Some months ago I wrote about a fascinating and heartwarming documentary we had seen called “Searching for Sugarman.” The film went on to win the Academy Award for best documentary earlier this year. And last night, the musician whose amazing and fascinating story is told in the movie, performed in New York City at The Beacon Theater (the New York City home of The Allman Brothers Band, as I wrote last month). Try as they did, the ushers were unable to completely eliminate all those cell phone videos, so a couple of clips made it to youtube.
The show was AMAZING! The audience was clearly quite devoted to this man and his music. He is not young - he said he is 70, and it is clear that his eyesight is poor: he needed assistance coming on and off stage. But when he strums his guitar and opens his mouth he is completely ageless, his voice is impressively strong and clear, and he exudes a sweetness that is incredibly sincere and touching, sharing his insights , like "be careful with your anger" in little quips between songs. He performed many of his own compositions along with covers of "Blue Suede Shoes" and one of the best covers I have ever heard of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," a song that would seem to have special meaning for him:
How does it feel ?
How does it feel ?
To be on your own ?
With no direction home ?
A complete unknown ?
Like a rolling stone ?
How does it feel ?
To be on your own ?
With no direction home ?
A complete unknown ?
Like a rolling stone ?
We can only hope that Rodriguez will continue in good health on his very long tour and beyond. You can check him out at
We also saw the new film “The Company You Keep,” loosely based on a group of anti-Vietnam War activists in the late 1960s. The film has a large and stellar cast, including Robert Redford, Julie Christie, and Susan Sarandon, and was so good that, although it was over 2 hours long, I was completely awake the entire time! I highly recommend this one; the trailer can be found here:
We had hoped to visit the Botanical Gardens yesterday, before the orchid exhibit ends, but when we arrived there were cars lined up around the block! So we hope to squeeze in an hour sometime during the week when things are quieter there.
Have a good week, all!
Love,
Rebecca
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