Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Gospel Train [VERVE]

Why you'll love it

This Verve Vault edition is cut all-analog from the original master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and pressed on 180g vinyl. Gospel Train is in Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.

This edition

• Verve Vault series
• 180g vinyl
• All-analog, cut from the original master tapes
• Cut by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

Long before anyone plugged in at a rock and roll show, a woman from Cotton Plant, Arkansas was playing electric guitar in church and nightclubs alike. Sister Rosetta Tharpe mixed spirituals with swing and blues, crossed over to the R&B charts in the 1940s, and inspired Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley along the way. They call her the Godmother of Rock and Roll for good reason.

Gospel Train was her first album pressed on 12" vinyl, a format still new in 1956, and she chose most of the songs herself. Her guitar rings out all through it, and the set ranges from classic spirituals to jazz and blues. "Jericho" swings, "Up Above My Head There's Music in the Air" is pure joy, "Two Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread" shows off Bernie Hanighen's songwriting, and "Precious Memories" and "Beams of Heaven" slow things down beautifully.

It was warmly received at the time, and in 2018 Tharpe went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence. British guitarists who saw her tour with Muddy Waters in 1964 went home and practised very hard indeed, and frankly it shows.

Also at Kops: more Sister Rosetta Tharpe on vinyl · browse Blues

Tracklist

Listen

On Mercury / Verve (cat# MG 20201), a reissue of the 1956 album.