Retro Reviews, Rodriguez: Cold Fact

 

I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. These albums are lesser-known titles.

Rodriguez: Cold Fact (1970)

****

Producers: Mike Theodore, Dennis Coffey

Musicians: Sixto Rodriguez, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore, Andrew Smith, Bob Pangdon, Bob Babbit, Detroit Symphony, Carl Reatz

Songs: Sugarman, Only Good For Conversation, Crucify Your 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, Jane S. Piddy

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    Why isn’t anyone paying attention to this artist? Rodriguez is a Mexican Troubadour song writer, a folk and rock stylist whose candid and incisive lyrics might be on par with Dylan. He also has a stronger and more accessible singing voice than Mr. Zimmermann, the support players and orchestral arrangements simply augment and add coloring to his performances I haven’t heard in a while a singer who has been this compelling. He feels authentically street in a manor that other singers merely feign to be street smart. Rodrieguez wrote all of the songs except for two written by his producers. Dylan has cultivated such a mystique about his origins that it’s difficult to gauge his class background, but Rodriguez observations make one suspect he’s seen some squalor. 

    The opening track, “Sugar Man” is obviously about a pusher, but it resolves into a psychedelic deluge at the end, the keyboards and orchestrations have an eerie quality. “Only Good For Conversation” opens with some heavy guitar that sets up the mood for a tale of a manipulative person. “Crucify Your Mind” along with the open track is probably one of the better tracks and most accessible for radio, it’s penetrating honesty is haunting. “This Is Not A Song, It’s an Outburst: Or the Establishment Blues”, while self-explanatory is a scathing comment on what he sees and covers some broad points. “Hate Street Dialogue” is one of the few songs not written by Rodriguez but stays true to the tone of the material. “Forget It” is the disillusionment song but also reveals musically he is a very sophisticated writer.

    “Inner City Blues” features some more intense lyrics and good acoustic lead blues support, the atmospheric string arrangement reminds me of Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode To Billy Joe’. The next track is again one of the stronger ones, “I Wonder” has a very spry drum and rolling bass figure that quickly pulls you in. “Like Janis” has a pop sensibility but lyrically it is about someone who sees through the façade of another. “Gommorah (A Nursery Rhyme)” is another song written by the producer, while it’s shifts are interesting, it doesn’t quite work for me. Things are back on form  with “Rich Folks Hoax” which feels very honest and real to me. The closer “Jane S. Piddy” is a satisfying revolve with lines like ‘You’re a loser, a rebel, a cause without’, about the resignation of a person who gave up on their potential. The guitar work from Coffey and Keyboard work from Theodore is quite strong. The band simply enhances the material. An outstanding debut from a man who seems to look past the surface and seems to insist on breaking down the facades of society.