Rodriguez, Australia & Searching for Sugar Man

Rodriguez, aged 17, Detroit, circa 1970.

Back in the mid' 70s, or more precisely during 1974 and 1975, as a senior high school student living in an Australian coastal town located approximately 50 miles south of the Sydney metropolis, I remember going to weekend parties armed with a bottle of port and good cheer, and rocking out to the music of Led Zeppelin IV and Deep Purple's Machine Head. Late in the evening we would collapse around the record player, pass around a reefer or two, and listen to the coolest albums of the day, including Ma by Rare Earth, and Cold Fact by Rodriguez. In a drunken and stoned haze we'd chat and make out, before escaping around the stroke of midnight to the comfort of home. Those images have stayed with me, as has the music of Rodriguez. Cold Fact was a classic then, played regularly on the national, youth focused radio station 2JJ, and readily available for purchase in record stores. It, and the follow up Coming from Reality, remain relevant and listenable to this day, especially as Covid-19 lock downs hit and we found ourselves stranded at home with nothing much to do but think, read and listen to music. It was therefore with a real sense of deja vu and joy that I looked on as the by-then 70 year old Rodriguez gained international stardom with the release in 2012 of the Oscar award winning documentary Looking for Sugar Man. I had kept my copies of the Australia Rodriguez albums and CDs but not really listened to them intently since the 1980s, only pulling them out on occasion over the intervening years. Rodriguez always intrigued me. His music stood out, like that of Nick Drake and the early Tim Buckley, in that it had a simplistic, though timeless quality from the get-go. More recently I watched the award-winning documentary a couple of times on Netflix during the Covid lock downs, and that was the inspiration for this blog. But who is Rodriguez, and why is he one of the stand out artists of the 70s, yet very much forgotten prior to the release of Looking for Sugarman? The first part of the question is easy to answer; the latter, less so.....

Explanations and revelations

Rodriguez (10 July 1942 - 8 August 2023), to his fans worldwide, was a Detroit-based, self-effacing, quietly spoken, philosophically minded American singer-songwriter of Mexican descent who, following the release of a promotional single in 1967, recorded two superlative LPs in 1970 and 1971 - Cold Fact and Coming from Reality. Despite being issued in the United States on the Sussex label - a subsidiary of Buddha / A&M - both failed to have any impact there. This was most likely due to a number of factors, including racial stereotyping - a Mexican version of Bob Dylan and Donovan, with working class roots in the Motor City (Detroit), was a unique blend and not easy to sell at the time, especially in his home town; lack of support from the record company and management, with his agent Clarence Avant, the head of Sussex and former head of Motown Records, proving unable - or unwilling - to properly promote him, though fully aware of his talent and of the quality of the music, and happy to siphon off the Rodriguez royalties over the years; and the artist's own ambivalence in regard to pursing success and securing all associated financial rewards. Rodriguez was naturally shy and retiring, and in performance he would often turn his back on audiences, at least at the outset, as he buried himself in his music. This demeanor reminds one of Robert Johnson during recording in the 1930s, or, once again, the English singer songwriter Nick Drake who produced exquisite music in the studio but found it difficult to perform live on stage, around the same time that Rodriguez was in the studio. By the end of 1972 all the aforementioned factors combined to end Rodriguez's recording career. He subsequently returned to life as a hard working Detroit labourer and social worker. Outside of the United States, however, the impact of his music was different, especially in two former colonial outposts of the British Empire, namely Australia and South Africa. Why? Well, nobody can really answer that apart from the fact that the young people there were discerning in their choice of the latest music arriving on the scene from the US, UK and Europe. Rodriguez's two LPs were quality products, rare gems and definite classics. Time has proven the Aussies and South Africans correct. However, his stardom in those two far off countries was a cold fact, even if it remained for a long time unknown to the wide world, and in the case of South Africa, even to Rodriguez himself.

Rodriguez, London, late 1970.

Breaking out Downunda

Cold Fact was released by Festival Records, Australia, shortly after its 1970 US release. There was often a 2-3 year gap common between the release of music in the US and UK and its appearance in Australia, but this did not happen with Rodriguez. Without any real publicity or support from Sussex records, the LP sold a few hundred copies in Australia before being deleted. However, during 1972 the deejay Holger Brockman, of Sydney radio station 2SM, began playing the track Sugar Man and, when he transferred to 2JJ in 1975, he placed the full album on rotation. As a result, it took off, was re-released, and sold in large numbers, with the present author one of the late 70s purchasers. Around 40,000 copies were sold in Australia by the end of the decade, giving it double gold status locally. The quality of the recordings stood out, especially to a generation of stoned and somewhat rebellious youth - like this writer - whose encounter with the Sixties countercultural revolution was taking place half a decade later than the United States and Europe. It had peaked with the so-called Summer of Love in the US during May 1967, whilst in Swinging London around the same time the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and sang All You Need is Love in the first international satellite broadcast. Two years later Rodriguez entered a Detroit studio to record Cold Fact. However, the harsh reality of Rodriguez's lyrics and their emotional and political content received a muted response, despite the obvious quality of the songwriting and recording and the fact that the early 70s saw an international boom in sales by singer songwriters such as James Taylor, Carol King and Cat Stevens, to name but a few. Sussex records had gold on their hands but failed to develop its full potential. Nevertheless, Australian audiences were appreciative and, as a result, Rodriguez toured in March-April 1979 with 15 sellout concerts.

Australian tour poster, March - April 1979.

The story of Rodriguez's Australian discovery and successful touring over the years is contained within the detailed chronology of his life below. Needless to say it was somewhat surprising to watch the Looking for Sugarman documentary and its claim to have been the first country outside of the US to have discovered Rodriguez and supported local tours. Australia was clearly the first to do the latter, though it must be admitted that there were thousands of fans around the world during the 1970s when the two LPs were initially released, including within the two former colonies.

South African discovery

The story of Rodriguez and the incredible influence his music had - despite its partial censorship - in Apartheid-ridden South Africa is outlined in the Oscar award winning documentary, Searching for Sugar Man (2012). Therein we observe how young whites, beginning in 1972, popularised the music of an artist they came to believe had died in an on-stage suicide, and how, in 1996, they discovered that he was alive and well and living a relatively quiet life in his Detroit house - the one pictured on the cover of the original release of Coming from Reality. As a result, Rodriguez was brought to their country for a series of highly successful concerts in March 1998, as recorded in the Dead Men Don't Tour (1998) television documentary.

The 1980s and beyond

Rodriguez's South African rediscovery is a wonderful story, well told in both documentaries, with Searching for Sugar Man deserving of its Oscar. However, neither revealed how the same 'rediscovery' had occurred in Australia nearly two decades earlier. Rodriguez undertook two highly successful tours there as a headline act in 1979, and again in 1981 both solo and as support to the band Midnight Oil. This followed on his discovery during the mid 70s by young Australians exposed to music from all parts of the globe. This was in contrast to their isolated brethren in South Africa who were around the same time the subject of internal and external physical, social and cultural boycotts. During 1979, for example, some 40,000 fans attended Rodriguez concerts in the major Australian capital cities, with 15,000 in Sydney alone from six sellout shows. To support the 1981 tour, a live recording compiled from two of the Sydney concerts was released. It remains the definitive early career live recording of Rodriguez. Unfortunately, the Australian experience was not repeated elsewhere, at least not until his second 'rediscovery' in South Africa during 1996-8. As a result of that latter experience, or phenomena, and with the rapid expansion of the internet also occurring around that time, the news eventually spread to the United States during the 2000s, giving rise to a higher profile for Rodriguez, at last, in his home country. This was to be reinforced with the release of the groundbreaking Searching for Sugar Man documentary in 2012.

Rodriguez had a second coming, and became an international star at the age of 70, touring the world extensively between 2012-2015. His subsequent near blindness from glaucoma slowed this down during the latter part of the decade, as did his age and the COVID-19 outbreak. However, all the while he continued to tour and perform, especially in places such as Australia, South Africa and Europe. As a result of his long career as a labourer in the city of Detroit, Rodriguez maintained his health and fitness to a degree whereby he was able to perform on the international stage as though decades younger - another amazing element of the truly amazing career of a unique and extraordinary talent.

In closing, it should be noted that there is a mystery / mystic around Rodriguez the man, as expressed in his music, the lyrics, the circumstances of his life and his speech. He is a man of few words, both in interview and during performance. However, those words are often quite profound, His gaining of an honors degree in philosophy from Wayne State University, Detroit, in 1981 points to a deeply thoughtful nature and a wisdom that belies his age. Also, as a child of the Sixties, his hippieness shows through in his positive attitude toward life, looking forward without blame, and a generosity of spirit wherein he largely rejects the trappings of fame and money, apart from where it can help those around him. The peace and love mantra of the Sixties is obviously deeply felt by him.

This article contains a chronology relating to the music of Rodriguez, with a focus on Australia. A more comprehensive list covering 1942-2010 is available at the blog-SugarMan.org site, with a focus therein on South Africa. The following list links to some of the video and audio recordings of his long and rather extraordinary career. Fortunately, many live performances and interviews during the early 2010s have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube, including such gems as the 1979 live Sydney show, and a 2015 concert in Belgium. They all provide for the first time, and largely in the absence of any such prior material, an extra dimension to our understanding of the artist gained from his few classic recordings and meager biographical information hitherto available. A number of biographical texts have also appeared in recent years and are listed below. Enjoy!

Chronology

1942

* Rodriguez is born on 10 July 1942.

1967

* 31 August 1967 - the 15 year old Rod Riguez releases a single: I'll Slip Away / You'd Like to Admit It on the Impact label, Detroit. "A" side duration: 2.21 minutes.

1968

* Rodriguez gigs around Detroit and develops a collection of original songs.

1969

* August & September 1969 - Cold Fact is recorded at the Tera Shirma Studios, Detroit, by the 17 year old Rodriguez.

1970

* March 1970 - Cold Fact is released in the United States on the Sussex label (Buddha / A&M Records). Tracks: Sugar Man, Only Good for Conversation, Crucify My Mind, This is not a song, it's an outburst: or, the Establishment Blues, Hate Street Dialogue, Forget It, Inner City Blues, I Wonder, Like Janis, Gommorah (A nursery rhyme), Rich Folks Hoax and Jane S. Puddy.

* 1970 - singles Inner City Blues / Forget It and To Whom It May Concern / I Think of You released in the US.

* 1970 - Cold Fact is released on Festival Records, Australia. A few hundred copies are sold before it is withdrawn.

* 1970 - tracks for Coming from Reality are recorded at Lansdowne Studios, London, over 30 days at the end of the year.

1971

* 1971 - Cold Fact is released in South Africa.

* November 1971 - Coming from Reality is released in the United States on the Sussex label and by A&M in the UK. Tracks: Climb Up On My Music, A Most Disgusting Song, I Think of You, Heikke's Suburbia Bus Tour, Silver Words, Sandrevan Lullaby - Lifestyles, To Whom It May Concern, It Started Out So Nice, Halfway Up the Stairs, Cause. The cover comprises a photograph of the artist sitting on the front steps of his house in Detroit.

1972

* 1972 - Rodriguez records again in Detroit. Tracks: Can't Get Away, Street Boy and I'll Slip Away. These are his final recordings.

1974

* 1974 - Cold Fact is re-released in South Africa with a different cover - the white background is replaced by black, and the bottom section is multi-coloured rather than simply black and white.

1976

* 1976 - After the Fact, a compilation of tracks from Cold Fact and Coming from Reality is released in South Africa.

1977

* 1977 - At His Best, a best of LP, is released in Australia. Tracks: Crucify Your Mind, Sugar Man, Sandrevan Lullaby, Inner City Blues, Can't Get Away, I Wonder, I'll Slip Away, Street Boy, Cause, Jane S.Piddy, Establishment Blues. This album has strong sales.

* 1977 - single Sugar Man / Inner City Blues released in Australia. It is a hit.

1978

* 1978 - single Climb Up on My Music released in Australia. The album Cold Fact is re-released.

* [Review] Cold Fact, Tharunka, University of New South Wales Students Union [newspaper], 11 September 1978:

Cold Fact - Rodriguez. Some seven years after its original, relatively unheralded appearance, Cold Fact is a welcome re-release. Whether the album is a 'classic' in rock jargon is anybody's guess and a question perhaps best left for posterity to resolve. What is pertinent is that it is perhaps the definite Rodriguez album. Cold Fact is a collection of songs that are in essence a series of delicate impressionistic vignettes of a particular environment and set of people. The songs, with their Dylanesque lyrics and threadbare arrangements, are masterful manipulations of a series of contradictory moods and emotions - i.e. a desire for escape, an impotent cynicism, the graffiti tape imagery, the brutal frankness and pining romanticism - all set against the grain of Rodriguez's exquisite street level lingo and 'cool' savior faire. And it does contain perhaps the finest song Rodriguez has written so far - the irresistible, irony ridden 'Like Janis'. RCA BGM - 002)

1979

* 15 March - 8 April 1979 - Rodriguez headlines a tour of Australia, with 15 concerts across the country, backed for part of the tour by two US musicians, and the local Mark Gillespie Band. Tour dates included:

March 15 - Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne
March 17 - Regent Theatre, Sydney
March 18 - Regent Theatre, Sydney
March 20 - Festival Hall, Brisbane
March 23 - Regent Theatre, Sydney
March 24 - Canberra Theatre, Canberra
March 26 - Festival Theatre, Adelaide
March 28 - Concert Hall, Perth
April 3 - Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne
April 6 - State Theatre, Sydney
April 7 - Civic Theatre, Newcastle (2 shows)
April 8 - Regent Theatre, Sydney

* Canberra Times, Thursday, 22 March 1979.

* Luis Feliu, Cheers of joy meet Rodriguez, Canberra Times, 29 March 1979:

The Rodriguez concert at the Canberra Theatre last Saturday night drew a full house and it was one of the most enthusiastic responses I have seen there for a long while. I am talking not about the formal encore calls at the end of the main set, but the cheers of joy and recognition that greeted the first few notes of each of the 17 songs. The mainly young audience gave the unheralded folk hero, a Detroit native of Mexican background, a warm vibe that he humbly thrived on. Most of the audience familiar with his 10-year-old albums 'Cold Fact' and 'Coming To Reality' must have been, as I was, taken by the intensity of his lyrics, their delivery and the magnetism of his gentle, passive voice. Rodriguez is definitely a cult hero. The attendance at his Canberra performance, and elsewhere around Australia, took everyone by surprise. Rodriguez began as a ghetto minstrel in Detroit, writing songs about the inner city, wasted lives, junk and hookers. He was born with a talent for melodies and phrasing and became a sponge of social concerns. He poignantly portrayed anger and disillusion with his songs. He made two albums, 'Cold Fact' and 'Coming To Reality' about a decade ago. They disappeared entirely in America but 'Cold Fact' surfaced in Australia as a cult item. It sold steadily and a few years ago local release rights were snapped up and another album, 'Rodriguez at His Best', was released. More recently, the original 'Coming To Reality' was released. 'Cold Fact' has just notched its second gold album, for sales of more than 40,000, a big surprise for Rodriguez who plays the occasional bar in Detroit and who has in the past 10 years earned his living from a variety of jobs, run for political office in Detroit and completed a university degree in philosophy. Looking rather like an aspiring politician in a neat, beige suit, Rodriguez for most of his repertoire using a three-piece Australian backing band, sang and played unaware of what might be happening in the audience. He is not a great chatterer to the audience, preferring to seduce with the conviction of the compositions. I noticed a bit of tension up front after only the first couple of numbers, when some younger, enthusiastic members of the audience began to dance in the area below the stage. This apparently caused some discomfort to others, and it wasn't long before theatre staff had to spend considerable time trying to get them to sit down. On one side, you could argue that dancing for this type of concert is just not on, as it tends to distract the audience from the performance, which demands close attention. Then you could say the theatre is the wrong venue and people do not loosen up enough to not worry about others enjoying it in their own way. Rodriguez, for the record, said after the show that he had not minded the six or so people dancing, and that it had not put him off in the slightest. Notice should be made of the backing musicians, who played with a support act, the Mark Gillespie Band. A former guitarist with Captain Matchbox, Steve Cooney, was, to say the least, over enthusiastic. His guitar and mandolin playing was otherwise very tight. A broken mandolin string during what I thought was the best song of the night did not bother him or spoil the song, and he deservedly received a personal ovation.

* 1979 - Rodriguez is Australian cult, Billboard, 7 April. Possibly written by Glenn A. Baker:

Sydney - In 1969 [1970] Australia's Festival Records, under a licensing agreement with Sussex Records U.S., released an album by (Sixto) Rodriguez entitled "Cold Fact." Within a year it had been deleted after selling just a few hundred copies. During 1972, 2SM deejay Holger Brockman began to play the "Cold Fact" cut, "Sugarman," on an occasional basis. An immediate cult built up around the Mexican-American social-conscience singer with a voice not unlike a cross between Bob Dylan and Jose Feliciano. With the LP also impossible to obtain by then, even on import, thousands of private cassettes began to circulate around the country. When Brockman moved to the progressive rock format station, 2JJ, in 1975 he gave regular airplay to the artist's complete repertoire of two albums, and the Rodriguez cult began to take on awesome proportions - though the records remained elusive. (A small number of South African imports were launched, but were snapped up within days.) Two Melbourne concert promoters, Zev Eiziks and Michael Coppel, aware of the Sydney-based cult, contacted the artist's ex-manager Clarence Avant, who now operated the Tabu label in the U.S. Avant agreed to the leasing of a compilation album, "Rodriguez at his Best," on the local Blue Goose independent label. Gold sales of this 1977 release then persuaded Avant to allow the Australian availability of the original "Cold Fact" album which, without commercial airplay or film clip / television exposure, moved in excess of 40,000 units (double gold in this country). Through Avant, Eiziks and Coppel (as Australian Concert Entertainment) tracked down the artist in Detroit, where he was employed as a social worker for the mayor's department, and also studying for a sociology degree. He was initially disinterested in touring Australia, and it was not until 12 months after the first contact that he agreed to the proposal. "The problem was," related Coppel, "he had never played a concert before, just bars and clubs -where he could rarely perform all his own material. He was just stunned by what was being put together for him in Australia." Rodriguez arrived with two teenage daughters and, for the firs week, was too apprehensive to talk to the media with any confidence. In Sydney his first three concerts sold out within days. A fourth, then a fifth - and, at press time, apparently a sixth - were added, representing a total of 15,000 in the city (Rod Steward drew just 3,000 more in Sydney just a few weeks earlier.) In Brisbane, Rodriguez sold out the Festival Hall (3,800), a feat which some touring rock acts find beyond them. In Melbourne, he played three 2,000 capacity shows, two in Perth with 3,500 attending, one in Adelaide (2,000) and two in Newcastle (3,000). Altogether, more than 30,000 Australian saw the artist perform via 15 concerts. The audiences, which seemed to comprise predominantly the young working class, gave Rodriguez consistently tumultuous receptions, yelling encouragement and endearments to him between each song, and hanging on every lyric line with impressive reverence. The man himself seemed almost embarrassed on stage, and spoke no more than a dozen short lines throughout each show. When returning to stage for an encore at his first Sydney concert, he mumbled emotionally to the audience: "Eight years .... and this happens. I don't believe it." The reason for his almost unprecedented level of underground following remains a mystery to all. Michael Coppel says, "There's apparently something in his heavy 'hippie' era lyrics which strikes a chord with young rock fans of the 70s. They seem to identify with his sentiments." During his eight year hiatus, Rodriguez has been writing sporadically, and ACE hopes to entice him into the studio during his visit, to cut an album of new material. Until that arises, Blue Goose is enjoying the sales wave generated by the tour, and has just released his second old album, "Coming From Reality," which they expect to sell in large quantities.

* 1979 - Coming from Reality is released in Australia.

1981

* October 1981 - Rodriguez tours Australia, with some gigs supporting the band Midnight Oil. His short "Street Boy" tour dates included the following:

Sunday 18 October - Capital Theatre, Sydney;
Monday 19 October - Canberra Theatre;
Friday 30 October - Churchill Auditorium, Lismore;
Monday 2 November - Civic Theatre, Newcastle.

Reminiscences by Rodriguez: I feel that Midnight Oil is a top band. I first watched them perform in 1981. I witnessed their powerful stage performance at past two in the morning in the freezing cold of the Australian wind. It was so cold that as Peter Garrett performed steam was rising from his head. It was almost phantom-like. He is musical, political and international. I also love the Stones. For me, Mick Jagger is king, but Peter Garrett is also high on the list of music aristocracy. I've been lucky to have been backstage with Midnight Oil on several occasions. We were on the same bill in Australia in 1981 ... it was a trip! (Rodriguez 1997)

Fan comment: I went to see Rodriguez in 1981, it was in Canberra at the Canberra Theatre. He appeared on stage with a support guitarist who's name escapes me. There was no support acts at all, just Rodriguez. I remember it being an eerie / chilling experience listening to this extraordinary artist. (Mark Hohmuth, August 2000)

Tharunka, 12 October 1981.

* Ruth Hessey, Rodriguez - the unknown cult singer songwriter celebrity of post 60s cynicism in Australia, Tharunka, University of New South Wales Students Union [newspaper], 12 October 1981:

Rodriguez> has just hit Australia for the second time, making his first appearance this round at the Tanelorn Festival last weekend. The strongest impression he gives on meeting is a comprehensive difficulty in believing the impact he has made on the antipodes is not a giant concoction on the part of the promoters. Back in America they hardly realise he has a career in popular music."I'm not asked to play in the States — I've only done 17 maybe 18 concerts ever, (all on the last Australian tour) - I'm not rushing to play over there. I've never pursued it." So how was Tanelorn?"It was great. I played till after 12," he says after some seconds of hesitant rumination — "The audience — they just stayed with me." He marvels and then leaps up to light my cigarette. "There was a moment — I looked up and saw the arc lights moving over thousands of people out there - listening to me. It was an incredible moment." He was overwhelmed?.... "Yes." There's a disarming simplicity about Rodriguez. Cold Fact and Coming From Reality certainly made little impression on the U.S. market, but by some strange incidental collusion of forces, they did make a big impact on Australia. This despite the fact that his records received no memorable commercial airplay, and for a number of years made no difference to anyone's record collection. His career has more or less crept in the back door on him, surprising no one more than himself. In 1972 he tossed in his professional guitar strings to pursue other, at the time seemingly more relevant interests — he picked up the threads of a degree in philosophy (recently completed), took classes in economics, ran for public office in Michigan, occasionally washed dishes for extra money and worked on a child development programme in home town Detroit. His first visit to Australia must have been a shock after years of sober practical pursuits. Sixteen sellout concerts around the country on the basis of minimal publicity, and a cult following. They couldn't even find photos of him to circulate to the press (and they're still passing out the same ones they dug up last time). He walked on stage with his guitar, NO previous experience with large audiences, a bundle of nerves, and a batch of songs he'd written almost ten years before — and wowed them. At Pentridge gaol in Victoria, he learned his songs were the most requested by inmates, and was asked to do a special gaol concert. Australia was an experience and a half for him. He'd walked into the country a humble philosopher and writer and overnight found himself a full-fledged performer. "Now I can say it's what I wanted — if it had happened in a more chronological way it would be more mechanical." Rodriguez, refreshingly, is still too overwhelmed by the treatment he gets in Australia, to perform mechanically. So unused is he to the incursions of public recognition that he obviously still finds the trappings of his success unnerving. "They're so generous here," he says, shaking his head and once again leaping to light my cigarette. "They're giving me books, and T-shirts — there's an approach in philosophy which involves suspension of belief. I had to use it when I got the call to come to Australia. Now I'm a little more comfortable — with the experience I got last time, and I've been helped by a lot of very generous professional people.. . .. Australia is a very sophisticated place. I think they need an update back home, I really do." Ladies and gentlemen — we have a fan. Now what about times changing? Sugar Man and I Wonder are over ten years old. There was a bitter, black cynicism to those songs which swept us all off our feet during those first experiments with drugs and sex. Two years ago they struck a chord somewhere in the souls of Australian youth - and now? Similar themes, he assures me. Like any industry the same ideas are used over and over again — you change them around a little and they still come out fresh. At this point someone in his contingent leaves, excited after Tanelorn, and promising that everyone will be there to see him in Melbourne. He laughs, once again amazed and flattered. "That'll be great. But please," he adds quite genuinely, "don't tell me which night, because it'll make me nervous. O.K.?" O.K. Getting back to his hard backed chair, he searches for our lost drift — "I'm working very hard on my material now. I really want it to be of a certain quality. I want music to take up more of my time. I'm developing the skill as a performer. I have stuff I want released in Australia — but I want it to be a studio album — I don't want to go up there live — I haven't got the talent." He pauses, and then adds "Expectations are so high and if it doesn't work out . . . this business is all about accelerated obsolescence — get as much out of a person as quickly as possible. I'm just lucky it hasn't happened like that to me." He jumps up, tugging at his T-shirt and jeans, smiling charmingly. "Like I said — never get rid of your working clothes — never throw them away." So what about the tour? "I'm just an ordinary everyday person — an average guitar player" — he gestures at his hotel suite and the attendant smiling professionals — "I light my own cigarette. I'm not really suited to all this you know. .. I hope this tour is as successful as the last. I don't know where I'm playing — I haven't been told, I don't want to know." He smiles again. Rodriguez is a sweetie. He clasps his hands and nods at my tape recorder. . . "Can you turn that thing off now?" O.K. Ruth Hessey.

* 1981 - Rodriguez Alive!, Blue Goose Records, Australia. Live concert recording, Regent Theatre, Sydney, 17 & 18 March 1979. Duration: 39.43 minutes.

1982

* 1982 - The Best of Rodriguez, an LP released in South Africa, is a copy of the Australian At His Best album.

1996

* 1996 - South African fans discover details about the life and times of Rodriguez. They begin plans to bring him to their country.

1998

* March 1998 - Rodriguez tours South Africa.

* 30 September 1998 - Dead Men Don't Tour - Rodriguez in South Africa '98 South African television documentary, including clips from concerts. It also contains some of the most profound statements by the artist in regard to life. Duration: 52 minutes.

* 1998 - Live Fact, album and CD. Tracks: I Wonder, Only Good For Conversation, Can't Get Away, Crucify Your Mind, Jane S. Piddy, To Whom It May Concern, Like Janis, Inner City Blues, Street Boy, A Most Disgusting Song, Halfway Up The Stairs, I Think Of You, Rich Folks Hoax, Climb Up On My Music, Sugar Man, Establishment Blues, Forget It.

2002

* 2002 - single Sugar Man / Tom Cat released in Australia.

2005

* 2005 - Sugar Man: The Best of Rodriguez, an LP released in South Africa.

* 2005 - Alex Petridis, The singer who came back from the dead, The Guardian, London, 7 October.

2006

* 23 May 2006 - Live performance of Can't Get Away at The Triple Door, Seattle. Duration: 4.26 minutes. Live on KEXP. Terrific performance.

2007

* April 2007 - Australian tour.

* 8 April 2007 - live audience recording of I Wonder at the Corner Hotel, Melbourne. Duration: 3.06 minutes.

2008

* 23 November 2008 - live concert, Amoeba record store, San Francisco. With a local backing ensemble. Duration: 13.55 minutes.

2009

* 13 June 2009 - Inner City Blues. Interview on a Detroit back street, facing a quasi Aztec mural with his back to the lane way, singing Inner City Blues. Duration: 3.25 minutes.

* 23 June 2009 -Live on Radio KEXP at the Triple Door, Seattle, performing I Wonder. Duration: 3.17 minutes.

2010

* 7 April 2010 - Interview (audio) by Jayden Menno at the Corner Hotel, Melbourne. played on The Show Tonight Live. Duration: 5.10 minutes.

2011

* 3 May 2011 - Video clip for the song Crucify Your Mind by Alberto Mulas Caballero, utilising images from the Ingmar Bergman film Summer With Monika (1953). Duration: 2.40 minutes.

* 14 December 2011 - live video at University of Detroit Media Cafe. Performs Last Request by Paolo Lutini. Duration: 3.08 minutes.

2012

* 25 July 2012. Live performance of Sugar Man on The Weekly Comet show, following an interview with Rodriguez and the director of Searching for Sugar Man. Duration: 3.30 minutes / 43.05 minutes.

* 28 July 2012 - live performance of Like Janis for the Newport Folk Festival and Paste Ruins. Duration: 2,38 minutes.

* 14 August 2012 - live performance of Crucify Your Mind with orchestra on the David Letterman Show. Duration: 4.04 minutes.

* 22 September 2012 - Television station WGN mini documentary on Rodriguez and his association with Detroit. Part 1. Duration: 3.54 minutes.

* 18 October 2012 - Interview at Zulu Records, Vancouver, Canada. Duration: 10.36 minutes.

* 30 October 2012 - Rise of Rodriguez news report, CBC The National program, Canada. Duration: 7.16 minutes.

* 13 November 2012 - interview on the British Jools Holland program. Duration: 4.22 minutes.

* 24 November 2012 - Performing Like a Rolling Stone. Unknown location. Duration: 7.11 minutes.

* 27 November 2012 - Performing Like a Rolling Stone at Vicar Street, Dublin. Duration: 6.21 minutes.

* 19 December 2012 - Rodriguez Part 2. Interview and history. Duration: 5.11 minutes.

2013

* Howard A. Devitt, Searching for Sugarman: Sixto Rodriguez' Mythical Climb to Rock N Roll Fame and Fortune, Horizon Books, 2013, 418p. See also Part 2 (2017)

* 2013 - Glastonbury Festival, England. Full concert video. Duration: 57.36 minutes.

* 2013 - Live concert video of Jazze at Vienne, Austria. Duration: 9.09 minutes.

* 19 February 2013 - Interview, The Hollywood Reporter. Duration: 23.40 minutes.

* 26 February 2013 - Detroit WXYZ-TV news report on the awarding of an Oscar to Searching for Sugar Man. Duration: 2.20 minutes.

* 8 March 2013 - Interview on New Zealand television. Duration: 4.00 minutes.

* 23 March 2013 - Live performance of Sugar Man and I Wonder at Hamer Hall, Melbourne. Duration: 4.06 minutes. Audience video.

* 18 May 2013 - Concert at Masonic Temple, Detroit. Audience video. Duration: 14.04 minutes.

2014

* 16 March 2014 - concert at the Olympia, Paris. Audience video. Duration: 21 minutes.

* 4 May 2014 - live concert at Ancienne Belgique, Belgium. Duration: 1.13.10 minutes. NB: probably the best live video recording available, with a superb backing band.

* October - November 2014 - Australian tour.

2015

* Craig Bartholomew Strydom and Stephen 'Sugar' Seger, Sugar Man: The Life, Death and Resurrection of Sixto Rodriguez, Penguin, 2015, 285p.

2016

* 2016 - Rodriguez Rocks: Live in Australia, Inertia, Sydney. A live album released in Australia. Tracks: Climb Up On My Music, I Wonder, Sugar Man, Rich Folks Hoax, Inner City Blues, Street Boy, I'm Gonna Live 'Til I Die, Just One of Those Things, Somebody To Love, Learnin' The Blues.

* 23 July 2016 - live concert at the London Palladium. Duration: 35.23 minutes. Audience video. Nice guitar work in the background.

* 25 November 2016 - Sugar Man live at The Plenary, Melbourne, Australia. Duration: 4.19 minutes. Other clips also available.

2017

* Howard A. Devitt, Searching for Sugarman: Sixto Rodriguez, Coming From Reality, Heroes & Villians, Horizon Books, 2013, 602p.

2018

* 16 March 2018 - Concert at Akron Civic Theatre, Ohio. Duration: 8.30 minutes.

* 14 June 2018 - Live at Best Kept Secret. Duration: 58.47 minutes.

* 7 July 2018 - Live at the Pohoda Festival, Slovakia. Duration: 50.17 minutes. A classic concert, with many of his earliest songs performed.

* Michael Bailey, Why 'Sugar Man' Sixto Rodriguez is so sweet on Australia, Australian Financial Review, 27 July 2018.

2019

* February - March 2019 - Australian tour.

* 13 December 2019 - live performance of I Wonder, City Winery, Chicago. Duration: 3.08 minutes.

2020

* 14 February 2020 - live concert at Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, Ohio. Duration: 20.15 minutes.

* 31 August 2020 - painting of Rodriguez mural, Detroit, by Elton Munro Duran, with brief appearance by Rodriguez. Duration: 2.00 minutes.

2022

* 'Sugar Man' Sixto Rodriguez wins battle for royalties payout ahead of 80th birthday, Mirror newspaper, 5 June 2023, YouTube, duration: 9.36 minutes.