Sister rosetta tharpe family
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Tharpe began her musical pursuits in the church. She experimented with various genres including rhythm and blues and rock and roll
She was exceedingly skilled at playing the electric guitar, asserting her mastery as a woman guitarist
Tharpe has been dubbed the “Godmother of Rock and Roll”. Musicians such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton and Little Richard have cited her as an influence
“Can’t no man play like me. I play better than a man.” Sister Rosetta Tharpe, n.d.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born Rosie Etta Atkins in 1915 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Both of Tharpe’s parents, Katie Bell Nubin and Willis Atkins, were singers. Katie Bell also played the mandolin. Tharpe’s father was not involved in her life; even so, her mother’s influence alone set Tharpe on the path of becoming a performer. Alongside her work as a cotton picker, Katie Bell was also a deaconess-missionary and a women's speaker for the Church of God in Christ. This made the church “radical for its encouragement of rhythmic musical experimentation …, as
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe
American gospel and rock musician (1915–1973)
Musical artist
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973)[1] was an American singer, songwriter 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".[2][3][4] She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and also later guitarists, such as Eric Clapton.[6][7][8]
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 gu
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TeachRock
(1915 – 1973)
Both a Gospel superstar and a popular Rhythm and Blues singer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe achieved widespread popularity in the 30s and 40s, with a high-energy performing style that marks her as a pioneering early influence on Rock and Roll. A powerful singer, a distinctive songwriter and an expansive, effervescent personality, Tharpe made exuberant music that drew heavy inspiration from the Blues, often combining spiritual lyrics with raucous, earthy music, while exhibiting a level of showmanship and charisma that was uncommon in the Gospel field at the time. Tharpe was also an influential early exponent of the electric guitar.
An Arkansas native, Tharpe was born to parents who were farm laborers. She started singing and playing church music practically from the crib, and from the age of four traveled as a perfomer with an evangelical road show, billed as a child prodigy. She moved to Chicago and then New York City, cutting her first Gospel recordings there in 1938. The records had significant commercial success, their earthy, R&B-like sound appeal
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