FoundTrack's Fall '08 Collection (Track 8/20) - Rodriguez - Sugar Man

Rodriguez - Sugar Man (Track 8/20)
Album - Cold Fact (Sample/Purchase)
Label - Light in the Attic
http://www.myspace.com/rodriguezsugarman


The first time i heard Rodriguez my friend made me stop what i was doing to listen to Cold Fact. The first song was "Sugar Man" and my initial reaction was immediate familiarity. By the end I felt like I was taken through a rite of passage from the 60's pop folk world into a 70's type psychedelic wonderland. I did my best to find more information but the only thing i found was a tribute page built by people in South Africa. It went on to describe how music was extremely popular among white people during the Apartheid. However, his music barely made a ripple in his homeland in the U.S. due to the fact that he recorded his two albums for the Sussex label which went under shortly after his second album. Luckily people in South Africa and Australia bought the rights to the music and have been re-issuing this album since its release. Thanks to Seattle's Light in the Attic Records, 39 years later this album finds a home in America with the company of a renewed and growing audience. If "Sugar Man" makes your ears perk, I highly recommend the rest of the album which features the bass player from the Funk Bros. on multiple tracks. For more info. check out this great feature on NPR and a recent video below, both produced just before the start of his tour through the states with Connie Price and the Keystones as his backing band.



Special Thanks to Reckless Romeo for introducing me to Rodriguez's music and contributing to this feature.