Searching For Sugar Man - Album

Sixto Díaz Rodríguez * 10. Juli 1942 In Detroit † 8. August 2023 Ebenda War Ein US-Amerikanischer Singer-Songwriter. Nach Zwei Studioalben Die In Seiner Heimat Wenig Anklang Fanden Zog Er Sich 1971 Zunächst Ins Privatleben Zurück. Dass Sich Seine Musik Unterdessen In Australien Sowie In Dem Durch Das Apartheid-Regime Lange Zeit Isolierten Südafrika Großer Beliebtheit Erfreute Hat Er Erst Spät Erfahren. Die Umstände Und Hintergründe Seines Erfolgs In Südafrika Ab 1998 Sind Gegenstand Des Oscar-Prämierten Dokumentarfilms Searching For Sugar Man 2012 Der Rodriguez Schließlich International Bekannt Machte. Sixto Diaz Rodriguez Also Known As Rodriguez Or As Jesus Rodriguez Born July 10 1942 Is An American Folk Musician. His Career Initially Proved Short-Lived With Two Albums In The Early 1970s And Some Brief Touring In Australia. Unknown To Him However His Work Proved Extremely Successful And Influential In South Africa Although He Was Mistakenly Rumored In That Country To Be Dead By Suicide. In The 1990s Determined South African Fans Managed To Seek Out And Contact Him Leading To An Unexpected Revival Of His Musical Career. Their Story Is Told In The 2012 Documentary Searching For Sugar Man Which Has Helped Give Rodriguez A Measure Of Fame In His Native Country. Rodriguez Was Born In Detroit Michigan. He Was Named 'Sixto' Pronounced See-Toe Because He Was The Sixth Child In His Family. Rodriguez's Parents Were Middle-Class Immigrants From Mexico Who Left In The 1920s. In Most Of His Songs He Takes A Political Stance On The Cruelties Facing The Inner City Poor. In 1967 Under The Name Rod Riguez He Released The Single "I'll Slip Away" Through The Small Label Impact. He Did Not Produce Anything For Another Three Years Until He Was Signed To Sussex Records An Offshoot Of The Buddah Label. It Was After The Move To Sussex That He Changed His Professional Name To Just Rodriguez. Rodriguez Recorded Two Albums With Sussex—Cold Fact In 1970 And Coming From Reality In 1971. But After Mixed Reviews And Low Album Sales He Was Dropped From The Label Which Later Folded In 1975. Sixto Registered And Ran For City Council In Detroit. The County Spelled His Name Wrong On The Ballot. After Failing To Make An Impact In North America He Gave Up His Career As A Musician. However Although He Was Relatively Unknown In His Home Country By The Mid-'70s His Albums Were Starting To Gain Airplay In South Africa Zimbabwe New Zealand And Australia.
After Imported Copies Of His Sussex Albums Ran Dry An Australian Record Label Blue Goose Music Bought The Australian Rights To His Back Catalogue In The Mid-'70s. The Label Released His Two Studio Albums Plus A Compilation Album At His Best Featuring Unreleased Recordings From 1976 "Can't Get Away" "I'll Slip Away" A Rerecording Of His First Single And "Street Boy" . Unbeknownst To Rodriguez It Went Platinum In South Africa Where He Achieved Cult Status. South Africa At One Stage Was The Major Disk-Press Interest Supplying His Music To The Rest Of The World.
With A New Buzz Around Rodriguez In 1979 He Toured Australia With The Mark Gillespie Band As Support. Two Shows From The Tour Were Later Released On The Australian-Only Album Alive—the Title Being A Play On The Rumours Caused By His Public Obscurity That He Had Died Years Before. After The '79 Tour He Returned To Australia For A Final Tour In 1981 With Midnight Oil Before Quietly Slipping Back Into Normal Life Gaining A Degree In Philosophy While Working As A Demolition Man. He Earned A Bachelor Of Arts In Philosophy From Wayne State University's Monteith College In 1981. In 1991 Both His Albums Were Released On CD In South Africa For The First Time. His Fame In South Africa Was Completely Unknown To Him Until 1998 When His Eldest Daughter Came Across A Website Dedicated To Him. In 1998 He Played His First South African Tour Playing Six Concerts In Front Of Thousands Of Fans. A Documentary About The Tour Dead Men Don't Tour Rodriguez In South Africa 1998 Was Later Screened On SABC TV In 2001. Later He Played In Sweden Before Returning To South Africa In 2001 And 2005.
In 1998 His Signature Song "Sugar Man" Was Covered By The South African Rock Band Just Jinjer. In 2002 The Song Was Used By DJ David Holmes To Open His Mix Album Come Get It I Got It Gaining Rodriguez International Airplay Again. "Sugar Man" Had Previously Been Sampled In The Song "You're Da Man" From Rapper Nas' 2001 Album Stillmatic. In 2007 He Returned To Australia In April To Play The East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival As Well As Shows In Melbourne And Sydney. His Song "Sugar Man" Was In The 2006 Film Candy Starring Heath Ledger. Cornish Singer-Songwriter Ruarri Joseph Covered Rodriguez's Song "Rich Folks Hoax" For His Third Studio Album. Rodriguez Now Continues To Tour In Various Countries.
Rodriguez's Albums Cold Fact And Coming From Reality Were Re-Released By Light In The Attic Records In 2009.
Rodriguez Appeared As A Musical Guest On The Late Show With David Letterman On August 14 2012. Also In Mid-August 2012 CNN Aired A Feature Story With Interview Of Rodriguez Discussing His Life And Career Resurgence.
On September 3 2012 Labor Day In The United States Journalist Stephen Robert Morse Launched A Change.Org Petition To Have Rodriguez Awarded A Kennedy Center Honor.
On October 7 2012 Rodriguez Was Featured On The Highly-Rated U.S. TV News Program 60 Minutes.
In November 2012 The Song 'Crucify Your Mind' From The Album 'Cold Fact' Was Covered By Psuedo Rock Collaborators 'Also Known As' On Their Album 'All At The Devil Together'. In 2012 The Sundance Film Festival Hosted The Premiere Of The Documentary Film Searching For Sugar Man From Swedish Director Malik Bendjelloul Detailing The Efforts Of Two South African Fans To See If His Rumored Death Was True—and If Not To Discover What Had Become Of Him. The Simon Chinn- And John Battsek-Produced Documentary Went On To Win The World Cinema Special Jury Prize And The Audience Award World Cinema Documentary. In February 2012 The Film Played At The True/False Documentary Film Festival In Columbia Missouri And Director Malik Bendjelloui Was In Attendance And Did An Extended Q & A After The Film. The Film Opened The 2012 Traverse City Film Festival On July 31. The Film Opened In New York And Los Angeles On July 27 2012. It Was Also Screened As Part Of Cinema Programs In Some European Music Festivals During The Summer Of 2012 Including The Way Out West Festival In August Where Rodriguez Was Also Scheduled To Perform. In July 2012 He Performed At The Newport Folk Festival In Rhode Island.
The Searching For Sugar Man Soundtrack Features A Compilation Of Rodriguez Tracks From His Cold Fact And Coming From Reality Albums. The Album Was Released On July 24 2012. read less