78's - Tell Him You Saw Me - Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Exposed to both blues and jazz both in the South and after her family moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, she played blues and jazz in private, while performing gospel music in public settings. Her unique style reflected those secular influences: she bent notes the way that jazz artists did and picked guitar like Memphis Minnie.

Rosetta also crossed over to secular music in other ways. After marrying COGIC preacher Thomas Thorpe (from which "Tharpe" is a misspelling) in 1934, they moved to New York City. On October 31, 1938, she recorded for the first time—four sides with Decca Records backed by "Lucky" Millinder's jazz orchestra.[1] Her records caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Appearances in John Hammond's extravaganza "From Spirituals To Swing" later that year, at the Cotton Club and Café Society and with Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman made her even more popular. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me", which combined gospel themes with bouncy up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music.

Tharpe continued recording during World War II, one of only two gospel artists able to record V-discs for troops overseas. Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day", hi recorded in 1944 with Sammy Price, Decca's house boogie woogie pianist, showcased her virtuosity as a guitarist and her witty lyrics and delivery. It was also the first gospel song to make Billboard's "race records" Top Ten—something that Sister Rosetta Tharpe accomplished several more times in her career.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 78. 78's
• 78 r.p.m.
• classic
• vintage
• oldies
• vinyl
• shellac
• wax
• record
• phonograph
• turntable
• victrola
• Classic
• Swing
• Sacred Singing
• Jump Blues
• Hymn
• Jesus
• Christ
• Mary
• Cross
• Lord
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe

[CocoonSoon]

Sounds great! thanks for this.

[althazarr]

@CocoonSoon Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've got several more of her 78's posted too if you're interested.

[JeffN727]

Sister Rosetta was awesome!

[althazarr]

@JeffN727 Thank you Jeff! I'm glad you like her songs. I'm trying to find more of her records so I can share them too. I just love her style.

[Marshallmiracles]

Thank you very much for posting this song!!!! I love Tharpe and this song is the second piece of gospel sheet music that Professor Thomas Dorsey published in 1928 after he came into gospel music from jazz. His sheet music had comic-book-like drawings of the religious theme of the song. I think he made more money selling the sheet music than getting recording contracts back then!!!

[althazarr]

@Marshallmiracles Thank you for the great information. I'm glad you like this one. I would like to find the sheet music for this now. :-)

[Westtoledoguy]

Sister Rosetta is great I posted a few of her 78s on my Toledorecordman where I have my Ladies sing posts

[TheVeryMuchSoShow]

Before there was Rock and Roll there was Sister Tharpe Gospel. Not like today's made up choreographed mannequins (that if you would see without makeup you'd puke)that have no real talent.

 The Classiest Guitar Playing Woman ever (so far).=-)

[RCALennon]

Wow I'm running through my favorites and just hit this again and man this is a good one.

[althazarr]

@RCALennon

Thank you Lennon. I'm glad you like this one. :-)