If you havent seen it - do yourself a favour.
It's one of the greatest music documentaries ever.

I'm a fan of the fantastic story....

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Someone recommended this to me only the other day. Will check it out.

Great, a must see. Where is this music been all these years???

Quote
seitan
If you havent seen it - do yourself a favour.
It's one of the greatest music documentaries ever.

Agreed. Fantastic music & story.

Thanks for your post. Will check out the dvd and vinyl

I actually have his two albums on vinyl as he was somewhat popular in Australia in the 70s. Can't understand why he didn't make it.

Sounds great, never heard of the guy though........

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Like others here,l had never heard of Sixto,till a couple of months ago my daughter turned me on to his music,the guy its amazing,been listening to all his stuff continuously,love it,here is one l can't get out of my head..




"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

Brilliant stuff!!! A must see. Will see Rodriguez this summer at a festival.
The documentary deservedly won Oscar this year. We had a few threads about it here at the time

I had never heard of him until a client from the Midlands of England came in to see me last Tuesday. We were talking about music -- The Who -- the first band I had ever seen, and the second . Then I told him I had seen Bob Dylan 22 times, once with Santana back in august of 93 and Elvis Costello in 2007. The Stones never came up and I wasn't about to mention them. I have never seen them in concert and don't plan on it.

He asked me if I had ever heard of Rodriguez. No, don't know who the hell he was. He told me he was big in South Africa. "Look up Searching for Sugar Man", he told me. I'd be blown away as his lyrics and music were 10 x better that Dylan's. I did and I can't stop listening to him because the sweetest kiss I ever got, was the one I never tasted.

He lived in Detroit as a laborer, then my client told me he went back out on tour twice, either in South Africa or Australia - I don't remember. The client told me he made a load of money on both tours and gave it to his two daughters to live on for the rest of their lives and went back to being a laborer.

That's just what I was told. I probably should look it up.

He was featured on TV very recently in Japan and his two albums plus the soundtrack are all selling big in Japan at the moment. I don't think the documentary has even been shown there yet.

- I love the music and the documentary. It got me thinkin, does lot of Americans think that they know everything that is great in music or that whatever is the most famous has to be the greatest.

- I'm kinda suprised that people make such a big deal about Sixto being famous outside of USA. Let's face it, Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls had huge probleam in getting record deals in America, - The Gun Club was a great eighties rock band with a strong international cult following and some of their albums were never even released in USA, etc, etc...

- There's lot of rock musicians that are huge stars in different countries and they never make a penny in USA. - Theres so many great bands outside of mainstream that have a strong global fanbase outside of USA...So, Sixto Rodriguez being a star in South Africa shouldnt be a big suprise. Why not. It's great documentary and great music, but I find peoples reactions to the film bit overrated.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-03-18 17:11 by seitan.

I think the problem is in the name not that there is something wrong with "Rodriguez" but if I saw this record back in the 70's I,m not sure I will check it out...can't remember his records where available Holland or had any airplay....
He also reminds me a bit of Al Stewart - Year of the Cat

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Great little film. Like the music very much.... 'I Wonder' is superb.

Amazing story.
It blows my mind that his music never became better known when
it first came out in the early 70's.
A must see documentary.

I have the DVD in my Netflix queue. I saw a story, maybe something on the tellie, about Rodriguez which got me into it. Fascinating. Working in a blue-collar job when halfway around the world you are a musical superstar.

Great Doco I agree. Being a little pedantic I must say it does gloss over the fact that he was pretty popular in Australia as well as South Africa. "Sugarman" (the song) recieved a lot radio time down here when it first came out. He toured here a couple of times in the late 70's/early 80's, once with Midnight Oil. There is a live album floating around called "Alive" which was only released in Australia. He is touring here at the moment as it happens.

I loved the documentary; and was turned on to his music. Which isn't bad.
But more than anything I liked him, the person. There was something very serene and removed in the way he carries himself. More than anything that is the way I strive to live. In the film when he is interviewed by the makers, and often remains puzzled with "I am sorry, I don't know how to answer that".