A Sister Rosetta Tharpe Time Line
1915
March 20, 1915, born
Rosetta Nubin in Cotton
Plant, Arkansas
1934
Moves to New York,
where she marries
minister Thomas
A. Thorpe and
assumes his surname
(which she would later
change to “Tharpe”
after their divorce)
1941
Enjoys more
widespread success with the
songs “Trouble
in Mind,” “Shout,
Sister, Shout,”
and “That’s All”
1944
Tharpe’s version of the
traditional spiritual “Strange
Things Happening Every
Day” becomes the first gos-
pel song to make Billboard’s
“race records” Top Ten
1920
Moves to Chicago,
where she absorbs
music from the blues
and jazz scenes
1938
Signed to Decca
Records and
enjoys hit success
with “This Train”
and “Rock Me”
1940s
Becomes one of
only two African
American gospel
acts to record
“V-Discs” for US
troops serving
overseas during
World War II
songs such as “This Train” and “Rock Me”
became big hits, and even those early tunes
without electric guitar had traces of what
would become rock ’n’ roll rhythms.
During the recording ban enacted by the
American Federation of Musicians union
from 1942–44, Tharpe was one of only two
concerts. Knight had a strong contralto
voice that blended well with Tharpe’s
soprano range, and they soon had a hit
with “Up Above My Head.” The pair
toured the gospel circuit for a number of
years, during which time Tharpe’s popular-
ity among churchgoers peaked. The duo
You can hear her tearing up the acoustic on her
1944 recording of “Strange Things Happening
Every Day” with boogie-woogie pianist Sammy
Price. This was the first gospel song to make
Billboard's “race records” Top Ten, and some
consider it to be the first rock ’n’ roll record.
gospel artists to record “V-Discs”—records
intended to boost the morale of US troops
serving overseas. You can hear her tearing
up the acoustic on her 1944 recording of
“Strange Things Happening Every Day”
with boogie-woogie pianist Sammy Price.
This was the first gospel song to make
Billboard’s “race records” Top Ten, and some
consider it to be the first rock ’n’ roll record.
In 1946, Tharpe invited a young singer
named Marie Knight onstage at one of her
split in 1950, but by then Sister Rosetta
was so well known that 25,000 people
paid to attend her 1951 wedding to her
manager Russell Morrison (her third mar-
riage) at Griffith Stadium in Washington,
D.C. The ceremony was followed by a
musical performance.
Plugging In
Around 1947, Tharpe migrated from
acoustic to electric guitar, and many fans
are of the opinion that the throaty tones
from her hard-driven amplifier suited her
rough-hewn voice more than the thin
plunk of the acoustics she had been play-
ing. Photos indicate that Tharpe’s early
electric-guitar experiments were with some
sort of bar pickup placed near the bridge
of her L- 5. Other photos show her playing
the first Les Paul model—a 1952 goldtop
with P-90s, a one-piece trapeze tailpiece,
and strings fitted under (instead of over)
the steel stop-bar. She has also been pic-
tured with a Gretsch Tennessean and a
Gibson ES-330 with metal-covered, dog-
ear-style P-90s. The cover of the compila-
tion Precious Memories shows her wielding
a Gibson Barney Kessel, and you can find
video of her playing it unplugged on an
early television appearance. The Kessel
was first introduced in 1961, as was the
SG/Les Paul that you’ll see her playing in
her most famous performances—an elec-
trifying version of “Up Above My Head”
played on TV Gospel Time, as well as a ren-
dition of “Down by the Riverside” from
the same era.
86 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011
premierguitar.com
