Sixto Rodriguez, Cold Fact
Posted on 18th Jun 10 by Kevin Mealy | 
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Sixto Rodriguez is an American singer/songwriter who came to light in the late sixties with his debut single I’ll Slip Away. With his amazing blend of psychedelic music and politically rebellious lyrics its hard to comprehend how this genius of a musician is only recently getting the recognition he deserves on a global scale. He was [...]
Sixto Rodriguez is an American singer/songwriter who came to light in the late sixties with his debut single I’ll Slip Away. With his amazing blend of psychedelic music and politically rebellious lyrics its hard to comprehend how this genius of a musician is only recently getting the recognition he deserves on a global scale.
Sixto Rodriguez, Cold Fact
He was assigned to the doomed label Sussex Records (along with the likes of Bill Withers), with whom he released 2 studio albums, Cold Fact and Coming From Reality. Unfortunately with growing financial problems for Sussex, his music failed to to take off and was dropped from the label and disappeared into obscurity.
But the rights to his music were bought by an Australian label, which allowed him to tour Down Under in 1979 and another in ’81, before once again returning to a somewhat normal life.
Strangely enough, without Rodriguez having a single clue about it, a greatest hits compilation of his music went platinum in South Africa. Then luckily for him, he discovered his fame in the late nineties by finding a website dedicated to himself on the internet. And rightly so, is now revelling in it.
To emphasise his fame today, Paolo Nutini has covered a number of Rodriguez tracks and recently performed a duet of the tune, Sugar Man at a gig in Detroit, Michigan.
His album Cold Fact is an absolute gem of musical mastery, with the music so representative of the strife and hard times of the working-class people from the era it originated, yet somehow still sounds so modern when played today. With classics like Sugar Man, I Wonder, Hate Street Dialogue and Like Janis featured on it, Cold Fact is finally being realised as the poetic treasure that its deserved for decades.
Drugs are referred to quite a bit in Rodriguez‘s lyrics. On the track Sugar Man, Roddy sings ‘Sugar Man, your the answer, that makes my questions disappear’ which is a reference to a longing for a drug dealer to come and feed the man’s habit. Although on the website sugarman, Rodriguez is quoted as saying that he never endorsed drugs in any way.
Other topics he gives his poetic views and opinions on are love, poverty and corruption in society. Some amazing tracks like This is not a Song, Its An Outburst – or, The Establishment Blues and Rich Folks Hoax, Rodriguez gives his amazing views of life and the world we live in, how the rich get richer, how world-rulers cover up and blindside exactly that’s really going on. How crime rates are rising, how dirty city streets and rivers are and basically how horrible a place the world can be to people. And he isn’t talking nonsense, the man knows exactly what he’s talking about. You have to remember these songs were written a long time ago, and the fact that the music is still so accurate and relevant in modern society is unbelievable. The man was years before his time.
Sixto Rodriguez
Other tracks featured, like the brilliant, I Wonder and Forget It, dabble in love life and the struggles a man and a woman go through. A lyric from I wonder sings ‘I wonder how many times you’ve been had, And I wonder how many plans have gone bad, I wonder how many times you had sex, And I wonder do you know who’ll be next’ and this can be interpreted in numerous ways. Is he speaking to his girl and telling her that he thinks these things about her? Or is it just an inner monologue being put into words? \
The death of Janis Joplin had an adverse effect on Rodriguez‘ life, hence why he wrote the brilliant tune Like Janis and featured it on the album.
But another thing which makes Cold Fact a must-have record, is the scintillating guitar Roddy delivers on every single track, imprinting it on your mind as much as he does the lyrics. Combining all of this with the amazing story behind it then its no wonder Cold Fact has been recognised as one of the top ten albums of all time by numerous online polls and music journalists worldwide, and there is not much of an argument to disagree. Its a timeless classic which could easily have been lost forever, but now deservedly, sits firmly engraved in musical history.
Drop-d Rating 10/10
Tags: Bill Withers, Cold Fact, Coming From Reality, Forget it, Hate Street Dialogue, I Wonder, I'll Slip Away, janis joplin, Like Janis, Paolo Nuitini, Rich Folks Hoax, Sixto Rodriguez, Sugar Man, Sussex Records, This is not a song It's an outburst - or The Establishment Blues