I don't know if anybody caught this story in the Sunday NYTimes about 'Rodriquez' but I did and I immediately downloaded his music on iTunes and it's terrific!
So here is the backstory... It's a story that could only have happened in the 1960's, not today in the time of hyper-information. Back then, Rodriguez makes a pair of albums that sell almost nothing and then drops out of sight. So why, 40 years later, would anyone feel compelled to make a movie about this obscure artist? Because, as it turns out, on the other side of the globe, in South Africa, Rodriguez had become as popular as the Rolling Stones or Elvis Presley. But he never knew of that success. He never saw a penny in royalties from it, and he spent decades doing manual labor to make ends meet and raise his three daughters. It wasn’t until fans in South Africa, trying to verify rumors he was dead, tracked him down through the Internet and brought him there to perform to adoring multitudes, that his career was resuscitated.
I don't know about you... but that's a movie I want to see! It's called 'Sugar Man' after one of his songs. As the director Malik Bendjelloul says, it's a story that has everything going for it... “It’s a perfect story. It has the human element, the music aspect, a resurrection and a detective story.” The movie will be released in NY and California this Friday.
Read more in the NYTimes by clicking here
and then go buy the albums on iTunes - FANTASTIC!!!
his tour dates are listed - click here
