Music History Lesson: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Godmother of Rock and Roll

The Legacy of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s Gospel Blues

Who is Sister Rosetta Tharpe?

If someone were to ask me about music’s most influential performers, there is one in particular who comes to mind as having a huge impact but is often overshadowed by the popular artists she inspired. Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

In the world of music, she was an innovator and her contributions had far-reaching impacts on certain genres of music.

A gospel musician from Arkansas, U.S., who was a pioneer of her time with her playing style and technique seen as a major influence for a surprising number of famous musicians. Seriously, it’s an impressive list.

She was considered one of the great stars of gospel music, performing with her style of rhythm and blues and being hugely influential in the rise of “Pop-Gospel” in music which led to the rise of rock and roll.

Early Life and Musical Influences

To understand where her style of music came from it’s important to take a look at her background, where she came from and how her upbringing influenced her particularly unique style.

Tharpe was born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, in the early 20th century. Her parents were members of the Church of God in Christ, a church where expression and praise through music were encouraged.

Her mother was a singer and a mandolin player, deaconess-missionary, and women’s speaker for the church, who pushed her to pursue music where she began to sing and play the guitar. She performed as “Little Rosetta Nubin” and quickly became known as a musical prodigy.

At age 6 she and her mother toured the country as part of a traveling troupe that would preach and perform across South America, where Rosetta was known as a “singing and guitar-playing miracle”.

At age 6! That’s pretty incredible to think that in the 1920s, a little girl traveling South America performing to audiences.

When I was that age, I probably would have just mastered the delicate and precise art of tying one’s shoes.

I hope I’m not alone there, but this gives me some perspective on her talent from such an early age. I could be wrong but I don’t think that traveling 6-year-old musicians are all that common.

She and her mother eventually settled in Chicago, where she quickly built up her fame performing at a time in history when talented African-American female guitarists were not too prevalent in music. A few years later she married a preacher of the church she was brought up in, Thomas Thorpe.

While this marriage didn’t last long Rosetta took a slightly different version of her husband’s name for her own stage name Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

How her career began

In the late 1930s, she began recording for a label called Decca Records where she recorded her first gospel songs which led to several hits, essentially from that point on, she blew up as one of the first successful gospel recording artists.

For the music nerds out there her hits recorded during this period were

• “Rock Me”
• “That’s All”
• “My Man and I”
• “The Lonesome Road”

If you like hearing the roots of music, I would encourage you to look these up; YouTube or Spotify are your friends here.

In the 1940s, Tharpe joined Lucky Millinder’s swing band and she would go on to tour with this band throughout the decade.

An innovator

Tharpe was one of the first artists to mix gospel and blues music, creating a unique sound that appealed to a wide audience. Her unique style and use of rhythm and blues in her music was a fresh take on the more “traditional” style of gospel music at the time.

In keeping with tradition, her on-stage performances were often very expressive and high-energy, something else that appealed to the wider crowd. This was also a huge influence on other artists such as Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an early adopter of the electric guitar and put it to good use in her gospel music. She helped to popularize the electric guitar. In her later career, she played a custom Gibson Les Paul guitar, which would later be rebranded by Gibson as the SG (Solid Guitar) model.

Look at that thing!

Rock and Roll

In 1944, her song “Strange Things Happening Every Day” was the first gospel song to appear on the Billboard magazine Harlem Hit Parade. Some have called this hit the first rock and roll record.

Challenges

As an African-American woman in the mid-20th century, Tharpe dealt with discrimination both for her race and gender. The music industry was dominated by men, and Tharpe had to overcome gender and racial issues in the southern United States of all places!

Tharpe’s mix of gospel and blues music was controversial within the religious community. She found herself criticized for deviating from the strict conventions of gospel music, leading to trouble with certain religious authorities and audiences.

Legacy

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is often referred to as “the original soul sister” and “the Godmother of rock and roll” because of just how much she influenced the genre.

Many rock and roll household names, including Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley all state Tharpe as a major influence on their music.

Chuck Berry once gave a quote stating his entire career was“one long Sister Rosetta Tharpe impersonation.”

But you don’t have to look hard to find artists who give credit or recognition to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, I would encourage anyone reading this to do a quick search and you will realize for yourself just how much of an impact this artist had.

Recognition and awards

Sister Rosetta Tharpe has received several awards posthumously in recognition of her contributions to gospel, blues and rock and roll as her legacy has grown over time.

Tharpe was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2007

On December 13, 2017, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence.

January 11th is known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in Pennsylvania to commemorate her contributions to rock and roll.

Even as recently as 2 years ago, she is still being recognized! In 2022, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her exceptional contributions to the recording industry.

The Godmother of rock and roll

Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s lasting impact can be seen in the musicians who draw inspiration from her contributions to music and performance. She broke down barriers and has had a lasting effect on popular music for generations to come. Something I hope to see more and more people become aware of.

If you found this interesting or are just discovering this artist now and would like to know more, I would encourage you to give her music a listen, some of it is of its time meaning recording quality will vary so be prepared for that.

As well as that I’m left wondering if are there any other artists out there who deserve more recognition, if any of my fellow music nerds do read this and know of any more out there, please share!