I really want to thank Jo Bryant and her OMG Stop the presses !!!!!!! post for introducing me to the incredible story of this most amazing man:
Sixto Rodriguez
After a very brief recording career in the late 60s and early 70s, Sixto Rodriguez faded into obscurity in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Unbeknownst to him however, his music had made him a rock icon as big as Elvis and The Beatles in places like South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and Australia – while almost no one here in the U.S. had ever heard of him, including myself!
I really hope you all take the time to check out Jo’s post. She’s been a huge Rodriguez fan since the 70s and her post chock full of information about him, including music videos and a 60 Minutes piece covering this beautiful and humble man’s rise from anonymity to being the focus of the acclaimed documentary film “Searching for Sugar Man” (Wikipedia) (IMDB).
I listened to quite a few Rodriguez songs on YouTube after reading Jo’s post. Here are two of my favorites (so far)…
I want ice water.
More from the Just Vibes volume
Man, how in the world did we all miss this guy?! Thank you and Jo for waking us up, finally!
You are so welcome Luddy! But you really should go to Jo’s post to see all the stuff I didn’t mention here, including the crazy rumor (mentioned in the 60 Minutes piece) that Rodriguez had committed suicide by setting himself on fire on-stage. Can you imagine what it must have been like for all his legions of fans to see him alive, well, and performing right in front of them?!?!
You have to get the movie Izaak. They show his first concert in South Africa and I cried like a baby. The bass guitarist was playing…da da da da, da da da dum…the introductory riff from I Wonder over and over…and the place went nuts when he walked out on stage. They just screamed and clapped for 10 minutes. And when he started singing…their reaction made me cry more.
I’m already looking into getting myself a copy Jo. I think they mentioned that concert in the 60 minutes piece. That’s something I just have to see!
This trailer has a few clips from the concert to give you a taste…
http://vimeo.com/44732996
Wow, that was great Jo! I wish I’d seen that when I was gathering stuff for this post!
Ahhh but we always find stuff after the fact Izaak…happens to me all the time.
Tell me about it! *groan*
You just gotta let it go Izaak. Now pop on over and do me a favour:
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/small-stone-18-january-2013/
Seeing as I introduced you to Rodriguez and all…hehehehe
You are most deserving Jo – I hope you win!
Awwwwww…I am just tickled to have been nominated.
Being the “antisocial” type myself, I’m not much for awards and the like. But it is nice when good friends get the recognition they deserve!
It’s all part of my evil scheme to takeover the blogging universe…hehehehe
I bow to the Master! BTW, have you seen this: Australian Accents by Adam Hills? I love accents and it’s so very funny!
OMG !!! I loved where he talks about the Dutch and the French…so funny.
OMG Jo, LMFAO!!!!
We are a funny species us aussies…
Check out this and read some of the slang posts. Oh and you really need to read the “Waltzing Mathilda” one if you really want an insight in to the auusie mind and vernacular
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/category/australia/
Goodness I feel like a spammer sending all these links.
Especially to a man who can barely keep his eyes open!
But I will try to check them out. Thanks! 
I love this Izaak,
The first post I did on him: http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/i-wonder-wonder-i-do/
was…wait for it….reblogged on the Sugarman.org site…boy was I a happy camper that day.
Wow Jo, that is so damned cool! I clinked on your link to that post last night but I was too busy listening to Rodriguez on YouTube, formulating this post in my head, trying to watch the Australian Open, and fighting sleep to comment. Sorry!
No sorry needed Izaak. There is another post that you might find cool. I got the most amazing gift from a friend I made through blogging for my birthday. She read the “I Wonder” post and saw that I had the albums but not the CDs which were hard to get here.
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/kindness-friendship-a-poets-music-and-happy-tears/
Blogging is soooooooooooo cool.
Your Chevvy hiding under the bed reminds me of myself Jo. Knowing what a big Pink Floyd fan I am and, I guess, sensing how unlikely it was that I’d ever actually go anywhere as crowded as a big concert, my friend The Friggin Loon took it upon herself to send me a ballcap and a nice picture book she got when she went to see Roger Waters doing “The Wall.” You are so right Jo (again), Blogging is so very cool!
Was it “60 Minutes” that did a feature on him? I know I saw a story about him somewhere in the last few months. I’d never heard of him. Difficult to imagine a talent like this just disappearing from the American music scene for so long.
Isn’t that just freaky?!?! Of course, Rodriguez is such an unassuming type, so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. And yeah, there’s a YouTube video of the 60 Minutes piece in Jo’s post.
I first came across Rodriguez when his song “Sugar Man” was in the movie Candy with Heath Ledger. His music is beautiful and many people have been talking about him since that recent 60 minutes special on him a few weeks ago. Thanks for posting!
You are so welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Whoa ! great music ! ! For some reason, he reminds me of James Blunt.