As it has almost been a week since I last witnessed live music, it was a pleasure to venture down to Basement Discs at lunchtime today to watch Rodriguez in action.Rodriguez, in case you don’t know (which I didn’t) is an iconic Detroit musician who has only two records to his name. They are Cold Fact (1970) and Coming From Reality (1971), both of which have recently been reissued. He dropped out of the music scene in the 1970s to pursue other interests, but was rediscovered in the 1980s and returned to touring, including a trip down under with Mark Gillespie (remember him?) and Midnight Oil.
He dropped out of the music scene again in the 90s and re-emerged in the early 2000s, and eventually appeared at the 2007 East Coast Blues Festival.
He’s now 72 years of age, and although he doesn’t look it in the picture above, he was obviously frail, needing to be assisted onto the stage. His guitar was held together with gaffer tape and the strap was fastened around his neck by a knot, still he could play a mean guitar and his voice was undiminished by time.
It was a short set, only about five songs including The Establishment Blues and I’ll Slip Away, but it was something special to be present at the performance of such a legend.
He was accompanied today by several unnamed Australian musicians (guitarist, drummer, bass and keyboard) who did a fab job complementing Rodriguez guitar playing and singing.
You can find out more on Rodriguez by visiting the site above which is maintained by his fan club.
Next week, on Saturday 17th April Basement Discs celebrates once more International Indie Record Store Day. They have a great line up of local musicians and will be kicking off from about 12.00 noon. Details here.
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