Rodriguez on 60 Minutes
fishmongerfunk
4,154 Posts
rodriguez is introduced to middle america:
fishmongerfunk
4,154 Posts
Comments
But this reminded me that Searching for Sugar Man is playing down the street. Think I'm gonna go check it out tomorrow.
Here is the actual 60 minutes segment.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424704n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
Nice HD Quality Imbeds. Is it me or does the broadening of the scope of some obscurities such as Rodrgiquez- Cold Fact only bring it down a couple notches just by the mere fact that the soccer-mom neighbor next door mentions this on the next kitchen door chat, the same one who would have been blabbering about Bieber or Rihanna anyways? Doesn't the obscurity and the goodness of what many on this board enjoy make it THAT more special, but when Anybody knows about it just by flippin the channel on the boob tube, it just becomes, well less great? Cool for Rodriguez finally 40 years later he gets his spotlight on national tv, I mean I'm all for that, fuck look at him, way overdue. One of the great aspects of cool records from the past is that you can kick them at a party and everyone is like shit what is that, holy fuck that's cool, oh wait they took a Biggie Sample and made a cool song out of it or oh that's just a wu-tang clip sung with soul vocals, how strange but good! Those stealin, triflin' motherfo's. Humor ensues.
Rodriguez get ya due, get ya docu, but it irks me when a 20 year-old acts like he know's whats up when he starts blabbering at work about this record. Same thing with Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band.
PS Lyrical Madness by Rodriguez on this joint. Fucking beautiful
I totally see your point and part of me agrees...however, these are artists that would like people to hear their music. They aren't our own private pet obscure musician...the more shine they get, the better...annoying people talking about them is a small inconvenience that is well worth the fact that dude is finally getting what he deserves.
"I think I have one by that guy who was on 60 Minutes, Gonzales or something."
So said the soccer-mon selling records to me today.
She didn't have that one with her. Her friend who was putting her records on cd had it.
What you are saying is true. The mystic is off. Now Rodriguez isnt cool because his records are obscure.
So here is the test. Was he only cool because his records were obscure?
If the music is good as you used to think the records will still be good to spin.
BTW: Watts 103rd were never obscure. They had hit records.
To the test, no he is cool because his music is great. But great music that is also obscure is elevated because you get that I'm onto something that the gross majority of humans don't know about. Listening to him in my car on my way to work and I glance over to a young girl shaking and bopping to most likely top 20 pop music, makes me think damn, she just dont Know! And time and again when I introduce obscure music to my friends they are like Whoa what is THAT! They love it cause it is good music, nothing else matters. Oh and I know Watts had hits, but anyone under 45 that knows them and still plays their records would call them obscure at least to their peers. All of this leads me to:
SoulZilla's 1st Law of Obsucre Music:
A record's obscurity can only elevate good music in the listener's mind. It enhances and adds additional value. Which can be lost if the record becomes common or popular knowledge. But can never detract from the quality of the music present therein said record.
In other words, Rodriguez's music is great now and forever but now that the cat is out of the bag its WOW factor is diminished when presented to virgin ears. The internet is a double-edged sword, it gives a wider audience to great obscure music while at the same time making it easily downloadable to any mall-walking retard with a fanny pack and lights in his sneakers. But oh well, what can you do?
Does anyone else feel this way?
But then you can listen to the albums and he's 'cool' again
So it's up to you really
I'm not sure why mulleted South Africans gushing made it uncool. In the end there is no cool or uncool. There is just the mans music.
In any case, I thought the documentary was really well done. I'd have no problem recommending it to anyone.
Side note. Rodriguez is touring...
http://sugarman.org/tourdates.html
He's playing Toronto at the end of the month, but tickets were sold out awhile back supposedly
Really, I think it's incredibly bad.can you tell me what about this doc makes you say it's well done?
I also thought the actual usage of Rodriguez's music was decent.
Maybe I was taken by the actual story and many of the unknown facts you learn in the movie.
I will say this. One of my thoughts after leaving the theater today was. OK, I can't remember when I first heard of Rodriguez's music or parts of his story. But, much of this was to be found out in the late 90's. Why did it take some kid from Sweden 15 years after the fact, to do a documentary on shoestring budget to get to this point? This has always been an incredible story just waiting to be told.
One more thing. Maybe it was just strictly the music that made this doc good IMO.
In the theater I was in (About 50 people). Movie ends, cue Rodriguez song. Credits beginning to roll. Not one person got up or started to talk until the credits rolled off and the music ended. I've never been to a movie before where that has happened.
Then a bunch of them started to talk about the fact that he's playing in the city at the end of the month and how to get tickets.
In any case. I'm sure plenty of people will have issues with this telling. I am not one.
to believe you are part of some special club that allows you to decide who should and shouldn't be listening to obscure music is the worst kind of snobbery ive ever heard of.
He also played near my home town at Byron Bay Blues Festival a couple of years ago. You would think a show like 60 minutes and their research staff might include his popularity in Australasia.
This song gives me chills.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-most-famous-anti-establishment-musician-youve-never-heard-of/
The actual quality of the documentary itself leaves a lot to be desired. The interview with Rodriguez is filled with noise from either a bad microphone placement or a bad mic altogether. I stated this in the other Rodriguez thread but its so apparent that the interviewer re-recorded his questions and the difference in sound is jarring.
The film also pushed a hefty amount of misinformation alluding to Rodriguez being gone from music and a world wide stage for 25 years when truthfully he had toured the continent of Australia more than once and even released an album during this time. I feel the filmmaker was either ignorant or purposely left out what he was doing to the time all the while pushing the question of "what was he doing after he disappeared"?
The documentary has left people with an incorrect impression of the man and his mystique. I'd like to know if this film has been distributed down under and if so what sentiment is there
Furthermore, The hyperbole in the film from record dealers/ industry folk ("no one knew who he was", "he never recorded again" etc) is not based in fact but just to helps perpetuate a non-truth, and IMHO makes for a poor documentary
:shut:
I thought the "mystique" was why didn't anyone take notice ever in the US, the connection with his music and South Africans and apartheid and that he never ever knew any of this. And also what happened to the man for the past 30 years. Oh and where did all the money go. I thought the Clarence Avant part of the film was very interesting. He may know or not know where all this money went. But what I really took away from it, was he doesn't really care to know...
You say 25, but these 2 "tours" being talked about were over 31 years ago now. And the idea that he played a couple of shows down under in 79 & 81 and that a label there cut a live albums doesn't take away a whole lot from the story to me. I'd be interested to actually hear from Rodriguez own mouth if he even knew the Alive album was even made back then.
So you're not saying things in the movie are untrue. Just that the guy that did the documentary sexed up the story a bit, correct? And that many technical aspects were poor? Put that in the pile of many many documentaries IMO. I'm not sure how many I've watched that I had little doubt they were "Sexed" up a bit to push the story. I'd be interested to see what this guy from Sweden actually had completed before he got any investors into the project.
In any case, I'm sure you're not saying that this story isn't worth being told. And that the man doesn't deserve all this shine right now... Just that the doc sucked. Hopefully someone does it "proper" one day. But since nobody seemed to care for 30 years, I won't hold my breath.
Also many music books with the same problems.
I kinda liked Buena Vista Social Club movie. But the story, nobody knew about Son - even in Cuba - until Ry Cooder rediscovered it, irks me. Fortunately the movie is filled with great music.
There was another soul doc, back in the 90s, where a guy goes and finds his favorite soul singers, Jerry Butler, Carla Thomas, I forget who all. That doc sucked big time, not enough, not good enough music. The low point for me, he was interviewing Carla Thomas, "I left Memphis at the height of my career to go to Howard University. Roberta and Donny were there too."
I'm like wait! Carla was at Howard at the same time as Roberta and Donny. Was Freddie Perrin, Mizell Bros, Bernice Reagan and Donald Byrd there too? Did you sing with them? What did you study? The follow up questions kept coming to me. His follow up was something like, "when did you move back to Memphis?". He clearly had no idea who Roberta or Donny were. Probably had never heard of Howard.
Now there is a movie. Musicians who were at Howard in the late 60s. Many of them didn't even major in music.
My point is, there are too many music docs out there done well (Still Bill) to waste time on bad ones.
But waste time on bad ones I do, I am sure I will see Sugarman when it is in the cheap theater or dvd.
cosign x 1,000,000
In fact, it's much better to believe you are part of some special club that puts people onto good music they wouldn't otherwise know. Isn't that a part if what the Strut is founded on, Soulzilla?
Kindly,
parallax