Rodriguez - Cold Fact
Posted on November 2, 2006 by Kris Holmes
This is definitely one of those “what was the record company thinking” scenarios. Sixto Rodriguez was a songwriter & musician based in Detroit in the 70s and he recorded this album for a label called Blue Goose at Tera-Shirma Studios. The weird thing isn’t that this LP is awesome psych/folk/rock with loads of drug, political & “out there” lyrics but that it managed to get a major label release down here in New Zealand.
Festival Records were probably the biggest local major label of the time & released a bunch of weird obscure things back then (mostly on 45), but this has to be one of the oddest. Unfortunately, just because it got a major label release down here doesn’t mean that it is easy to find. I had been half-pie looking for a copy for a few years when I picked this super clean example up at a recent record fair for the pricey sum of $5.
Upon it’s release in New Zealand in the 70s the LP gained a cult underground popularity with the local drug & biker scene, apparently selling surprisingly well. I remember seeing a small clip about the LP as some sort of “forgotten classic” in Mojo or Uncut magazine a few years ago & I think someone on Soul Strut had it in a finds post a year or so ago, but don’t really know much else about it. It is really good & an indicator of a time when record companies were maybe prepared to take a bit of a chance.
Filed under: Folk, Psych / Prog, Singer / Songwriter
11 Comments to “Rodriguez - Cold Fact”
Great record maybe a bit out of step with the hardrock Detroit scene at the time. It was the first release on the Sussex label. The follow up is a big disappointment more in a laidback ssw zone with only one good track “Nikki’s Suburbia Bus Tour” or something (working off memory here). There’s more info on him at this dead page you can get the cached version through Google.
http://www.sugarman.org/coldfact.html
Rodriguez is still around Detroit, lives in my neighborhood - you occasionally see him walking on Trumbull, looking pretty similar to his old album covers actually - expect he usually wears all black, sort of like Johnny Cash. ‘Heiki’s Suburban Bus…’ is about my girlfriends father, he knew Rodriguez pretty well back ‘in the day’ as they say - he gigged alot in the late 60s between shifts at an auto plant, I think it was Fords but I may be mistaken.
Cool, thanks for the info. This pressing doesn’t mention Sussex anywhere & I have no idea what Blue Goose is except it is the light blue logo in the bottom right corner of the pic. This pressing is on the Interfusion label.
“Apparently a big seller in South Africa.”
Apparently… he did an unscheduled show in the country a few years ago as well.
Award for best love song about your drug dealer must go to ‘Sugar Man’. Apparently a big seller in South Africa. Rodriguez was pulled out of retirement to do some gigs in London earlier this year but I can’t tell you more as I didn’t go.
Festival was an Australian independent label (largest in the southern hemisphere) which was bought by Warner Music last year.
one of my fave fave records. ‘Only Good for Conversation’ has some of the dirtiest guitar licks ever laid on wax.
Yeah - don’t be put off by original release date - kinda from a weird hinterland timewise but, whilst not a perfect album the good bits make it worthwhile for sure
This posting impressed me greatly, as it did one of my best buddies who purchased the CD reissue. I can say all the tracks are fine. I know a few South African expats who are bananas about Rodriguez, even one young lady in her mid 20’s who saw him in concert. A living legend.
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Undoubtedly a great record but it wasn’t originally recorded for Blue Goose!