Searching For Sugar Man (2012)

Rodriguez, Crucify Your Mind, 1971

Genre: Documentary

Starring: Rodriguez (archive), Steve Segerman, Dennis Coffey

Director: Malik Bendjelloul

IMDB Rating: 8.1/10

My Rating: 8.5/10

Runtime: 1hr 18mins

Synopsis: For me, Searching for Sugar Man has been the second excellent documentary I've seen from 2012, alongside The Imposter. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in July, 1942, to a European / Native-American mother and Mexican father, Jesus Rodriguez was the sixth child of the family which led to his nickname 'Sixto'. His music career was very short-lived releasing only two albums, 1970's Cold Fact and 1971's Coming From Reality. Both albums were recorded while he was still working various labourer jobs around Detroit's poor inner city and playing in dingy bars. Rodriguez's story is fascinating insofar that so little was known about him when he was at the height of his creativity, indeed, those interviewed who saw him perform in the late sixties and early seventies state that he was like a drifter, nobody knew where he lived but they would see him wandering around the city and playing at seemingly random venues. 

Such is the mystery that surrounded him and his death at the peak of his abilities that the documentary relies heavily on talking heads and photo montages along with animation sequences to accompany his music. The film itself begins in Detroit interviewing those who saw him perform, people he worked with in construction and the people who recorded his only two albums, following on from here we find ourselves whisked half-way around the world to Cape Town, South Africa and record-shop owner Steve Segerman. Segerman explains that Rodriguez's music was phenomenally popular in South Africa and inspired middle-class white university students to protest against apartheid and the strict establishment, drawing on the heavily loaded political messages in the lyrics of both albums, which sold in excess of 500,000 copies over a short period of time, meanwhile, as claimed by his distributor in the U.S., Clarence Avant, he probably only sold 6 copies of his records in America. It becomes clear as the documentary moves on that Rodriguez would have been completely unaware of his popularity in South Africa during his lifetime, which raises questions of where the royalties from the record sales went as he lived in relative poverty. 

The documentary has many completely unexpected twists and turns, so much so that I felt the trailer itself gives too much away and so decided to post one of his great songs above instead, I myself had read many reviews about Searching for Sugar Man but I was very glad by the end of the film that I hadn't seen the trailer, as I feel it would have taken from the whole experience. One thing that struck me personally watching this documentary was how such an incredible story will probably never happen again in the music world for a number of reasons. Firstly, Rodriguez's ignorance of his massive popularity and influence in South Africa couldn't be repeated in the 21st century with mass social media via the internet (having said that, there's always a chance that Ronan Keating is an iconic figure of the underground in North Korea and we'll never know) which just did not exist during his time. Secondly, and sadly, it seems that the days of iconic and politically motivated artists such as Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, etc. are over and have been substituted by commercially contrived artists or artists who have so much wealth (ahem, Bono) that promoting themselves as 'looking out for the interests of mankind' comes nice and easy when jet-setting around the world. 

Reminiscent of Donovan and Don McClean in his sound, Rodriguez wrote of his experiences growing up and living in destitute inner-city Detroit and how these people had been abandoned by their masters. Described by record producer Steve Rowland who produced his second album as, 'a wise man, a prophet, way beyond being just a musical artist' and also said 'forget about Bob Dylan!' when it came to Rodriguez's talent, Rowland had worked with Jerry Lee Lewis and Gloria Gaynor and also discovered Peter Frampton and The Cure. I don't want to give away too much as there is so much more to Searching For Sugar Man, it's an emotional and very rewarding documentary and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I am on anti-depressants and suffer from severe anxiety, should I watch this film on a Sunday night? It will raise your spirits.

1963 Sam Cooke - Live At The Harlem Square Club

Bring It On Home To Me, 1962

Info: If Booker T. & The M.G.'s were unique in the fact that they had an even mix of black and white musicians, Sam Cooke could be viewed as the artist to take this transcendence to the next level, appealing to a vast audience from white teenagers and their parents while also managing to maintain his hardcore support in black communities. Born into a large family in 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, his father, the Reverend Charles Cook (surname changed in later-life with added -e by Sam), moved the family to Chicago in the mid-thirties and it was here that Sam would develop his talent as a gospel singer from a very young age, eventually crossing paths with his first group, the Soul Stirrers. 

Throughout his career spanning the early 1950's to 1964 Cooke would amass an impressive 29 singles in the Top 40, and while many of his hits had great pop appeal, on Live At The Harlem Square Club, his title as the 'Father of Soul' is confirmed, a passionate and heart-wrenching performance of arguably eight of his best songs. Described by Jaime Gonzalez, of Spanish rock monthly Ruta 66 as 'an exorcism drawing a definitive line between the sacred and the profane', I think this totally sums up Cooke's intentions with this album, moving his pop, gospel originated catalogue into a smokey, sexy environment that was this live performance. Rather surprisingly, this album, while recorded in 1963 at the working-class Harlem Club in the Miami ghetto, and considered to date to be the best live album ever, wasn't released until 1985. For me the albums best song by far is 'Bring It On Home For Me', from an astounding intro with a slow build-up, to the swinging chorus, you can hear the crowd completely immersed in Cooke's performance at this stage of the recording. Other highlights are his old favourite 'Twistin' The Night Away' and the feel-good finale 'Having a Party'.

Outside of his music Sam Cooke was an intriguing, multi-talented person. He was the first black artist to take control of the business side of his music, setting up his own record label, SAR Records, in 1961, was influential in the civil-rights movement, (indeed one of his other, and my favourite, hits which he penned, 'A Change Is Gonna Come' became the anthem for those looking to end discrimination against blacks in 1960's America) as well as having mass appeal with music fans of every background. Cooke's last days were tragic, in 1963 his 18 month-old son, Vincent, drowned in their front-yard pool when he wandered off from his mother, Cooke was away at the time and blamed his wife, Barbara, for the death, their marriage broke up partially as a result of this incident. A year later, on the 11th of December, 1964, Cooke was shot dead at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles by the motel manager, under what were suspicious circumstances. The manager, Bertha Franklin, claimed Cooke broke into her apartment demanding to know where the woman he had arrived with had gone to, fearing for her safety she shot Cooke and proceeded to beat him with a broom-handle, another theory is that the woman in question, Elisa Boyer, had conspired to kill Cooke with Franklin as a large sum of cash Cooke had on him at the time was never recovered. Cooke's last words, according to Franklin were; 'Lady, you shot me!'. Thankfully Cooke's legacy lives on, and in 2008, Rolling Stone magazine honoured him as the 4th Greatest Singer of All-Time, and in 2011, the City of Chicago named part of East 36th Street, Sam Cooke Way in his memory.

Track Listing:

1. Feel It

2. Chain Gang

3. Cupid

4. Medley - It's Alright - For Sentimental Reasons

5. Twistin' The Night Away

6. Somebody Have Mercy

7. Bring It On Home

8. Nothing Can Change This Love

9. Having a Party

1962 Booker T. & The M.G.'s - Green Onions

Info: Booker T. & The M.G.'s were the house band for Stax records, the Southern states answer to soul label Motown, providing backing for artists such as Bill Withers, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding before striking out on their own. Unique to the M.G.'s (Memphis Group) was their 50-50 mix of black and white musicians on a predominantly black artists label. Green Onions is an entirely instrumental album with a mix of originals and cover versions such as 'I Got A Woman' by Ray Charles, and Smokey Robinson's 'One Who Really Loves You'. The albums popularity arose from it's chilled-out and cool vibe which appealed to young people of the era, but mostly from it's title-track, a must for any jukebox collection. The song 'Green Onions' almost never came to pass and was recorded while the band were waiting for a recording session and began a spontaneous, improvised jam, thankfully the technician had left the recording machine on. It was originally a B-side on track 6, 'Behave Yourself', however, most radio DJ's seemed to opt for the sister track ensuring it got widespread airplay, reaching no.3 in the Billboard Top 40 in September, 1962. The M.G.'s were made up of bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, drummer Al Jackson, Steve Cropper on guitar and Booker T. Jones on the organ/piano. Favourite tracks are 'Green Onions', the mellow 'Behave Yourself' and 'You Can Sit Down' which showcases Jackson's drumming nicely 

Track Listing:

1. Green Onions

2. Rinky Dink

3. I Got A Woman

4. Mo' Onions

5. Twist and Shout

6. Behave Yourself

7. Stranger On The Shore

8. Lonely Avenue

9. One Who Really Loves You

10. You Can't Sit Down

11. A Woman, A Lover, A Friend

12. Comin' Home Baby