Black History Month: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Today's Black History Month illustration is of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973), a singer, songwriter & guitarist who is referred to as the "godmother of rock and roll."

She was the first great recording star of gospel music. Also, due to her unique mix of spiritual lyrics & rhythmic accompaniment, she was one of the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm and blues and rock & roll audiences. She influenced early rock & roll musicians like Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis.

Simply, in the words of Jessica Diaz-Hurtado with NPR, “Rock 'n' roll was bred between the church and the nightclubs in the soul of a queer Black woman in the 1940s named Sister Rosetta Tharpe.”

Here's a video of her performance of “Didn’t It Rain” live at an abandoned train station in Manchester, England in 1964:

My illustration of Sister Rosetta Tharpe is available as an art print here.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another illustration and story!

-Alleanna

Further reading and watching:

Video: Sister Rosetta Tharpe performing "This Train" live (1964)

Documentary: The Godmother of Rock N' Roll, directed by Mick Csaky (2014)

Picture Book: Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll by Tonya Bolden and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Picture Book: Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll, written and illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Book: Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll by Maureen Mahon

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Sources:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2018 Inductee Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first guitar heroine of rock & roll.

Rock & Roll Hall of FameGayle Wald

Sister Rosetta Tharpe | Biography, Songs, & Death | Britannica

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American guitar player and gospel and blues singer who was popular in the 1930s and ’40s. She sang traditional gospel songs with contemporary jazz tempos that she played on her electric guitar, influencing early rock and rollers such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Sister Rosetta Tharpe: the godmother of rock’n’roll

She could outplay Chuck. She could outsing Aretha. And she influenced everyone from Elvis to Rod. Richard Williams revisits the songs and sufferings of the guitar-toting gospel singer for what would have been her 100th birthday

The GuardianRichard Williams

• https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/544226085/forebears-sister-rosetta-tharpe-the-godmother-of-rock-n-roll
• https://www.jamesarsenault.com/pages/books/6021/photog-james-j-kriegsmann/sister-rosetta-tharpe?soldItem=true