Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Written by Dermot on Thursday, 16 July 2009
Rosetta started performing at the tender age of 4, and was billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle". By the 1930s, she was one of the biggest gospel stars around but then – as is so frequently the case – became ‘tempted’ by the lure of jazz and the blues. Originally, she only played these in private, but eventually moved into playing these tunes in public. Take a listen to some of this material...if this isn’t rock’n’roll, I not sure what is.
Most of the early rockers - like Elvis, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis – cite her as an influence, and considering their gospel backgrounds you can absolutely see why.
Apart from possessing a massive belter of a voice (and a physical presence to match) she was a hell of a guitar player. I’ve seen pictures of her with everything from Gibson SGs to Gretsches to Nationals (now that’s my kind of woman!)
If you listen to something like ‘Up Above My Head’ played with a full choir, you get to see the best of both worlds. Deep, deep soul singing but absolutely massive, huge personality guitar.
Check out the hot SG action on the video below!
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Up Above My Head (Recommended listening)
