From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Mar 20, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Rosetta Tharpe
 
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

Born Rosetta Nubin, 20 March 1921, Cotton Plant, Arkansas
Died 9 October 1973, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a gospel singer and guitarist who influenced
many R&B artists. Three events in 1938-1939 propelled Tharpe into
national prominence: she received a contract with Decca Records and
her record of "Rock Me" with Lucky Millender became a hit; Life magazine
featured Rosetta Tharpe in an article describing her gospel singing in
church and in the Cotton Club revue, singing with Cab Calloway; and
she performed in the historic "Spirituals to Swing" concert in Carnegie
Hall on December 23, 1938.
The forties were her decade. Gospel became the most important black music
since early jazz and Tharpe's four R&B hits made the gospel sound become
familiar to the country. The biggest of these hits (# 2) was "Strange Things
Are Happening Every Day" in 1945. During the sixties Tharpe took her
guitar and gospel singing to European audiences (touring with Chris Barber
in the UK) and jazz festivals. She continued to record and perform until
1970, when she suffered a stroke during a European tour. Her first LP in
four years (for Savoy) was planned in 1973, but on the day of the proposed
first session her life was ended by a final stroke.

Further reading:
Viv. Broughton, Black Gospel: An Illustrated History of the Gospel
Sound. New York: Blandford Press, 1985.
Recommended listening: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Up Above My Head
(UK Indigo, 1999). 22 tracks.