Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe
On stage, Tharpe sways to her right, guitar in hand, smile beaming, with the spotlight on her.
Photo portrait of Tharpe, 1938, by James J. Kriegsmann
Background information
Birth nameRosetta Nubin
(or Rosether Atkins)
Born(1915-03-20)March 20, 1915
Cotton Plant, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 1973(1973-10-09) (aged 58)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1919–1973

Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973)[1] was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar. She was the first great recording star of gospel music, and was among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm and blues and rock and roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll".[2][3][4][5] She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and also later guitarists, such as Eric Clapton.[6][7][8]

Tharpe was a pioneer in her guitar technique; she was among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar, opening the way to the rise of electric blues. Her guitar-playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s. Her European tour with Muddy Waters in 1964, with a stop in Manchester on May 7, is cited by British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards.[9]

Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her music of "light" in the "darkness" of nightclubs and concert halls with big bands behind her, Tharpe pushed spiritual music into the mainstream and helped pioneer the rise of pop-gospel, beginning in 1938 with the recording "Rock Me" and with her 1939 hit "This Train".[2][6] Her unique music left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists such as Ira Tucker Sr., of the Dixie Hummingbirds.[10] While controversial among conservative religious groups due to her forays into the pop world, she never left gospel music.[10]

Tharpe's 1944 release "Down by the Riverside" was selected for the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress in 2004, which noted that it "captures her spirited guitar playing and unique vocal style, demonstrating clearly her influence on early rhythm-and-blues performers" and cited her influence on "many gospel, jazz, and rock artists".[11] ("Down by the Riverside" was recorded by Tharpe on December 2, 1948, in New York City, and issued as Decca single 48106[12]). Her 1945 hit "Strange Things Happening Every Day", recorded in late 1944, featured Tharpe's vocals and resonator guitar, with Sammy Price (piano), bass and drums. It was the first gospel record to cross over, hitting no. 2 on the Billboard "race records" chart, the term then used for what later became the R&B chart, in April 1945.[2][13] The recording has been cited as a precursor of rock and roll, and alternatively has been called the first rock and roll record.[14][7] In May 2018, Tharpe was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence.[15]

  1. ^ "Rosetta Nubin (Sister) Tharpe". The Black Perspective in Music. 2 (2): 227. 1974. ISSN 0090-7790. JSTOR 1214272.
  2. ^ a b c Ankeny, Jason. "Sister Rosetta Tharpe". AllMusic. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  3. ^ McNeil, William K.; Buckalew, Terry. "Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915–1973)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  4. ^ "Godmother of Rock and Roll | Sister Rosetta Tharpe". PBS. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  5. ^ Wald 2007, p. vii.
  6. ^ a b "Sister Rosetta Tharpe". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  7. ^ a b DeLuca, Dan (February 26, 2007). "Sister Rosetta Tharpe got rock rolling long before Elvis". PopMatters. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "The Godmother of Rock & Roll: Sister Rosetta Tharpe". BBC Four. May 24, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Long, Chris (May 7, 2014). "Muddy Waters and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's 'mind-blowing' station show". BBC.com. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  10. ^ a b Rose, Joel (March 20, 2009). "Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Etched In Stone At Last". NPR. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "Librarian of Congress Names 50 Recordings to the 2004 National Recording Registry". Library of Congress. 2005. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  12. ^ Hayes, Cedric; Laughton, Robert (2007). Gospel Records, 1943–1970 (2nd ed.). Eyeball Productions. p. 359. ISBN 9780968644584.
  13. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 440.
  14. ^ Wald 2007, p. 68.
  15. ^ Sister Rosetta Tharpe Gets Her Day In The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame