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SPEAKER_02: Hi, this is Laura Whitmore from the Women's International Music Network. And I'm excited to introduce the story behind a true guitar pioneer. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a charismatic forward-thinking musician who combined her religious faith, her love of guitar and her penchant for flashy and exuberant performance to become a musical sensation. She was the first singer to play the best and boldest guitars she could make the instrument talk. And her playing chops rivaled those of her male counterparts. As America's first global gospel superstar, she brought church music to the mainstream stage and had audiences of all races and backgrounds singing along with her big and bright soprano vocals.
SPEAKER_03: Let's listen. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan. And this is Encyclopedia Wamanica. Rosetta is a gospel singer known for her guitar skills. She's considered the godmother of rock and roll. Meet Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
SPEAKER_05: Didn't it rain, children?
SPEAKER_03: Rain or yes. Rosetta Newben was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas in 1915. She grew up in a musical family. Her parents picked cotton to make a living, but they sang and played guitar outside of work. Her grandmother, Katie, worked as the woman's speaker for the Church of God in Christ and encouraged her daughter's musical expression. At the age of four, Rosetta was already considered a musical prodigy. In the 1920s, Rosetta and her mother relocated to Chicago, where they jointly performed in national church conventions. Rosetta's unique vibrato and guitar style stunned audiences, and she quickly made a name for herself as a young gospel singer. In 1934, at the age of 19, Rosetta married Thomas Thorpe, a preacher. He supported her musical ambitions, and she used his last name to form the stage name Sister Rosetta Tharpe. In 1938, Sister Rosetta left Thomas and moved to New York City. Sister Rosetta landed her first big break when she signed with Decca Records in 1938. She became an overnight success and recorded a number of mainstream hits, which blended blues and gospel tones.
SPEAKER_03: Throughout the 1940s, Sister Rosetta collaborated with a number of bands and musicians. Though she gained international recognition, she dealt with the challenges of institutional racism and discrimination. On tour, she slept on buses because restaurants and hotels were segregated, and she grappled with life as a young black woman in an industry that was dominated by white men. During World War II, Sister Rosetta was one of two gospel performers to record V-disks, which were sent to encourage those fighting on the front lines. She developed a large fan base in the military. In 1945, Rosetta's song, "'Strange Things Happening Every Day,'" became the first gospel single to cross over on the Billboard R&B Top 10 chart. Some consider it the first rock and roll song. In 1946, Sister Rosetta met fellow gospel singer Marie Knight. They toured together, drawing in massive crowds, and recorded the smash hit, "'Up Above My Head.'"
SPEAKER_03: Biographer Gail Wald wrote that Marie and Sister Rosetta became lovers, which was, as she called it, an open secret. During a time when it was uncommon to achieve success as a black woman guitarist, Sister Rosetta stood out for her soulful voice and her skillful guitar technique. She experimented with finger-picking and distortion on the electric guitar. Bob Dylan once said, "'I'm sure there are a lot of young English guys who picked up electric guitars after getting a look at her.'" Her songs inspired the work of influential musicians, including Elvis and Johnny Cash. She brought Little Richard up on stage once, giving him his first performance in front of a secular audience. Chuck Berry once called his entire career just one long Rosetta Tharpe impersonation. Audiences sometimes struggled to understand the way Rosetta mixed her gospel lyrics with secular tunes. She often enjoyed playing gospel songs in nightclubs in front of showgirls, reveling in the juxtaposition. Her trailblazing and visionary techniques are what allowed her to create a new genre of music. Still, it sometimes cost her financial success, as church audiences didn't like her secularism and secular audiences didn't like her gospel songs. But Sister Rosetta was also a good businesswoman who early on understood the importance of merchandising and publicity. She regularly sent updates about herself to the black press, and in 1951, she turned her marriage to her manager, Russell Morrison, into a concert. They wed at the Washington Senators' baseball stadium in front of 20,000 paying customers and recorded a concert which was released as an album. In 1956, Sister Rosetta recorded the album Gospel Trail with the Harmonizing Four, a gospel quartet. She went on to tour in the UK and built a European following. In 1964, Sister Rosetta pulled up on a horse-drawn carriage and famously sang the song, Didn't It Rain, at an abandoned train station in Manchester, England. As the band performed on one side of the platform, audiences listened in awe on the other side. During her third UK visit, headlines read, Beatles boosters defect. Bristolites dig blues singer Sister Tharp. Sister Rosetta continued to tour in Europe. She performed alongside famed musicians including Muddy Waters and Otis Spann. In 1960, Sister Rosetta performed at the Apollo Theater with Caravan and James Cleveland. In 1970, Sister Rosetta eulogized her mother with the song Precious Lord. It became her last known recording. Three years later, in 1973, Sister Rosetta Tharp died from a stroke. Though she was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2018, the induction essay noted, without the sort of emotional expressiveness that she and others brought from black churches into the musical mainstream, it's doubtful that rock and roll would have attained the effective force of a secular religion. Without Tharp, a woman who thrived on thrilling audiences with her guitar pyrotechnics, it's open for debate whether rock's archetypal instrument would have become so indelibly associated with the sensual, the sensational, and the sublime. All month, we're talking about musicians. For more on why we're doing what we're doing, check out our newsletter, Womanica Weekly. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Encyclopedia Womanica, and reach out directly on Twitter at Jenny M. Kaplan. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow. This episode of Encyclopedia Womanica is brought to you by Bravery Magazine. Bravery is empowering. Each episode provides real role models and aims to empower kids to be their own kind of brave. It's also educational. Bravery's full of steam-focused content and opportunities for hands-on learning. Bravery is a resource. It's a tool that parents, teachers, and caregivers can use to foster thoughtful conversations about important issues in an accessible, kid-friendly way. Bravery is also diverse. Issues feature women from different backgrounds, experiences, ethnicities, and fields of interest. It's a great way to introduce kids to new topics and inspire them to try new things. Last but not least, Bravery is fun. Designed for girls and boys ages five to 12, there's something for everyone in each issue. Bravery is a tool that allows kids to be more engaged Subscribe for just $18 and meet your next role model at www.braverymag.com. That's www.braverymag.com. Check it out.
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