Sister Rosetta Tharpe

[Soot and Stars]

Done with part one and about four minutes into part two. It's very good. She played at the Cotton Club! Sounds like her husband was an early version of Ike Turner.

Yeah, it does! as you go further you see she has a controversial/racy side which I like as it really humanizes her.

 

[Jet]

Yeah, it does! as you go further you see she has a controversial/racy side which I like as it really humanizes her.

Well, she might be a gospel singer and a Christian, but like all of us, she will always be human first.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Well, she might be a gospel singer and a Christian, but like all of us, she will always be human first.

Exactly! I was actually pretty p.o.ed at some of the youtube comments by Christians condemning and discounting her because of her personal life as if that made her skills or even her message invalid. :mad

 

[joker1961]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

I was reading Steven Tylers Autobiography and saw him name drop this artist as being a very influential precursor to Elvis's sound. She's definitely Rock N' Roll but I love how she does Blues and guitar but is essentially a Gospel singer. I'm a big fan of Gospel with a rock element. She's a great energetic guitarist and vocalist that deserves a spot here within the walls of the forum!

Up Above My Head


Didn't It Rain

Great thread, I am surprised there wasn't one before.

The first "Soul Sister" of pop music. Her mastery of the guitar is sweet and she demanded respect, even though the fundamental churches objected to her activities. She was quite taboo in the south.

A few favorites would probably be the first two I ever heard by her,

This Train



Down By The Riverside



Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down was a favorite of mine only because my "Nana' used to play it in the old days when we lived in Mississippi. A Nana was a babysitter of sorts, but a neighbor as well. I was from a military family and the neighborhood we lived in was primarily black. My third grade class had three white kids in it (including me). Anyways, this type of music was often played by the more relaxed Baptists and Pentecostals, but the hard core Baptists denied the value of it.



and one for the road...

The Lonesome Road

She sure did know how to play and sing. It's too bad that some churches found her to be too "enthusiastic, and it's an outright shame that the "First Church Of The Uptighty People" found her music to be of no value. If we had music like that in more churches today, I think more young people would look forward to church. I think there is a reason for everything, and I think God was pleased with her, and I think she influenced a lot of people.

wow wee thank you for starting this thread @Soot and Stars, nice to see @Jet and @phil.B here to... I have a couple of her album wonderful...

 

[Sharp Dressed Man]

A pioneer who tends to get too little credit for her guitar playing.

 

[joker1961]

A pioneer who tends to get too little credit for her guitar playing.

totally right on dude...

 

[Soot and Stars]

Glad this is getting some action. I still have this comp. I have to listen to thoroughly!

 

[joker1961]

Yeah, it does! as you go further you see she has a controversial/racy side which I like as it really humanizes her.

Well, she might be a gospel singer and a Christian, but like all of us, she will always be human first.

A pioneer who tends to get too little credit for her guitar playing.

Glad this is getting some action. I still have this comp. I have to listen to thoroughly!

bible pushers cannot get past the point of being a human being...
i personnel only care about how good the music is a this lady is smoking red hotter than HELL!!!!

 

[joker1961]

 

[blues in colour]

I had a go at colourising some rare clips of Sister Rosetta Tharpe here, Bob the Juke kindly sent me black and white copies of the Gospels Song episodes that I used to colourise. Some of these are from July in Paris a couple of months after the legendary Gospel train show in Manchester 64'

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Jericho live [Colourised] 1964
The Gospel's Song episodes were filmed in Paris on the 25th July 2 months after the famous Blues Gospel Train was filmed at Wilbraham Road Station, Manchester. The line up was the same including Otis Spann, Cousin Joe Pleasant, Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Reverend Blind Gary Davis and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Didn't It Rain live [Colourised] 1964

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Go Ahead live in Paris [Colourised] 1964