Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Cold Fact

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Released
  
March 1970

Artist
  
Sixto Rodriguez

Producer
  
Dennis Coffey

Length
  
32:23

Release date
  
March 1970

Label
  
RCA Victor

Cold Fact httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumbc

Recorded
  
August–September 1969 at Tera-Shirma Studio, Detroit

Cold Fact (1970)
  
Coming from Reality (1971)

Genres
  
Rock music, Blues, Soul music

Similar
  
Sixto Rodriguez albums, Blues albums

Cold Fact is the debut album from American singer-songwriter Rodriguez. It was released in the United States on the Sussex label in March 1970. The album sold very poorly in the United States (Rodriguez was himself an unknown in the U.S.), but managed to sell well in both South Africa and Australia, with Rodriguez touring Australia in 1979.

Contents

In 1971 the album was released in South Africa by A&M Records. In 1976, several thousand copies of Cold Fact were found in a New York warehouse and sold out in Australia in a few weeks. It went to No. 23 on the Australian album charts, staying on the charts for 55 weeks. In 1998 Cold Fact was awarded a platinum disc in South Africa, and was five-times platinum in Australia. Rodriguez has since toured South Africa and Australia with much success, but remained relatively unknown in his native country of the USA. This began to change after the reissues of his albums in the U.S. by Light in the Attic Records in 2008 and 2009, and even further in 2012 with the Academy Award winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, which soon led to appearances on major American television shows like 60 Minutes and The Late Show with David Letterman.

Cold Fact was featured as a "Buried Treasure" in the August 2002 issue of Mojo.

Track listing

All songs written by Sixto Rodriguez, except (5, 10) by Gary Harvey, Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey.

Personnel

There were no musicians credited on the original album sleeve, but Rodriguez and Mike Theodore have filled in the gaps:

  • Rodriguez – vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Dennis Coffey – electric guitar
  • Mike Theodore – keyboards, brass and string arrangements
  • Andrew Smith – drums
  • Bob Pangborn – percussion
  • Bob Babbitt – bass
  • Detroit Symphony (Leader Gordon Staples) – strings
  • Leader Carl Reatz – horns (trombones, baritone sax)
  • Friends and family of Joyce Vincent and Telma Hopkins – children's choir on "Gommorah"
  • Technical

  • Recorded in Detroit in August and September 1969.
  • Arranged and produced by Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey.
  • Engineering by Mike Theodore at Tera-Shirma Studio, Detroit.
  • Ray Hall at R.C.A. New York – remix
  • Ransier and Anderson – photography
  • Nancy Chester (See / Hear! & How!) – cover design
  • Samples and features

    "Sugar Man" was sampled in "You're Da Man", from the 2001 Nas album Stillmatic.

    In 2014, the French Deep House and Electro music producer Tristan Casara featured "Hate Street Dialogue" on his album for a new release credited to "The Avener Feat. Rodriguez". The release charted in France.

    Compilations

    "Sugar Man" was the opening track on David Holmes' 2002 compilation Come Get It I Got It.

    Chart performance

    Certifications

    Songs

    1Sugar Man3:49
    2Only Good for Conversation2:18
    3Crucify Your Mind2:32

    References

    Cold Fact Wikipedia


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