Rodriguez, the Detroit singer-songwriter whose music gained a cult following abroad despite obscurity in the US, died on August 8 at age 81. In tribute, Paste Magazine has ranked his entire catalog of 26 songs from his two 1970s albums and non-album tracks. The ranking highlights the depth of his modest output, with 'Crucify Your Mind' topping the list.
Rodriguez released his debut album Cold Fact in 1970 and follow-up Coming From Reality in 1971, but both sold poorly in the United States, leading him to return to manual labor. Unbeknownst to him, bootleg copies circulated widely in Australia, New Zealand, and especially South Africa, where he became more popular than The Rolling Stones and was rumored to be dead. Two South African fans tracked him down in Michigan, inspiring the 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, which won an Oscar and revived his career. In his later years, Rodriguez toured globally, performing at festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella, though he never released new music despite hints of studio plans.
Paste Magazine's ranking covers all 26 songs, praising the substance in his small body of work. The lowest-ranked, 'Gommorah (A Nursery Rhyme)' from Cold Fact, features a children's choir that clashed with his style, causing production friction. Higher up, tracks like 'Sugar Man'—his signature tune sampled by Nas and featured in a Heath Ledger film—evoke mystery with eerie sounds from tape manipulation. 'I Wonder' stands out for its imperfect bass motif and risqué lyrics that fueled his South African fame, while 'Cause' from Coming From Reality channels bleak, Ginsberg-like imagery.
The top song, 'Crucify Your Mind' from Cold Fact, is described as an intimate masterpiece of loss and betrayal, with abstract lyrics open to interpretation. Rodriguez performed it on The Late Show with David Letterman backed by 20 musicians. Other unrecorded tracks like 'Street Boy' and 'Can't Get Away' from aborted third album sessions show his evolving sound. His lyrics often addressed urban dystopia and social ills, as in 'Inner City Blues,' which aided fans in locating him via the line 'Met a girl from Dearborn.' Rodriguez's story, from obscurity to late stardom, underscores the unpredictable paths of recorded music.