Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Encyclopedia
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian
pioneering gospel
singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll
accompaniment. She became the first great recording star of gospel music in the late 1930s and also became known as the "original soul
sister" of recorded music.
Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her inspirational music of 'light' in the 'darkness' of the nightclubs and concert halls with big band
s behind her, her witty, idiosyncratic style also left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists, such as Ira Tucker, Sr., of the Dixie Hummingbirds. While she offended some conservative churchgoers with her forays into the world of pop music, she never left gospel music.
, United States
, to parents Katie Bell Nubin and Willis Atkins who were cotton
pickers. Little is known of Tharpes' father, although it is known that he was a singer. In 1921 Bell left Atkins to become a travelling evangelist for the Church of God in Christ
(COGIC).
Tharpe began performing at the age of four, billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle", accompanying her mother who played mandolin
and preached at tent revivals throughout the South. Exposed to both blues
and jazz
both in the South and after her family moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, she played blues and jazz in private, while performing gospel music in public settings. Her unique style reflected those secular influences: she bent notes the way that jazz artists did and picked guitar like Memphis Minnie
.
.
On October 31, 1938, she recorded for the first time — four sides with Decca Records
backed by "Lucky" Millinder
's jazz orchestra. She had signed a seven year contract with Millinder and was managed by Mo Galye. Her records caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Appearances in John Hammond
's extravaganza "From Spirituals To Swing" later that year, at the Cotton Club
and Café Society
and with Cab Calloway
and Benny Goodman
made her even more popular. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me" (her first hit), which combined gospel themes with bouncy up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music. It has been suggested that Tharpe had little choice in the material she was contracted to record with Millinder. Her nightclub performances led to her initially being ostracised by some in the gospel community. She played on a number of occasions with the white singing group The Jordanaires
.
Tharpe continued recording during World War II
, one of only two gospel artists able to record V-discs for troops overseas. Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day", recorded in 1944 with Sammy Price
, Decca's house boogie woogie pianist, showcased her virtuosity as a guitarist and her witty lyrics and delivery. It was also the first gospel song to make Billboard
s Harlem Hit Parade (later known as Race Records, then R&B) Top Ten — something that Sister Rosetta Tharpe accomplished several more times in her career. The record has been credited by some as being the "First rock and roll record". Tharpe toured throughout the 1940s, backed by various gospel quartets, including The Dixie Hummingbirds
.
After the war Decca paired her with Marie Knight
, a sanctified shouter with a strong contralto and a more subdued style than Tharpe. Their hit "Up Above My Head
" showed both of them to great advantage: Knight provided the response to Tharpe in traditional call and response
format, then took the role that would have been assigned to a bass in a male quartet after Tharpe's solo. It has been reported that it was an "open secret", in show business circles, that Knight and Tharpe were lovers. They toured the gospel circuit for a number of years, during which Tharpe was so popular that she attracted 25,000 paying customers to her wedding to her manager Russell Morrison (her third marriage), followed by a vocal performance, at Griffith Stadium
in Washington, D.C.
in 1951.
Their popularity took a sudden downturn, however, when they recorded several blues songs in the early 1950s. Knight attempted afterwards to cross over to popular music, while Tharpe remained in the church, but rebuffed by many of her former fans. In 1957 Tharpe was booked for a month-long tour of the UK by British trombonist Chris Barber
.
In April - May 1964, at the height of a surge of popular interest in the blues, she toured Europe as part of the Blues and Gospel Caravan, alongside Muddy Waters
and Otis Spann
, Ranson Knowling and Little Willie Smith, Reverend Gary Davis
, Cousin Joe
and Sonny Terry
and Brownie McGhee
. Tharpe was introduced on stage and accompanied on piano by Cousin Joe Pleasant. Under the auspices of George Wein
, the Caravan was stage-managed by Joe Boyd
.
A concert, in the rain, was recored by Granada Television
at the disused railway station at Wilbraham Road, Manchester
in May 1964. The band performed on one platform while the audience were seated on the opposite platform.
, on the eve of a scheduled recording session. She was buried in Northwood Cemetery
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, in an unmarked grave. A resurgence in interest in her legendary work has led to a biography, several NPR
segments, scholarly articles and honors. In 2007 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
. In 2008, a concert was held to raise funds for a marker for her grave and January 11 was declared Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in Pennsylvania. A gravestone was put in place later that year and a Pennsylvania historical marker was approved for placement at her home in the Yorktown
neighborhood of Philadelphia.
and Jerry Lee Lewis
to Isaac Hayes
and Aretha Franklin
, have identified her—or, more particularly, her singing, guitar playing and showmanship—as an important influence on them. Little Richard
referred to the stomping, shouting gospel music legend as his favorite singer when he was a child. In 1945, she heard Richard sing prior to her concert at the Macon City Auditorium and later invited him on stage to sing with her. Following the show, she paid him for his performance. Johnny Cash
also referred to Tharpe as his favorite singer when he was a child when he gave his induction speech at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. His daughter Rosanne
similarly stated in an interview with Larry King
that Tharpe was her father's favorite singer. She was held in particularly high esteem by UK jazz/blues singer George Melly
. Even today, artists such as Sean Michel
have credited her influence with the performance of gospel songs in more secular venues.
Brixton band Alabama 3
(of Sopranos theme fame) named a track after Sister Rosetta on their debut album Exile on Coldharbour Lane
(1997), as well as recording a version of her song Up Above My Head
. In 2007, UK indie rock band The Noisettes
released the single "Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)
" from their album What's the Time Mr. Wolf? Also in 2007, singers Alison Krauss
and Robert Plant
recorded a duet version of the song "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us", written by Sam Phillips
. Phillips released her version of the song on her 2008 album, Don't Do Anything
. Michelle Shocked
opened her live gospel album ToHeavenURide
(2007) with "Strange Things Happening Every Day", along with a tribute to Tharpe.
In 2001, the award-winning French film Amélie
included a scene showing the protagonist's house-bound neighbor mesmerized by a montage of video clips which featured a performance of "Up Above My Head" by Tharpe.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pioneering gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
accompaniment. She became the first great recording star of gospel music in the late 1930s and also became known as the "original soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
sister" of recorded music.
Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her inspirational music of 'light' in the 'darkness' of the nightclubs and concert halls with big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s behind her, her witty, idiosyncratic style also left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists, such as Ira Tucker, Sr., of the Dixie Hummingbirds. While she offended some conservative churchgoers with her forays into the world of pop music, she never left gospel music.
Biography
Born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, ArkansasCotton Plant, Arkansas
Cotton Plant is a city in Woodruff County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 960.-Geography:Cotton Plant is located at ....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to parents Katie Bell Nubin and Willis Atkins who were cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
pickers. Little is known of Tharpes' father, although it is known that he was a singer. In 1921 Bell left Atkins to become a travelling evangelist for the Church of God in Christ
Church of God in Christ
The Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....
(COGIC).
Tharpe began performing at the age of four, billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle", accompanying her mother who played mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and preached at tent revivals throughout the South. Exposed to both blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
both in the South and after her family moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, she played blues and jazz in private, while performing gospel music in public settings. Her unique style reflected those secular influences: she bent notes the way that jazz artists did and picked guitar like Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie was an American blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the only female blues artist considered a match to male contemporaries as both a singer and an instrumentalist.-Career:...
.
Career
Rosetta also crossed over to secular music in other ways. After marrying COGIC preacher Thomas Thorpe (from which "Tharpe" is a misspelling) in 1934. The marriage was not a happy one, with Thorpe having been described as "a tyrant". In 1938 Tharpe left her husband and moved with her mother to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
On October 31, 1938, she recorded for the first time — four sides with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
backed by "Lucky" Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
's jazz orchestra. She had signed a seven year contract with Millinder and was managed by Mo Galye. Her records caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Appearances in John Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
's extravaganza "From Spirituals To Swing" later that year, at the Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
and Café Society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
and with Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
and Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
made her even more popular. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me" (her first hit), which combined gospel themes with bouncy up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music. It has been suggested that Tharpe had little choice in the material she was contracted to record with Millinder. Her nightclub performances led to her initially being ostracised by some in the gospel community. She played on a number of occasions with the white singing group The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...
.
Tharpe continued recording during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, one of only two gospel artists able to record V-discs for troops overseas. Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day", recorded in 1944 with Sammy Price
Sammy Price
Sammy Price was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader. He was born Samuel Blythe Price, in Honey Grove, Texas, United States. Price was most noteworthy for his work on Decca Records with his own band, known as the Texas Bluesicians, that included fellow musicians...
, Decca's house boogie woogie pianist, showcased her virtuosity as a guitarist and her witty lyrics and delivery. It was also the first gospel song to make Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Harlem Hit Parade (later known as Race Records, then R&B) Top Ten — something that Sister Rosetta Tharpe accomplished several more times in her career. The record has been credited by some as being the "First rock and roll record". Tharpe toured throughout the 1940s, backed by various gospel quartets, including The Dixie Hummingbirds
The Dixie Hummingbirds
The Dixie Hummingbirds are an influential American gospel music group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of Gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of today.-History:Formed in 1928 in...
.
After the war Decca paired her with Marie Knight
Marie Knight
Marie Knight was an American gospel and R&B singer.-Life and career:She was born Marie Roach in Sanford, Florida but grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was a construction worker and the family were members of the Church of God in Christ. She first toured as a singer in 1939 with Frances...
, a sanctified shouter with a strong contralto and a more subdued style than Tharpe. Their hit "Up Above My Head
Up Above My Head
"Up Above My Head" is a Gospel song, originally recorded in the 1940s by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight as a duo.-Style:The song is formed in the traditional call and response format, with Tharpe singing a short line followed by Knight's "response" of the same line...
" showed both of them to great advantage: Knight provided the response to Tharpe in traditional call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
format, then took the role that would have been assigned to a bass in a male quartet after Tharpe's solo. It has been reported that it was an "open secret", in show business circles, that Knight and Tharpe were lovers. They toured the gospel circuit for a number of years, during which Tharpe was so popular that she attracted 25,000 paying customers to her wedding to her manager Russell Morrison (her third marriage), followed by a vocal performance, at Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1951.
Their popularity took a sudden downturn, however, when they recorded several blues songs in the early 1950s. Knight attempted afterwards to cross over to popular music, while Tharpe remained in the church, but rebuffed by many of her former fans. In 1957 Tharpe was booked for a month-long tour of the UK by British trombonist Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
.
In April - May 1964, at the height of a surge of popular interest in the blues, she toured Europe as part of the Blues and Gospel Caravan, alongside Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and Otis Spann
Otis Spann
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
, Ranson Knowling and Little Willie Smith, Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
, Cousin Joe
Cousin Joe
Cousin Joe was an American blues and jazz singer, later famous for his 1940s recordings with clarinetist Sidney Bechet and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow....
and Sonny Terry
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...
and Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
. Tharpe was introduced on stage and accompanied on piano by Cousin Joe Pleasant. Under the auspices of George Wein
George Wein
George Wein is an American jazz promoter and producer who has been called "the most famous jazz impresario" and "the most important non-player... in jazz history"...
, the Caravan was stage-managed by Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
.
A concert, in the rain, was recored by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
at the disused railway station at Wilbraham Road, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in May 1964. The band performed on one platform while the audience were seated on the opposite platform.
Later life and death
Tharpe's performances were curtailed by a stroke in 1970, after which she had a leg amputated as a result of complications from diabetes. She died in 1973 after another strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, on the eve of a scheduled recording session. She was buried in Northwood Cemetery
Northwood Cemetery
Northwood Cemetery is a cemetery located in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1878.-Notable interments:* George Bradley Major League Baseball player....
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, in an unmarked grave. A resurgence in interest in her legendary work has led to a biography, several NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
segments, scholarly articles and honors. In 2007 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues.-1980:*Big Bill Broonzy*Willie Dixon*John Lee Hooker...
. In 2008, a concert was held to raise funds for a marker for her grave and January 11 was declared Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in Pennsylvania. A gravestone was put in place later that year and a Pennsylvania historical marker was approved for placement at her home in the Yorktown
Yorktown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Yorktown is a neighborhood in North Philadelphia. It is located north of Poplar and west of Ludlow....
neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Musical influence
A number of musicians, ranging from Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
to Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, have identified her—or, more particularly, her singing, guitar playing and showmanship—as an important influence on them. Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
referred to the stomping, shouting gospel music legend as his favorite singer when he was a child. In 1945, she heard Richard sing prior to her concert at the Macon City Auditorium and later invited him on stage to sing with her. Following the show, she paid him for his performance. Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
also referred to Tharpe as his favorite singer when he was a child when he gave his induction speech at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. His daughter Rosanne
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
similarly stated in an interview with Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
that Tharpe was her father's favorite singer. She was held in particularly high esteem by UK jazz/blues singer George Melly
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
. Even today, artists such as Sean Michel
Sean Michel
Sean Michel is a musician who hails from Bryant, Arkansas. He was initially known most widely for his appearance on American Idol Season 6. However, he toured with his band for at least two years prior to his appearance on the show, and continues to gain an increasing audience worldwide...
have credited her influence with the performance of gospel songs in more secular venues.
Brixton band Alabama 3
Alabama 3
Alabama 3 are a British band mixing rock, dance, blues, country, and gospel styles, founded in Brixton, London, in 1995. In the United States, they are known as A3, allegedly to avoid any possible legal conflict with the country music band Alabama...
(of Sopranos theme fame) named a track after Sister Rosetta on their debut album Exile on Coldharbour Lane
Exile on Coldharbour Lane
Exile on Coldharbour Lane is the debut album by Alabama 3, released November 11, 1997, on One Little Indian and Geffen. The name and cover are references to Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones and Coldharbour Lane a major street in Brixton, South London best known for containing several...
(1997), as well as recording a version of her song Up Above My Head
Up Above My Head
"Up Above My Head" is a Gospel song, originally recorded in the 1940s by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight as a duo.-Style:The song is formed in the traditional call and response format, with Tharpe singing a short line followed by Knight's "response" of the same line...
. In 2007, UK indie rock band The Noisettes
The Noisettes
Noisettes are an English indie rock band from London, comprising singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa, guitarist Dan Smith, and drummer Jamie Morrison...
released the single "Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)
Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)
"Sister Rosetta " was the fourth single from What's the Time Mr. Wolf? by the UK indie rock band Noisettes. It was released as a CD single and two vinyl 7"s in January 2007.-Track listing:CD single — released January 25, 2007...
" from their album What's the Time Mr. Wolf? Also in 2007, singers Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
recorded a duet version of the song "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us", written by Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips (singer)
Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips is an American singer and a songwriter.-Biography:Phillips was born in Glendale, California. She began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others...
. Phillips released her version of the song on her 2008 album, Don't Do Anything
Don't Do Anything
Don't Do Anything is the eleventh studio album by American singer and songwriter Sam Phillips. The album is Phillips' first to be self-produced and was released on June 3, 2008....
. Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked is the stage name of Michelle Karen Johnston, an American singer-songwriter.-History:Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe, particularly Britain, with her debut album The Texas Campfire Tapes .Her first U.S...
opened her live gospel album ToHeavenURide
ToHeavenURide
ToHeavenURide is an album by Michelle Shocked. This album was recorded live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and features original songs and a selection of covers. It was released in 2007 by Shocked's own label, Mighty Sound. The title is a take on "To Hell You Ride" the nickname for the...
(2007) with "Strange Things Happening Every Day", along with a tribute to Tharpe.
In 2001, the award-winning French film Amélie
Amélie
Amélie is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre...
included a scene showing the protagonist's house-bound neighbor mesmerized by a montage of video clips which featured a performance of "Up Above My Head" by Tharpe.
Other sources cited
- Boyer, Horace Clarence. (1995). How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel. Elliott and Clark. ISBN 0-252-06877-7.
- Heilbut, TonyAnthony HeilbutAnthony Heilbut , is an American writer, and record producer of gospel music. He is noted for his biography of Thomas Mann, and has also won a Grammy Award.-Life:He has a doctorate in English from Harvard University....
. (1997). The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times. Limelight Editions. ISBN 0-87910-034-6. - Wald, Gayle. (September 2003). "From Spirituals to Swing: Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Gospel Crossover." American Quarterly, 55 (3), 387-416.
- Wald, Gayle. (2007) "Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe" Beacon Press. ISBN 0-80700-984-9.
- White, Charles. (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. pg. 17.
External links
- The Gospel of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, National Public Radio's All Things Considered radio show, includes Ross Reynolds of NPR affiliate KEXP and the Museum Experience Music Project, January 17, 2004.
- Interview with Tharpe biographer Gayle F. Wald, from WILL AM radio (an NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
affiliate), February 22, 2007. - Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Etched In Stone At Last, National Public Radio's All Things Considered radio show, March 20, 2009.
- Pop Music, To The Best of Our Knowledge radio show by Wisconsin Public Radio (NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
affiliate), an episode that focused upon popular music and its influences with an interview of Gayle F. Wald about her book Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, April 1, 2007 and rebroadcast on March 24, 2008. - Premier Guitar - Forgotten Heroes: Sister Rosetta Tharpe