Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer 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". She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Eric Clapton. 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. 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". Her unique music left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists such as Ira Tucker Sr., of the Dixie Hummingbirds. While controversial among conservative religious groups due to her forays into the pop world, she never left gospel music. 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". ("Down by the Riverside" was recorded by Tharpe on December 2, 1948, in New York City, and issued as Decca single 48106.) 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. The recording has been cited as a precursor of rock and roll, and alternatively has been called the first rock and roll record. In May 2018, Tharpe was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 20, 1915 (Cotton Plant), Died October 9, 1973 (Philadelphia)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1938 - 1956
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, guitar, songwriter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 101-125 of 171 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | 76264 | 5/3/1950 | Run to Jesus everyone | Katie Bell Nubin | instrumentalist, guitar | |||
Decca | 76265 | 5/3/1950 | Is everybody happy | Katie Bell Nubin | instrumentalist, guitar | |||
Decca | 76268 | 5/3/1950 | I shall know Him | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 76269 | 5/3/1950 | There's a highway to heaven | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 76270 | 5/3/1950 | I'm bound for higher grounds | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 76271 | 5/3/1950 | I was healed | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80324 | 1/11/1951 | Use me Lord | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80325 | 1/11/1951 | Somebody needs Jesus | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80326 | 1/11/1951 | Sin is to blame | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80327 | 1/11/1951 | I thank God for my song | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80587 | 2/20/1951 | Throw out the lifeline | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80588 | 2/20/1951 | Blessed assurance | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80589 | 2/20/1951 | Rock of ages | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80590 | 2/20/1951 | In the garden | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80593 | 2/21/1951 | Let the lower lights be burning | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80594 | 2/21/1951 | There's a fountain filled with blood | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80595 | 2/21/1951 | What a friend we have in Jesus | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80596 | 2/21/1951 | Amazing grace | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80597 | 2/21/1951 | I want Jesus to walk around my bedside (before I die) | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80598 | 2/21/1951 | Royal telephone | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80599 | 2/21/1951 | Milky white way | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 80600 | 2/21/1951 | His eye is on the sparrow | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist | |||
Decca | 81632 | 7/3/1951 | God don't like it | The Rosette ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist | |||
Decca | 81633 | 7/3/1951 | So high | The Rosette ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist | |||
Decca | 83690 | 12/6/1952 | Old landmark-1, 2 | Mary (Marie) Knight ; Sister Rosetta Tharpe | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Tharpe, Sister Rosetta," accessed November 7, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/210105.
Tharpe, Sister Rosetta. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 7, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/210105.
"Tharpe, Sister Rosetta." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 7 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Discogs: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
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IMDb: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Britannica: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Tharpe, Rosetta, 1915-1973 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n89652514
Wikidata: Sister Rosetta Tharpe - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q438106
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/37106289
MusicBrainz: Sister Rosetta Tharpe - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f5625c87-5a62-4b3b-a375-fe08a71acddc
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