Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, also known as Rodríguez or Jesús Rodríguez (born July 10, 1942), is an American folk musician from Detroit, Michigan. His career initially proved short lived, but unknown to Rodriguez his albums became extremely successful and influential in South Africa.
Coming from Reality is the second and final studio album to date from American singer and songwriter Rodriguez, originally released by Sussex Records in 1971.
For his second album, Rodriguez decamped to London at the request of producer Steve Rowland, who had heard Cold Fact and wanted to produce him. Since Cold Fact had made little in the way of commercial movement, Rodriguez jumped at the opportunity. Session musicians like renowned guitarist Chris Spedding lent a hand on production, which was overseen by Steve Rowland. (Curiously, the latter would go on to use about half of Cold Fact for Family Dogg's oddity The View from Roland's Head.) By far not as striking as his debut, Coming from Reality offers up some haunting stream-of-consciousness gems in "Sandrevan Lullaby" and "Cause." Rodriguez's lyrics still come off as mildly anti-establishment; "Heikki's Suburbia Bus Tour" apparently recalls a trip Rodriguez and friends undertook to Grosse Pointe to retaliate against the rich folks who often came to the inner city of Detroit to make fun of the hippies. He also spends lots of time with the low life, as he reminisces in the prologue to "A Most Disgusting Song": "I've played every kind of gig there is to play now/I've played faggot bars, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, opera houses, concert houses, halfway houses." Slightly more slick than the debut, but still retaining the haunted personality (if not the gritty funk), the album sadly went nowhere in the United States and Europe. Faced, however, with the unexpected success of Cold Fact in South Africa, Sussex re-released Coming from Reality in 1976 as After the Fact. It lay out of print worldwide for several decades until 2009, when Light in the Attic resurrected it, along with the debut, and added three bonus tracks recorded during 1972-1973, back in Detroit, with Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey again producing.
Track listing
01. "Climb Up on My Music" - 4:54
02. "A Most Disgusting Song" - 4:49
03. "I Think of You" - 3:25
04. "Heikki's Suburbia Bus Tour" - 3:22
05. "Silver Words?" - 2:04
06. "Sandrevan Lullaby – Lifestyles" - 6:37
07. "To Whom It May Concern" - 3:21
08. "It Started Out So Nice" - 4:01
09. "Halfway Up the Stairs" - 2:27
10. "Cause" - 5:30
bonus tracks 2009 reissued on compact disc
11. "Can't Get Away (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 3:57
12. "Street Boy (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 3:47
13. "I'll Slip Away (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 2:53
All songs written by Sixto Rodriguez.
Credits
Rodriguez – vocals, guitar
Chris Spedding – guitars
Tony Carr – bongos, possible percussion
Phil Dennys – keyboards
Jimmy Horowitz – violin on "Sandrevan Lullaby"
Gary Taylor – bass
Andrew Steele – drums
Production
Clarence Avant – archival materials, photo courtesy
Milan Bogden – audio engineer
Tim Burzese – audio engineer
Dennis Coffey – archival materials, arranger, audio production, photo courtesy, producer
Vincent Cook – graphic design
Dave Cooley – remastering
Chris Ferraro – executive producer
Tim Forster – archival materials, photo courtesy
John MacSwith – audio engineer, engineer
Los Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, primary artist, vocals
Steve Rowland – audio production, producer
John Samson – archival materials, photo courtesy
Milton Sincoff – merchandising, package direction
Matt Sullivan – reissue producer
Mike Theodore – archival materials, arranger, audio production, photo courtesy, producer
Hal Wilson – illustrations, original photography
Josh Wright – executive producer
Phil Dennys - arranged by
Jimmy Horowitz - arranged by
Notes
Recorded at Lansdowne recording studios, London, England late 1970, released in late 1971
Released: November 1971
Genre: Rock, soul, blues, folk
Length: 51:07
© 1971
Label - Sussex /Light in the Attic (U.S., 2009)
For his second album, Rodriguez decamped to London at the request of producer Steve Rowland, who had heard Cold Fact and wanted to produce him. Since Cold Fact had made little in the way of commercial movement, Rodriguez jumped at the opportunity. Session musicians like renowned guitarist Chris Spedding lent a hand on production, which was overseen by Steve Rowland. (Curiously, the latter would go on to use about half of Cold Fact for Family Dogg's oddity The View from Roland's Head.) By far not as striking as his debut, Coming from Reality offers up some haunting stream-of-consciousness gems in "Sandrevan Lullaby" and "Cause." Rodriguez's lyrics still come off as mildly anti-establishment; "Heikki's Suburbia Bus Tour" apparently recalls a trip Rodriguez and friends undertook to Grosse Pointe to retaliate against the rich folks who often came to the inner city of Detroit to make fun of the hippies. He also spends lots of time with the low life, as he reminisces in the prologue to "A Most Disgusting Song": "I've played every kind of gig there is to play now/I've played faggot bars, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, opera houses, concert houses, halfway houses." Slightly more slick than the debut, but still retaining the haunted personality (if not the gritty funk), the album sadly went nowhere in the United States and Europe. Faced, however, with the unexpected success of Cold Fact in South Africa, Sussex re-released Coming from Reality in 1976 as After the Fact. It lay out of print worldwide for several decades until 2009, when Light in the Attic resurrected it, along with the debut, and added three bonus tracks recorded during 1972-1973, back in Detroit, with Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey again producing.
Track listing
01. "Climb Up on My Music" - 4:54
02. "A Most Disgusting Song" - 4:49
03. "I Think of You" - 3:25
04. "Heikki's Suburbia Bus Tour" - 3:22
05. "Silver Words?" - 2:04
06. "Sandrevan Lullaby – Lifestyles" - 6:37
07. "To Whom It May Concern" - 3:21
08. "It Started Out So Nice" - 4:01
09. "Halfway Up the Stairs" - 2:27
10. "Cause" - 5:30
bonus tracks 2009 reissued on compact disc
11. "Can't Get Away (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 3:57
12. "Street Boy (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 3:47
13. "I'll Slip Away (1973)(2009 bonus track)" - 2:53
All songs written by Sixto Rodriguez.
Credits
Rodriguez – vocals, guitar
Chris Spedding – guitars
Tony Carr – bongos, possible percussion
Phil Dennys – keyboards
Jimmy Horowitz – violin on "Sandrevan Lullaby"
Gary Taylor – bass
Andrew Steele – drums
Production
Clarence Avant – archival materials, photo courtesy
Milan Bogden – audio engineer
Tim Burzese – audio engineer
Dennis Coffey – archival materials, arranger, audio production, photo courtesy, producer
Vincent Cook – graphic design
Dave Cooley – remastering
Chris Ferraro – executive producer
Tim Forster – archival materials, photo courtesy
John MacSwith – audio engineer, engineer
Los Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, primary artist, vocals
Steve Rowland – audio production, producer
John Samson – archival materials, photo courtesy
Milton Sincoff – merchandising, package direction
Matt Sullivan – reissue producer
Mike Theodore – archival materials, arranger, audio production, photo courtesy, producer
Hal Wilson – illustrations, original photography
Josh Wright – executive producer
Phil Dennys - arranged by
Jimmy Horowitz - arranged by
Notes
Recorded at Lansdowne recording studios, London, England late 1970, released in late 1971
Released: November 1971
Genre: Rock, soul, blues, folk
Length: 51:07
© 1971
Label - Sussex /Light in the Attic (U.S., 2009)
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