Why Sixto Rodriguez never made a third album
It was a difficult road to success for Detroit singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez. After recording two albums, 1970’s Cold Fact and 1971’s Coming From Reality, Rodriguez was dropped from his record label due to a lack of commercial success. After a few years of struggling to remain in the music industry, Rodriguez opted to leave his singing career behind and work menial jobs in his home town instead.
While he was still a mostly unknown figure in his home country, Rodriguez’s influence began to explode overseas, particularly in Apartheid-ravaged South Africa. He toured Australia in 1979 and 1981, as his compilation album At His Best was released exclusively there in 1977, but he remained unaware of his impact in South Africa. Most South Africans were equally in the dark about Rodriguez – many fans believed the singer to be dead.
Rodriguez’s story of initial failure, obscurity, and eventual redemption was captured by documentary filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul in the 2012 film Searching for Sugar Man. The soundtrack of the film featured three songs – ‘Can’t Get Away’, ‘Street Boy’, and ‘I’ll Slip Away’ – that were intended for a third studio album. After being dropped by his label, Rodriguez never finished the LP.
Even with the success of Searching for Sugar Man allowing Rodriguez to return to his music career full-time, he rarely performed new songs during his live shows. The material was still culled from his only two studio albums, but Rodriguez himself never stopped writing. When he returned to the spotlight in 2012, Rodriguez seemed intent on getting his third album complete with the help of Coming From Reality producer Steve Rowland.
“I’ve written about 30 songs,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013. “[Rowland] told me to send him a couple of tapes, so I’m gonna do that. I certainly want to look him up, because now he’s full of ideas.”
Rowland confirmed that he was interested in completing Rodriguez’s third album belatedly. “We both have ideas on how the next album should go,” Rowland confirmed in the same article. “We both want to work together again, but it really is up to others that are involved in his future.”
More than a decade after finally achieving the level of fame that would allow him to record new music again, Rodriguez still had yet to fulfil the promise of a third studio album. While small bits and pieces trickled out over the years, Rodriguez’s highly-anticipated third LP never actually came to fruition, with his legacy remaining rooted in Cold Fact and Coming From Reality.
Check out ‘I Wonder’ down below.
