Cold Fact
| Cold Fact | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Rodriguez | ||||
| Released | March 1970 | |||
| Recorded | August–September 1969 at Tera-Shirma Studio, Detroit | |||
| Genre | Rock, soul, blues, folk | |||
| Length | 32:23 | |||
| Label |
Sussex Light in the Attic (U.S., 2008) Blue Goose/RCA (Australia) A&M Records (South Africa) | |||
| Producer | Mike Theodore, Dennis Coffey | |||
| Rodriguez chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork | [2] |
| The New Zealand Herald | [3] |
| Rate Your Music |  [4] |
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,[5] with Rodriguez touring Australia in 1979.[6]
In 1971 the album was released in South Africa by A&M Records, who were by then the owners of the Sussex label. 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.[5] 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.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sugar Man" | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Only Good for Conversation" | 2:25 |
| 3. | "Crucify Your Mind" | 2:30 |
| 4. | "This Is Not a Song, It's an Outburst: Or, the Establishment Blues" | 2:05 |
| 5. | "Hate Street Dialogue" | 2:30 |
| 6. | "Forget It" | 1:50 |
| 7. | "Inner City Blues" | 3:23 |
| 8. | "I Wonder" | 2:30 |
| 9. | "Like Janis" | 2:32 |
| 10. | "Gommorah (A Nursery Rhyme)" | 2:20 |
| 11. | "Rich Folks Hoax" | 3:05 |
| 12. | "Jane S. Piddy" | 2:54 |
Personnel
There were no musicians credited on the original album sleeve, but Rodriguez and Mike Theodore have filled in the gaps:[5]
- 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.[7]
Compilations
"Sugar Man" was the opening track on David Holmes' 2002 compilation Come Get It I Got It.
Chart performance
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] | 23 |
| Chart (2013–2014) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] | 11 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] | 50 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] | 180 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[12] | 4 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[13] | 54 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] | 18 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[15] | 81 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] | 20 |
| South African Albums (RISA)[17] | 16 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[18] | 17 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] | 10 |
- Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[20] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
|
*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
References
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ "Cold Fact". Pitchfork Media. 17 September 2008.
- ↑ - Cold Fact. The New Zealand Herald review
- ↑ "Cold Fact". Rateyourmusic.com.
- 1 2 3 "The Official Rodriguez Website: Cold Fact". Sugarman.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/international-man-of-mystery-20130228-2f6vm.html
- ↑ Lescharts.com: The Avener feat. Rodriguez - "Hate Street Dialogue" song page
- ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 4 March 2013" (PDF) (1201). Pandora Archive. March 19, 2013: 2. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rodriguez – Cold Fact" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rodriguez – Cold Fact" (in French). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rodriguez – Cold Fact" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Rodriguez: Cold Fact" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "South African Top 20 Albums Chart". RSG (Recording Industry of South Africa). Archived from the original on March 15, 2013.
- ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Rodriguez – Cold Fact". Hung Medien.
- ↑ Irvin, Jim and Phil Alexander (2007-11-01). Mojo collection: the ultimate music companion; brought to you by the makers of Mojo magazine. Canongate.