Rodriguez – Cold Fact – MoFi 180g 45RPM 2LP Vinyl Record

Mastered at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s California studio, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, the reissue label’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Cold Factin definitive sound. It features terrific instrumental separation, tight and controlled bass, and a plethora of tasteful accents that frame Rodriguez’s simple albeit charismatic voice. These and other prized sonic traits credited to Motown Funk Brother Dennis Coffey’s production come into clear focus via wide, well-defined 45RPM grooves, dead-quiet surfaces, and a low noise floor.

From the melodramatic strings and brief horn accents of the colorfully scenic “Sugar Man”; to fuzz-distorted guitar lines and burbling bass notes of the dark “Only Good for Conversation”; intimate, insular architecture of the troubled acoustic-based ramble “Inner City Blues”; echoing percussion of the catchy, insistent “Rich Folks Hoax”; and the broad openness that gives Rodriguez’s words bite on tracks such as “Crucify Your Mind,” a kiss-off that hits with as much weight as his chronicling of urban ills such as poverty and day-to-day survival — all benefit from newfound presence, imaging, and transparency.

Sought by Coffey and Mike Theodore after they saw him at a Detroit dive in the late 60s, Rodriguez stood out by way of his socially pertinent lyrics and tough-minded attitude. Coffey appraised him as nothing less than a “Mexican Bob Dylan” and got him into the studio with renowned instrumentalists, including Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbitt and drummer Andrew Smith; string support from the Detroit Symphony; and a horn section. Sessions for Cold Fact wrapped in just two months. Despite the album earning favorable reviews, any hopes of Rodriguez ascending as a countercultural voice and rare Mexican-American star were dashed when the LP vanished with barely a trace.

Though he soon made a follow-up effort (Coming from Reality), Rodriguez, too, would effectively disappear. As would Sussex Records, which went under in 1975. By then, Rodriguez had quit music, took lower-wage demolition and construction jobs, and purchased a government-auctioned home in the Motor City for only $50. He embraced the activist and protest streaks that inform many of his lyrics, becoming a community spokesperson and political candidate. Few outside of Rodriguez’s inner circle knew of his past. In Australia and South Africa, however, the vocalist-guitarist was seen as a celebrity.

By the late 1970s, Rodriguez’s popularity Down Under led him to play a string of sold-out shows on the continent. He returned in 1981, opening for Midnight Oil. All the while his status as a near-mythical icon in South Africa grew. Disillusioned by repressive policies connected to apartheid, media censorship, and military conscription, much of the country’s younger generation embraced the anti-establishment and liberating narratives on Cold Fact. How did this happen? It’s believed an American who visited South Africa brought the album with her, played it for friends, and that it went viral as second- and third-hand copies spread. No one knows how many thousands upon thousands of bootleg copies were sold.

What is known is songs such as “This Is Not a Song, It’s an Outburst; Or, the Establishment Blues” and “I Wonder” resonated with a population starved for freedom and seeking revolution. Cold Fact reportedly out-performed albums by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. As far as the identity of its creator? Due to rumors and the singer’s unknown status in America, most South African listeners thought Rodriguez dead. It would take nearly a quarter-century to dispel that lie, as well as a journey that resulted in the Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, the film that brought Rodriguez’s career full circle.

More than 40 years after Cold Fact appeared, the singer-songwriter finally got the attention he deserved in his native country. Feature stories and tours followed. Most importantly, the gritty realism and socially vital observations of Cold Fact reached a wide audience. Having transcended its cult status and gone on to sell more than a quarter million copies Stateside, Rodriguez’s debut entered a pantheon that includes records by Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Love, and Curtis Mayfield.

As they say, better late than never.

Track Listing

Side One:
Sugar Man
Only Good for Conversation
Crucify Your Mind

Side Two:
This Is Not a Song, It’s an Outburst: Or, the Establishment Blues
Hate Street Dialogue
Forget It

Side Three:
Inner City Blues
I Wonder
Like Janis

Side Four:
Gommorah (A Nursery Rhyme)
Rich Folks Hoax
Jane S. Piddy