If you watch one story this week, here it is... Rodriguez

[Tig]

Rodriguez: The rock icon who didn't know it

He was more popular than Elvis, but humble 70s singer-songwriter Rodriguez didn't know about his fame in South Africa for 40 years. The story of how Rodriguez went from obscurity to stardom, decades after he cut his first album.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424704n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/10/04/Rodriguez_Wide_620x350.jpg

[tjcurtin1]

Thanks for that, Tig. I had heard about his story recently, and this was a nice presentation. The music is good, but the person behind it seems really extraordinary - beautiful!

[poodlesrule]

Walking the dog last weekend, we ran into a lady from South Africa... so we mentioned the movie (yes, shown on Landmark theater chain), as we saw it the other week. Sure enough she is a dedicated fan.. and pulls a Rodriguez song from her phone!

[mrmudcat]

Cool story:AOK

[poodlesrule]

Cool story:AOK

Happened again in a small bakery near us: Woman behind the counter had a charming accent, possibly Irish (we brake for Irish lasses!). We inquire. Turns out she is from SA, She was watching the 60-Minutes segment about Rodriguez with American husband...and she started singing along TV, much to the amazement of said husband. Had to explain to him that just about everybody knows his music there...

In the movie, one of his (very charming) daugthers explained that a lot of the music was probably bootleg, so somebody was making money somewhere. In the movie, the former Motown music publisher guy gets quite defensive, and shield himself behind his defunct company... Hmm.

[Hampus]

I'd never heard of him before I saw on the news that the documentary had been nominated for an Oscar. I looked up his music on Spotify and listened. It's been a long time since I was this taken by something I've never heard before. It's been an even longer time since I listened to a record from start to finnish (over and over) liking every track. The documentary is good too.

/Hampus

[tjcurtin1]

He's playing near me in a couple of months (Zeiterion Theater, New Bedford, MA)and I hope to go see him.


Correction: It's an April show at the Sommerville Theater (Boston) - and it's ALREADY SOLD OUT!!

[davewrites]

Here's the trailer via YouTube...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCcDUSSb0PA

[Hampus]

He's playing near me in a couple of months (Zeiterion Theater, New Bedford, MA)and I hope to go see him.


Correction: It's an April show at the Sommerville Theater (Boston) - and it's ALREADY SOLD OUT!!

Kind of ironic. He got zero attention 40 years ago and now he sold out. Better late than never :) I wonder what would have happened in 1970 had he been marketed differently?

I think that these two records will be the first I buy in a very long time. I usually listen to music on Spotify or Grooveshark or Youtube but I'd really like to have these on vinyl.

/Hampus

[NWBasser]

He's playing near me in a couple of months (Zeiterion Theater, New Bedford, MA)and I hope to go see him.


Correction: It's an April show at the Sommerville Theater (Boston) - and it's ALREADY SOLD OUT!!

He is?

The 60 Minutes intro says that he's dead...

I'm confused.

Edit: I guess I should watch past the ****** commercials...:thwap

[tjcurtin1]

Kind of ironic. He got zero attention 40 years ago and now he sold out. Better late than never :) I wonder what would have happened in 1970 had he been marketed differently?

I think that these two records will be the first I buy in a very long time. I usually listen to music on Spotify or Grooveshark or Youtube but I'd really like to have these on vinyl.

/Hampus

I wonder how many times this happens in the music world - depending on how things break at a certain moment, you either make it big or disappear - now matter how good (or even how bad, in some cases!) you or your music are.

[Hampus]

I wonder how many times this happens in the music world - depending on how things break at a certain moment, you either make it big or disappear - now matter how good (or even how bad, in some cases!) you or your music are.

That is true for sure. Sad to tink of all the good music we've missed out on due to pure coincidence, poor timing or wrong marketing. I guess it happens a lot. Just have a look at the Beatles, they were turned down by three rather large record companies before a smaller one signed them. Coincidence or timing? Anyway, I'm glad I had a listen to Rodriguez's records and it's hard not to be touched by the story.

/Hampus

[Robert]

Just saw this movie. Incredible!

Guys, you need to see this documentary.

The movie is a 10/10.