Sister Rosetta Tharpe | Artist

Rosetta Nubin aka Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist born 1915 at Cotton Plant, Arkansas. 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". 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. Nubin's parents were both rural cotton pickers, who sang in their local church. Encouraged by her mother, Rosetta began singing and playing the guitar as Little Rosetta Nubin at the age of six and was recognised as a musical prodigy. Around 1921 she became a regular performer in a traveling evangelical troupe. Billed as a "singing and guitar playing miracle", she accompanied her mother in performances that were part sermon and part gospel concert before audiences across the American South. In the mid-1920s, Tharpe and her mother settled in Chicago, Illinois, where they performed religious concerts and church conventions throughout the country. Tharpe developed considerable fame as a musical prodigy, standing out in an era when black female guitarists were rare. 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. In 1938, aged 23, Tharpe recorded for the first time – four sides for Decca Records. The first gospel songs recorded by Decca, "Rock Me", "That's All", "My Man and I" and "The Lonesome Road", were instant hits, establishing Tharpe as an overnight sensation and one of the first commercially successful gospel recording artists. In 1939 she had a huge hit with the song "This Train", which appeared on her debut album The Lonesome Road from the same year. Tharpe's recorded legacy includes 16 studio albums, several live albums, and many singles. Standout albums include Gospel Train (1956), Famous Negro Spirituals and Gospel Songs (1957), Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1960), and Precious Memories (1968). Tharpe's 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. Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her music in nightclubs and concert halls with big bands behind her, Tharpe pushed spiritual music into the mainstream and helped pioneer the rise of pop-gospel. While controversial among conservative religious groups due to her forays into the pop world, she never left gospel music. When Johnny Cash gave his induction speech at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, he referred to Tharpe as his favorite singer when he was a child. She has been cited as an influence on Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, and others, including Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Isaac Hayes, have identified her singing, guitar playing, and showmanship as an important influence on them. Tharpe plugged into an electric guitar in the late 1930s and became a rock star before the men considered the pioneers of rock and roll had dreamt of doing so.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe

Featured Albums: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Collections: Music Visionaries