Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe

by Gayle Wald

Overview

The essential biography of America’s godmother of rock ‘n’ roll whose exuberant singing and guitar playing captivated audiences and inspired generations of musicians from the 40s to today

When Shout, Sister, Shout! was first published in 2007, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was resting in an unmarked grave in a Philadelphia cemetery. That lack of a headstone symbolized so much of what was egregiously wrong about so many stories of American music, particularly the genre we call rock or rock-and-roll. It’s a genre that wouldn’t exist without Tharpe, though her contribution was forgotten for many years.

The biography finally tells the story of the queer, Black trailblazer who defied categorization and influenced scores of popular musicians, from Elvis Presley and Little Richard to Bonnie Raitt, The Alabama Shakes, and Lizzo. The author draws on memories from more than 150 people who knew Tharpe, as well as scraps of information gleaned from newspapers, archives, and memorabilia, to piece together a story that forever alters our understanding of women in rock and of US popular music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807011843
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	01/31/2023
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	398,193
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gayle Wald teaches American Studies at the George Washington University. Her books include Shout, Sister, Shout!, It’s Been Beautiful, and Crossing the Line. Her essays on music and culture have appeared in numerous publications. She lives in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter @gaylewald and at ShoutSisterShout.net.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 2023 Edition vii

Preface: The Lonesome Road xi

1 Cotton Plant (1915-1920) 1

2 Got on My Travelin' Shoes (1920-1937) 15

3 From Spirituals to Swing (1938-1940) 33

4 Shout, Sister, Shout (1940-1946) 51

Bridge: "She Made That Guitar Talk" 71

5 Little Sister (1947-1949) 74

6 At Home and on the Road (1948-1950) 94

7 "The World's Greatest Spiritual Concert" (1950-1951) 109

8 Sister in Opryland (1952) 125

9 Don't Leave Me Here (1953-1957) 135

Bridge: "The Men Would Stand Back" 151

10 Rebirth and Revival (1957-1964) 156

11 Riding the Gospel Train (1960-1970) 179

12 I Looked Down the Line (1970-1973) 198

Epilogue: Vibrations, Strong and Mean 215

Epilogue to the 2023 Edition 220

Acknowledgments 226

Appendix

Interviews 230

Selected Discography 232

Credits and Permissions 233

Notes 235

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

I talk about Sister Rosetta Tharpe all the time. She was black and queer and big and invented rock and roll.”
—Lizzo

“Wald will give you the story, from small-town Arkansas to the biggest stages in the country.”
—David Remnick, The New Yorker

“[Tharpe] has long been deserving of wider recognition and a place of honor in the field of music history.”
—Bonnie Raitt

“Mixing tireless reporting with nuanced and cultural insights, Wald’s Shout, Sister, Shout! is about as good as musical reparations get.”
—Tony Green, Vibe

“Rosetta Tharpe was one of my first influences, one of the first people I heard sing. I’m glad Gayle Wald has done a book on her because people need to know.”
—Isaac Hayes

“Wald makes a good case that Tharpe’s R&B spirituals played a key role in inventing rock.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Seeing Sister Rosetta . . . really gave me a sense that this was a birthright of mine.”
—Celisse Henderson

From the Publisher

Though Elvis, Ginger Baker, Keith Richards and Jerry Lee Lewis paid her tribute, Sister Rosetta Tharpe's vast contribution to American musical history has nearly faded away. With the publication of this entertaining and enlightening biography, Tharpe-who reputedly played her electric guitar "like a man," withstood failed marriages, racial and sexual discrimination plus economic hardships-should receive the recognition she deserves. George Washington University professor Wald (Crossing the Line) has knit together memories of 150 people familiar with Tharpe and her work. Wald's competent research provides readers with the larger historical framework within which Tharpe's contributions can be appreciated. Born in Arkansas in 1915, Rosetta Tharpe became a well-known child performer, honing her gospel guitar style in Pentecostal churches and tent revivals throughout the South. By the late 1930s Tharpe relocated to Chicago, made the life-altering choice of forsaking Pentecostal church performances and embarked on a secular career, eventually signing with Decca Records. During the 1950s Tharpe's career sagged due to changing musical tastes, but a well-timed European tour in 1957 reignited her career. Tharpe courageously cut across racial, musical and sexual boundaries, defying easy categorization, which may have contributed to her obscurity. Wald's biography of this unique performer will hopefully reawaken interest in her life and music. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"Sister" Rosetta Tharpe's (1915-73) name has fallen into relative obscurity, despite a successful career that spanned several decades. She was hailed for her distinctive musical innovations and crowd-thrilling performances and was a favorite of Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and others. Wald (English, George Washington Univ.; Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in Twentieth-Century U.S. Literature and Culture) has drawn from scores of personal interviews and eclectic source materials to chronicle Tharpe's humble beginnings in Cotton Plant, AR, and her rise to fame as an internationally acclaimed singer and guitar phenomenon who fused gospel, rock, folk, and blues into her own signature, groundbreaking style. Wald digs deeply into sensitive personal, cultural, and artistic issues to capture the essence of both the individual and the performer while deftly examining a variety of elements that impacted Tharpe's life and work-from the challenges of being an African American woman to the strictures of the religious environment that gave rise to her gospel sound. This candid and thorough biography will certainly appeal to those familiar with this accomplished performer and will inspire others to seek out her recordings. For circulating libraries as well as music and African American studies collections.-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Guitar-wielding gospel grande dame gets her first full-length biography. Though Sister Rosetta Tharpe definitely had an impact on many rock guitarists, the book's subtitle is marketing sleight-of-hand. Tharpe wasn't a rock-'n'-roller-she was a holy roller, a Pentecostal shouter and refined picker who was one of the top sacred-music performers of her day. It's true that she see-sawed between the gospel and secular worlds: 1930s releases like "Rock Me" and "This Train" were church roof-raisers, but she was soon recording with Lucky Millinder's big band and playing decidedly ungodly venues like New York's Cotton Club and Cafe Society. She returned to the gospel road in the mid-'40s, and her career didn't recover until her embrace by European blues revivalists in the '60s; she died in 1973, at age 58. Sister Rosetta's fascinating experiences fail to come alive in this lugubrious narrative. Wald (English/George Washington Univ.) is madly in love with her subject and treats with rapture even such grotesque incidents as Tharpe's 1951 wedding before a paid crowd of 20,000 in a Washington ballpark. Though based on dozens of interviews, her work reads more like a full-length mash note than a carefully researched biography. The reader learns little about Tharpe's three husbands, even though the third-Russell Morrison-was her manager for nearly 20 years. Old rumors about bisexuality are mentioned, only to be quickly dismissed. Wald writes virtually nothing about how Tharpe learned to play or from whom, neglecting the historical roots of her dazzling guitar style. Nor does the author have anything to say about the essential, abiding conflict between Tharpe's sacred and worldly sides. Sister Rosettadeserves better than this sleepy, uncritical tome.

Kirkus Reviews