Sixto Rodriguez - Cold Fact

2012 180g repress with heavyweight cover

Year Released: 1970

Genre: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Folk, Psychedelic Rock

Description:

Cold Fact is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez. Released in March 1970, the album's initial commercial failure in the United States stands in stark contrast to its eventual iconic status in other parts of the world. It is a legendary "lost" masterpiece of the late 1960s, a record that would only be discovered by a global audience decades later.

The album's sound is a raw, poetic, and often dark blend of folk, rock, and psychedelia. Rodriguez's lyrics, penned with a sharp, observational eye, are a gritty and unromanticized look at inner-city life in Detroit, touching on themes of poverty, drug use, and social injustice. His vocal style is understated and conversational, often compared to Bob Dylan's, but with a more direct and unpretentious tone. The songs are built on simple acoustic guitar melodies, which are then elevated by the lush and imaginative production from Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey, who added strings, horns, and psychedelic flourishes, including the famous backwards violin loop on the track "Sugar Man."

The album's legacy is one of the most fascinating stories in music history, one that was eventually told in the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man. After selling poorly in the US, Cold Fact found an unexpected and massive following in South Africa and Australia. In South Africa, in particular, the album became a cultural touchstone and a protest anthem for the anti-apartheid movement, with its rebellious and anti-establishment lyrics resonating deeply with a censored population. Due to a lack of information and the mystery surrounding Rodriguez's life, rumors of his death became widespread, with many fans believing he had committed suicide. Unbeknownst to him, he had become a rock star on the other side of the world while working as a day laborer in Detroit. The album's belated discovery and the subsequent revival of Rodriguez's career and music are a testament to the power of a great record to transcend time and borders