flirtatious, and spirited—didn’t let that
slow her down. During subsequent shows,
it was common for her to jump up from
her chair and hop around the stage on one
leg. This woman was rock and roll. Sadly,
Tharpe died in 1973 of a stroke brought
on by diabetes. She had been preparing to
go into the studio to cut another record.
Many have wondered what happened
to her guitars after her death, but the
disposition of Tharpe’s famous white SG
remains unclear. Marie Knight claims it
was buried with her. Others say the man
Tharpe married in front of the multitudes
at Griffith Stadium was “a gold digger”
who sold the guitar for ready cash after his
meal ticket was gone. The latter doesn’t
seem implausible, considering Morrison
refused to even let go of enough money to
pay for a headstone. He opted instead to
have his legendary, inspiring, and influen-
tial wife buried in an unmarked grave. It
was a tragic ending for a performer who
helped shape the future of electric guitar
and modern music as we know it.
As with many African-American performers of the
time, Tharpe found the reception of crowds at shows
and the treatment she received at British hotels and
restaurants to be a breath of fresh air after the racism
she had endured during years of touring America.
of that era, it’s hard to believe they weren’t
influenced by this trailblazing woman who
shattered the bounds of race and gender
and pushed tube amps to their limits
before they’d owned their first Marshalls.
Lest there be any doubt as to Tharpe’s
abilities, Wald quotes a man who heard
her perform many times. Alfred Miller,
musical director of Brooklyn’s Washington
Temple, Church of God in Christ, said,
“She could do runs, she could do sequenc-
es, she could do arpeggios, and she could
play anything with the guitar. You could
say something and she could make the
guitar say it . . . I mean, she could put the
guitar behind her and play it; she could
sit on the floor and play it, she could lay
down and play it.”
But Wald herself said it best: “Whenever
a rock or gospel or rhythm and blues musi-
cian turns the amps up, we’re living in the
presence of Rosetta, who made a habit of
playing as loud as she could, based on the
Pentecostal belief that the Lord smiled on
those who made a joyful noise.”
Tharpe belts out a joyous noise with er golden vocal chords and a Gibson L- 5 at the Cafe Society Downtown in New York on December 11, 1940. Photo by Charles Peterson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images"
94 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011
premierguitar.com
