I began listening to Sister Rosetta Tharpe in May 2024. Here's a rundown of the albums below: the Complete Recorded Works cover all of her recordings up to 1947, The Gospel of the Blues is a greatest hits compilation that more briefly overviews this same period on a single CD disc, and Gospel Train is a studio album from the 1950s. Although I recommend listening to Vol. 1 and Vol. 3 (and at least some of Vol. 2) instead of The Gospel of the Blues, I understand that my readers may not be as patient or want such an extended view of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I'm usually that way too but ultimately found it worthwhile to listen to everything because Tharpe is such a supremely talented artist.
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1938-1941) (1996): A-
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1942-1944) (1996): B
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1946-1947) (1998): A
The Gospel of the Blues (2003): A
Gospel Train (1956): A-
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1938-1941) (1996):
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born in 1915 in Arkansas, grew up a God fearing woman and took her religion to the recording studio, where she utilized Thomas A. Dorsey's vast gospel songbook--at the time, a new, novel, and somewhat controversial mix of blues, vaudeville, and church traditions--for her own mainstream music. In 1938 at the age of 23, she recorded her first four sides on solo acoustic guitar, including Washington Phillips’s "That's All" and Dorsey's "Rock Me." Showing her virtuosic guitar playing and powerful voice, these recordings were instant successes and established her as a preeminent star. They were also well received critically and Maurie Orodenker described "Rock Me" as "rock & roll spiritual singing" in 1942, with one of the first uses of the term "rock & roll" ever. In her early years, Tharpe's favor for gospel songs remained strict but this compilation does well to document her changing musical backing, with her switch to electric guitar happening around the same time she began collaborating with orchestras. With Tharpe's energetic and joyous singing as the backbone of all her recordings, both her unaccompanied songs and orchestra collaborations still shine as outstanding, lively, and accessible. While Document's Complete Recorded Works series can often be excessively long for those looking for a concise introduction to an unfamiliar artist, Tharpe's extraordinary talent means that all of these twenty-six recordings remain lasting and worthwhile. A-
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1942-1944) (1996):
With its second installation of Tharpe's Complete Recorded Works, Documents nicely begins with "I Want a Tall Skinny Papa," a surprisingly secular tune for the gospel queen. But if this suggests the beginning of an exciting developmental period for Tharpe, this twenty-seven song compilation shows that these three years involved little artistic evolution. In addition to the re-recording several of her previous hits with lackluster results, the vast majority of the track-listing consists of Tharpe on solo guitar and singing gospel canon as we have seen before. Indeed, Tharpe recorded a mere two songs with an orchestra during this period and only began playing with the Sammy Price Trio for the final four songs on this compilation. It's not that this time frame offers nothing substantial--the final four cuts are definitely essential works--or that it frequently includes uninspired work, it's just that listening to everything she cut in these three years is admittedly unnecessary. B
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1946-1947) (1998):
Although volume two first introduced Tharpe's collaboration with the Sam Price Trio, all of the songs on the third installment of Complete Recorded Works were recorded with Price. These musicians offer the most outstanding backing of Tharpe's career, defining a signature sound with a small pre-rockabilly band that perfectly highlights Tharpe's talents on guitar and as a singer. Another blessing from heaven above is that this compilation features the eight duets Tharpe recorded with Marie Knight, whom Tharpe met while touring. As excellent as a singer Tharpe can be alone, Knight joins as an equally confident voice and their undeniable chemistry can no doubt turn sinners to saints. By hosting both her duets with Knight and much of her work with Sam Price, Vol. 3 is the ultimate highlight of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's career. A
The Gospel of the Blues (2003):
As an eighteen track overview of her early career (the same period that Complete Recorded Works covers), The Gospel of the Blues offers a concise and accessible introduction to undoubtedly one of the most important gospel artists of the 1940s. Chronologically covering her initial solo records, documenting a few of her orchestral collaborations, rightly collecting more than a handful of songs with the Sam Price Trio, and ending with a duet with Marie Knight, this track-list nicely highlights all the important periods of Tharpe's career. While the track-list certainly misses some essential songs--most puzzling is that it doesn't include any of her several renditions of "That's All"--all of these Tharpe recordings belong in the library of any serious gospel and blues fan. For those who are turned disciples by the zealous gospel recordings herein, they should absolutely explore Sister Rosetta Tharpe further through her Complete Recorded Works series. A
Gospel Train (1956):
Picking up ten years after Vol. 3, Gospel Train catches us up with Sister Rosetta Tharpe who's still singing God's praises. With a slightly deepened voice, a superb band (which features an organ that seems to foretell the 60s' obsession with the instrument), and an exciting new repertoire of fervent gospel tunes, Tharpe is no less irresistible in the new decade. While Gospel Train was not her first or last studio album, it is generally considered one of her best and captures yet another essential effort from the impossibly talented gospel queen. A-
