Born with the Blues: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born on March 20, 1915 was a prominent guitar player, singer , and considered the “Godmother of Rock ‘n Roll”. She was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas.

Tharpe and her mother were members of  Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which was founded in 1894 by Charles Harrison Mason, a black Pentecostal bishop, who encouraged rhythmic musical expression, dancing in praise and allowing women to sing and teach in church. Encouraged by her mother, Tharpe began to perform as Little Rosetta Nubin at the age of six and was cited as a musical prodigy. She would tour with her mother in the evangelical circles billed as a singing and “guitar playing miracle”.

Tharpe would begin to record after moving with her mother to Chicago with Decca Records. She pushed spiritual music into the mainstream and helped pioneer the rise of pop-gospel.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneer in her guitar  style; she was among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar, presaging the rise of electric blues. Her guitar playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s; in particular a European tour with Muddy Waters in 1964 with a stop in Manchester on 7 May is cited by prominent British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards.

Her 1945 hit “Strange Things Happening Every Day”, recorded in 1944 is considered to be the first rock and roll record.

She died on October 1973 as a result of a stroke.