Sixto Rodriguez, born in Detroit, had already tried his luck in recording in 1967 with the single “I’ll Slip Away” on Impact Records, but the song went nowhere. The decisive turning point came a few years later, when producers Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey discovered him, secured him a deal with Sussex Records, and took on the production of his debut. That is how Cold Fact was born, with “Sugar Man” as its opening track. Coffey, who was one of Motown’s Funk Brothers and a great guitarist with appearances on countless recordings, later remembered that when they first saw Rodriguez perform, he played with his face turned toward the wall. The first reaction was confusion. What exactly is this man doing.