Sixto Rodriguez's life

On the morning of February 25th, 2065438+03, Beijing time, the 85th Oscar for Best Documentary Award was awarded to the music documentary Looking for Sugar Man. The 37-year-old director malik bendjelloul is a little-known newcomer. For him, the Oscar was an unexpected result. At first, he just wanted to make a good story that surprised him into a short film. Later, he didn't stop, made a documentary for six years, and exhausted his property. Bender let Raul fall into a financial break several times, and he was stretched to the limit. He suddenly finished the last scene with an iPhone 5 and an 8mm old camera. In the end, this documentary won him the jury award of Sundance Film Festival and the Oscar for best documentary. Bender made Raul's legendary story even more embarrassing than the hardships in the filming process. In the 1970s, Mexican folk singer Rodriguez was forced to give up his music dream and turn to architecture after releasing two failed albums in the United States, and has since disappeared. But in South Africa on the other side of the world, his music was a smash hit, inspiring generations of young South Africans to resist apartheid and being regarded as a superstar "more popular than Elvis Presley". This is a documentary full of suspense, sadness and nostalgia. The whole film is immersed in Rodriguez's singing, and the glory of American folk music and the cruelty and ruthlessness of South Africa's apartheid era flow in the lens. The forgotten voice of American folk songs at the bottom cut the anger and confusion of South Africans at that time, and crossed the ocean with the ancient mode of word of mouth, creating a musical legend. "Hippie in the Shadow" In 2006, Bender asked Raul to quit his job and travel to Africa and South America with his camera on his back to find a suitable story. During the trip, he heard six good stories, and the one that surprised him most was the story about "American superstar Rodriguez". "They said to me,' Listen, his music is great, like a rolling stone!' Bender asked Raul to listen to South Africans mention the American singer he had never heard of. His understanding is that any fans or fans have some devious preferences, and he doesn't take this compliment seriously. "I didn't remember this man's name until I arrived in Cape Town, so I asked casually in the street. As a result, everyone knows Rodriguez. And their expressions are very strange, just like someone suddenly asks you, do you know James Marshall (a famous American guitarist)? " Bender sent Raul to find Rodriguez's album. On the record, he sat cross-legged on the ground in a red vest and slippers, wearing sunglasses and a hat, and wearing a necklace around his neck, like a sculpture, more like a distant riddle. No one can guess his age and height, let alone his appearance, and the records do not provide any information. It is said that the great singer has passed away, and the death process is the most thrilling scene in the history of rock and roll. At the last concert, Rodriguez was booed because his music career was going downhill. He thanked the audience gently and calmly, hoping that everyone would forget that night, then sang a song and took out his gun to commit suicide. Another rumor is that he set himself on fire on the stage. This enigmatic hippie hiding in the shadow aroused Bender's desire to restore Raul's experience and make a documentary.

At this time, Rodriguez is doing manual labor on the construction site in Detroit, USA. Years of hard physical labor made him walk a little crooked. In the United States, he is an ordinary descendant of Mexican immigrants, a person who had to give up his dream because of wealth and livelihood. Born in 1948, Rodriguez, in the memory of local workers, "is not like an artist, but like a homeless wanderer." He often carries his guitar on his back, but no one ever asks him to play a song.

Until Dennis Coffey, a guitarist in Detroit, discovered that Rodriguez had the opportunity to record his first album "Cold Fact" at 1970. That year, American folk songs have entered a mature stage. Under the call of "returning to nature", Bob Dylan has produced works full of rural color, and jackson browne has created a powerful and eccentric folk style with poetic language, and a large number of new folk songs have emerged, depicting reality with a calm mind and interpreting society with his own musical tentacles. Rodriguez, a newcomer, has become an obscure trendsetter in American folk songs. His first album only sold 35 copies. Steve Roland, the producer, recalled in the documentary that when he helped Rodriguez make his second realistic album at 197 1, he firmly believed that it would cause market repercussions, and the sales volume was even worse than the first one. "I didn't get any response." Steve Roland said, "He deserves attention. In America, nobody has heard of him, nobody. No one is even interested in listening to his music. " The last song recorded by Rodriguez is "Cause", which is also his saddest song: "Because I lost my job, just two weeks before Christmas/I told Jesus in the sewer, and the Pope said it was none of his business/the rain mixed with champagne, and the angel made me drunk." The album197111was released in October and received no response. Just two weeks before Christmas, the record company canceled his contract with him. "This song is the saddest song I have ever heard, just like a prophecy. He is not only brilliant, he is like a wise man, a prophet, far more than a musician. " Steve Roland said. In the era when American folk songs were strong, South African legends were swept by waves like Rodriguez, and there were probably hundreds of singers who died in name only. But the strange thing about art is that no matter who the creator is, as long as it can impress people, it will spread in an abnormal way. What's more, his music appeared in South Africa where the political atmosphere was depressed and occluded. An American girl came to South Africa with her favorite album Cold Facts and passed it on to people around her. After that, friends circulated and copied each other, and finally Rodriguez's pirated album sold hundreds of thousands in South Africa. His clear voice, philosophical lyrics, accusations against modern cities, and expressions of sufferings at the bottom are all reminiscent of Bob Dylan. His music aroused great concern of young people who questioned the authorities and believed in liberalism in South Africa, and even inspired white South Africans to start the anti-apartheid movement. "All musicians in South Africa listen to his music, and everyone around me has his albums." William Moeller, a South African musician, said that he had been listening to Rodriguez since high school. "At that time, South Africans were very conservative, apartheid was serious, there was no TV, and censorship was forbidden. As a result, he became a symbol of rebellion. " For young people in South Africa, Rodriguez is the background music of their lives. In the mid-1970s, if you casually walked into a middle-class white family, you would definitely find the Beatles' music and Rodriguez's music together. His Inner City Blues inspired young people in South Africa and seemed to release the repressed people. When his music became popular, South Africa was facing strong international sanctions because of the wave of apartheid. This system, which originated from 19 10, has been resisted by colored people in South Africa and criticized by the international community since its birth. 1974, South Africa was disqualified from participating in all activities of the United Nations, and then a mandatory arms embargo and an oil embargo were imposed. South Africans have not heard any news from abroad, and they have imposed martial law everywhere and completely closed their doors. Rodriguez's songs only describe a chaotic and turbulent era. He sang in "Can't Escape": "Born in this problematic city, the rock capital of the United States, in the shadow of the tallest building in the world, I vowed to escape. The actors on Sunday show tell you that you can't escape. " His other song is to build the blues. "I woke up with a headache in the morning. I jumped up and put on my clothes. I open the window to listen to the news and only listen to the music under the system. " In the song, he sang "turn off the TV, turn it off!" " "For South Africans, this is exactly how they felt when they saw the then President Pieter Willem Botha. Anxiety, disgust and longing for freedom were the common mentality of isolated South Africans at that time. Although Rodriguez's music is banned locally, it gives people a stronger impulse to listen and spread. " Hearing his songs, I seem to hear a voice and there is a way out. You can write songs and draw pictures. It was the first time that South Africa's white circle voiced its opposition to apartheid. "Musician William Moeller said," He is more popular than Elvis Presley in South Africa. "Rodriguez's influence interacts with his mystery. It was not until 1998 that fans who loved him realized that the American superstar who influenced them had no information or introduction, and they could not find any credible facts about him except the legend of bizarre death. Relying on the power of the Internet, South African fans are trying to find clues. The superstar is still alive. He does heavy work every day to support a family of five.

I left my musical dream a long time ago. 1On March 2, 998, Rodriguez finally came to South Africa and was worshipped. His six concerts are sold out. At the first concert, people kept screaming and crying with cameras. He didn't say a word, and the mountain roared and boiled for ten minutes. He quietly finished singing all the songs, calmly experienced everything that a superstar should experience, and returned to America to continue to be his builder. He still walks on the streets of Detroit with his guitar on his back, and keeps his silent life as always. He is willing to share his past music with fans and return to the simple and calm reality. "He is a self-taught filmmaker and I am a self-taught musician. Our meeting is fate. " Rodriguez made the remarks when Looking for Little Sugar Man won the jury award at Sundance Film Festival in the United States. Fate made him give up music and make him a superstar. Until the last minute. Who?

I don't know what fate will be like. The fame of "Looking for Little Sugar Man" naturally made Rodriguez restart the road of music again. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said that he had created 30 new songs, waiting for the producer Steve Roland to play. "I want to hear what he thinks of me now."