OMG Stop the presses !!!!!!!

Jo Bryant, , , , ,

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I have a huge love affair with Rodriguez and his music. It goes way back…way, way back.

Surfing the net today I made a discovery. My idol of the 70’s is coming to New Zealand.

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I just about dropped the laptop.

There were whoop whoops, oh yeahs, and a whole lot of dancing going on. Recently I was able to finally watch “Searching for Sugarman”. If you haven’t seen this film…you really are missing out.

When you want as desperately as I did to see a movie there is always the fear that it will be a bomb.

From the moment they played “Crucify your Mind” I knew…just knew I was witnessing a magical moment in film history. And as the film progressed I was sucked further in to his world.

I saw Rodriguez play in Sydney.

Are there moments in your life that define you ?

That concert was a defining moment for me. He sat there on stage and played the guitar and sent his voice out across the seats to settle upon me. He sang and my soul soared out of my body to touch his voice as it floated in the air. It caressed the deepest parts of me like the warm water in a bath licking your skin.

I was amazed at how much influence he had in South Africa. My only criticism of the film would be that there was no mention of how popular he was in Australia. But then again this is a story of South Africans searching for a cult idol.

I had no idea how much he influenced the rebellion against apartheid. How his words told a nation it was okay to stand against the establishment. His music inspired a group of Afrikaans musicians to use their music to speak out and start a vocal opposition to apartheid from within the country.

Another important question raised in this movie is where did all the money go from his record sales ? As the people who were looking for Rodriguez went further they got more and more stonewalled. But all roads seem to lead to one man – Clarence Avant. He was the founder of Rodriguez’s record label. He goes on and on about Rodriguez’s talent, but when it comes to talking about where the money went from South African sales he becomes quite evasive and belligerent.

The great Rodriguez hunt saw a website born that had his picture on a milk carton asking if anyone had seen this man. Finally the words of a song lead to Mike Theodore in 1997 who had produced Rodriguez’s album Cold Fact. This led to Rodriguez himself. No he hadn’t committed suicide, he hadn’t died of a drug overdose. He had taken the disappointment and gotten on with the job of living. That milk carton web page led to Rodriguez’s daughter.

It seems life can still hold surprises. Rodriguez was talked in to performing in South Africa. I think his daughter’s account of their arrival in South Africa was the high point of the film for me. They tried to get out of the way of the limousines that were on the tarmac never realising those limousines were for them.

When Rodriguez took to the stage for his first concert it took 10 minutes for the applause to stop…before he had played a note. So this is when I began to cry. And when he began to play “I Wonder” the roof looked like it was shaking…so I cried a little more.

What is the most poignant thing in this documentary of this extraordinary talent? His complete and honest humility. This is one of the world’s most extraordinary men. It makes my heart soar that he knows that his words touched people. Some people get fame undeservedly…not Rodriguez.

Beware…whether you knew Rodriguez before or not, this film will touch a place in your soul. It will make it fly with joy, that sometimes…just sometimes the spirit is rewarded.

It gets better. Rodriguez is selling out tours across America – finally.

And he is coming here…where for the second time in my life I will feel his words bathe me in their sweet softness.

What he’s demonstrated very clearly is that you have a choice. He took all that torment, all that agony, all that confusion and pain and he transformed it in to something beautiful. He’s like the silkworm, you know, you know you take this raw material and you transform it, and you come out with something that wasn’t there before, something beautiful, something perhaps transcendent something perhaps eternal, in so far as he does that I think he is representative of the human spirit of what’s possible that you have a choice, this has been my choice, to give you “Sugarman”, now have you done that…ask yourself ? – Rick Emmerson

My 2 favourite songs

and…

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Published by Jo Bryant

I was born in the land of Banjo Paterson, gum trees, and weather extremes. I am a freelance photographer. I love to make images that make people happy. To capture forever a precious moment. I am also a freelance writer/editor. I live in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, but still like to claim my Australian heritage. I graduated with a Bachelor of Communications in 2008. I am writing my first novel. I love to write poetry, short stories, and also write for the web. And there is nothing that is on a par with a sunny summer's day spent at Waihi Beach.

50 Comments

  2. I am truly ashamed to say that I’d never heard of this wonderful man Jo. Thank you so much for the introduction. And to think that he’s lived only 300 miles or so away from me all this time! 😀

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      1. Yet another thing for us to be ashamed of! I’ve been listening to his stuff on YouTube ever since I read this post and I’m going to post a couple of his songs tomorrow. Mind if I link back to this one?

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  3. Hate to say it, I’m another American who didn’t know about him. I’m super excited for you! And thanks for the introduction.

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  4. Great listening to that music again – thanks for that, and the back story from the film. Make a fine weekend of your concert visit to the city – not that the concert will need any embellishment to live on as another highlight of your life, by the sounds of it 🙂

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  5. Pingback: Discovering Sugar Man | I Want Ice Water

  7. A very exciting and informative review. I had never heard of this person but you have introduced me to a wonderfully talented person. I am so glad you will be able to see and hear him in person. I will try to find this movie as well. Thanks for sharing thisl information.

    BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!

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    1. You will love the movie Francine. It made me laugh, cry and feel so proud to be part of the species that he belongs to…he is such an incredibly humble man.

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  14. I clicked the watch later Jo… I can see He had a great affect upon yourself so I will be definitely watching … Love to you and enjoy the Weekend.. Hope you are cooling down,.. Here we have snow… so swap ya! 🙂 Hugs

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  15. Honey there is something in the back of my memory but rather vague, very big like the tracks here, especially Street boy and I Wonder (that’s the one that’s familiar).

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    1. Just so long as you like him now Gilly. It still seems amazing to me that he was not bigger in other parts of the world…just amazing. You really should watch the movie/documentary. I hope that it goes on to win at the Oscars next month.

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  16. I read a lot of movie reviews and have not seen a documentary as well received as this one. Wish I could have seen it when it was playing in the theaters, but I will rent it!

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  17. How is it that I’ve never heard of him? I listened to a few of the songs and his music is wonderful. Surely they’ll be my newest additions to my I-Pod play list. Have a blast at the concert, I bet it’s going to be just great.

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  18. I had never heard of him either, but the tv program 60 Minutes aired a profile of him. I was fascinated by his story. I also wondered who pocketed the money from the record sales all of those years.

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