Sister Rosetta Tharpe died in 1973 when I was two years old. 39 years later, I am listening to her for the first time in my life.
Shout Sister Shout is a wonderful account of Tharpe's life, but also gives insight and history into gospel music as a whole. I have grown up being surrounded by gospel mus ...more
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a gospel singer who though she started out in the 1940's was more like a jazz/blues/rock and roller than most people's idea of a gospel artist. She was also a brilliant guitar player who was closer to Chuck Berry, Les Paul, or Jimmy Page than the guitarists of her day. An I ...more
This was an interesting biography of a woman I had heard of but didn't know much about. I learned a lot from it, but the author didn't seem to have much to say aside from "here is the information" and a couple of chapters had previously been published as stand-alone articles, which made the timeline ...more
Early on Elvis was mightily inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe's singing and guitar style, and Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash are others who have tipped their guitars her way. Thanks to local jazz radio station KJAZZ, NPR, PBS' American Masters, a quick clip in the French film Am ...more
Earlier this year, the Detroit Public Theatre staged George Brant's "Marie and Rosetta." Portrayed by Johnique Mitchell and Carman Cooper, respectively, it was a fantastic performance. More than that, it sparked an obsession in me. I went home and immediately devoured everything I could find about S ...more