Sister Rosetta Tharpe

I want to share one of Elvis's more significant influences. And not just Elvis:

Read more about her!!
http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/godmother-rocknroll-bbc-four

It has her story, her vast influence, and the clip posted here.

Elvis would tell James Ausborn that he HAD to be home at precisely 2 P.M. or he would be in trouble with his mom.(Dundy, 1985)

Tharpe's radio show aired at 2 P.M. central time.

In another rock bio, one about Dylan (I'll catch the citation later: promise), young Bobby would tell kids the EXACT SAME story: gotta be home by 2 P.M. or there'd be trouble. He was six years younger, but had much more access to radio, and probably a big antenna from his family's electrical store (and furniture, fridges, etc.).

They both lived in central time.

Tharpe, via radio for those "born in time" (sorry; couldn't resist), and through records, influenced many, many other rock musicians.

She was a titanic force.

rjm
P.S. -- Take a few days to find which Bob-bio it's in, but it is! I don't keep a neat tidy "library," but it works. (If I don't find it, I lose a "$10,000 bet." JUST KIDDING! But I know what I read.)

She was awesome! Very talented woman.
It was a surprise to see her playing an SG by Gibson , she truly was a woman of rock n' roll.

Been listening to alot of Sister Rosetta lately. I just bought a 78rpm copy of "That's All" and have been listening to it frequently. Got it for 3 bucks!! I can't find a cip on YouTube of the version that I have which she does with Lucky Millander.

Here's another one she did with him that's just as cool.

Three dollars? Wow.

I bought whatever albums they had, before CDs.

Maybe the first rocker, or certainly one of the very first. That guitar!

rjm

Three dollars? Wow.

I bought whatever albums they had, before CDs.

Maybe the first rocker, or certainly one of the very first. That guitar!

rjm

Yeah three bucks, can you believe that? Every once in a while you get lucky. And I found it at what is usually a cool yet overpriced antique store. Either the person that ran the place had no idea who Sister Rosetta was or they were thrown off by the fact that the label says 'Lucky Millander with Rosetta Tharpe' no 'sister' in the label.

And yeah relative to the time a pretty great and interesting guitar player. Not to mention that there were hardly any female guitar players then. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head was Mother Maybelle Carter.

Three dollars? Wow.

I bought whatever albums they had, before CDs.

Maybe the first rocker, or certainly one of the very first. That guitar!

rjm

Yeah three bucks, can you believe that? Every once in a while you get lucky. And I found it at what is usually a cool yet overpriced antique store. Either the person that ran the place had no idea who Sister Rosetta was or they were thrown off by the fact that the label says 'Lucky Millander with Rosetta Tharpe' no 'sister' in the label.

And yeah relative to the time a pretty great and interesting guitar player. Not to mention that there were hardly any female guitar players then. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head was Mother Maybelle Carter.

Absolutely right on: Mother Maybelle! Elvis was pretty close to them, the Carters, for a bit. Helen Carter has a great book.

I always had trouble looking for 78s. They were either weird and cheap, or cool and very expensive. What a lucky find!

rjm

Absolutely right on: Mother Maybelle! Elvis was pretty close to them, the Carters, for a bit. Helen Carter has a great book.

I always had trouble looking for 78s. They were either weird and cheap, or cool and very expensive. What a lucky find!

rjm

I guess it depends on where you are in the country when it comes to hunting for 78s. In my area there are a few good flea markets and cheap antique places. Not to mention that some dealers either don't care or don't know what to do with 78s. It's such antiquated technology it just appears to be crap to some. But if I may be so bold to brag, in the last three-four months I have found several great R&B 78s on King, Herald, Savoy, and Atlantic for literally a dollar to three dollars a piece. The best finds so far have be three Elvis RCA 78s, a Willie Mabon Chess 78, and an original Roy Orbison SUN 78 (!). All of them were 2 for $5 and they all play great!. I've paid around 5-10 bucks for some; Bo Diddley on Checker, some Lightnin Hopkins and others. I did have a Wynonie Harris 'Good Rockin Tonight' that unfortunately broke. These things can be very fragile for sure.

78s are a blast and another amazing level in whole record listening universe, but I won't be really ecstatic until I run across Elvis 78s on Sun. If that day ever comes, it will needless to say be a very good one.

Last edited by intheghetto on Mon Jan 02, 2012 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I plan to go to a pretty big city (not L.A.) pretty soon. I believe it's just over 1,000 miles northeast of Graceland. (We have to visit my mom . . . you know, where she is. Bring flowers. Difficult.)

Anyway, I guess one has to take at least a day, and just really hunt around. And maybe prepare by checking out if there are flea markets being held, and so forth. The old record stores I remember probably aren't there anymore. Used to be a place out in the 'burbs that had an awesome "import" section through the mid-'80s, but I think it's gone now. Pretty sure of that. They used to have some 78s in the back, only one or two were any good, if I recall. The flea markets in Atlanta and in those 'burbs were lousy for '78s.

Ought to be fun! (I mean the shopping part.)

rjm
P.S. -- Oh, as for Elvis Sun 78s, some guy tried to pass off fakes at a flea market at a Beatlefest in Atlanta. It was in the '70s: maybe '80, but I doubt it. I saw the sleeves, and I had looked stuff up already, and they were clearly phony. The guy had almost made a sale to some young guy, and I said something about the printing, etc. He gave me a look like he wanted to dispose of me! Put it that way.