musicians as he should have rightly done so way back. So why did this guy not make it big until years after the fact? That is a question you could ask yourself all day and never be able to give an answer. Without doubt, Rodriguez has to be one of the greatest singer/songwriters the USA have ever created, and at the time they just sadly did not know it. Hearing the music now I am certain there will be a bunch of people kicking themselves for allowing it to slip on by, because the work truly is fascinating and the songs do have a timeless feel about them.
For anybody reading this, you now know what to do, that is right, listen to some god-damn Rodriguez! For he truly is one remarkable dude, with one hell of a story to tell also. If that was worth reading and you enjoyed it, you'll be glad to know there is a book out also titled Sugar Man and it tells the tale of the making of the doc and provides more insight into the man himself. Many happy returns Rodriguez! Well that is all from me until next time, thanks for reading folks, catch you next time.
-Otto.
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