A South African Idol

A few years ago, I saw a documentary about a guitar player who never made it in the United States, yet he was a huge success in South Africa. The interesting fact was that the singer never knew he was popular in South Africa and when his albums did not do well in the States in the 1970's, he just stopped performing.  Through Netflix I saw a movie (documentary) called Searching for Sugar Man about the singer, and decided to order it. Flabbergasted does not cover how I felt when I saw the one hour and twenty six minute movie.

The story begins in South Africa where the singer was more popular than Elvis Presley. In every home in South Africa one could find a copy of the album by Sixto Rodriguez. I found it interesting that my grandfather's name was Sisto (sometimes spelled Sixto) and my father's name was Rodriguez. This spurred me on to find out more about the singer who, some said, was just as good as Bob Dylan, if not better.

Record label owners in the U.S. and others who had heard him sing believed Rodriguez would make it big, but it never happened. He disappeared and it was rumored that he had played his last song and shot himself or that he had set himself on fire on stage and was dead. Luckily, a couple of his fans continued digging into the mysterious disappearance of Rodriguez.

Ads were placed in newspapers and on the Internet and one day a young woman claiming to be Rodriguez' daughter called the investigator. "My father is not dead," she said, "he is alive and well and lives in Detroit, Michigan." Once it was verified that Rodriguez was around, that he sometimes played in clubs and that he had no idea how popular he was in South Africa, it was arranged for him to travel to South Africa for a live concert. Arriving in South Africa in 1998 he was treated as a famous star with paparazzi surrounding him, limos waiting to drive him around and five separate concerts were filled to capacity to listen to him sing. He was surprised to see that many in the audience knew his songs and were singing along with him!

He has a gravelly sort of voice, he writes and sings about life as he knew it, about the depressed conditions in Detroit and the United States and many of his songs are quite sad yet tell a story.  I liked his music and will

try to find a CD of his through Amazon. His daughters talk lovingly about their father and how he continues being a blue collar laborer in construction. They talk about when he ran for mayor and lost, how he wants to right many wrongs he sees, how he is a bit of an activist and how he has always been a good provider for his family. He is not a handsome man, wears sunglasses, has long hair and when asked questions he appears to be shy, yet on stage he is transformed into a great star.

On the Netflix envelope I read: "The incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest '70's rock icon who never was. Decades after Detroit singer-songwriter Rodriguez disappeared following the failure of his two critically praised records in the 1970's, two fans from South Africa, where Rodriguez was a huge hit, try to track down their idol."  I would recommend seeing Searching for Sugar Man. An interesting story and I wonder if he never made it in the United States because his name was Rodriguez.

Just a song we shared, I'll hear

brings back memories when you were here,

of your smile, your easy laughter

of your kiss, those moments after. 

The beginning of the song

I Think of You

by Sixto Rodriguez.