She played guitar and sang in a style that fused gospel and blues and helped spark the Big Bang that produced the cultural force called rock 'n' roll. Fellow Arkansan Johnny Cash called her his favorite singer; Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and many others bore her influence.
And for the first time, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was born March 20, 1915, in Cotton Plant, is being considered for induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Better late than never, as they say, but this one is long overdue. She is known, after all, as the "Godmother of Rock 'n' Roll."
Her nomination does not mean an automatic induction, of course. The 2018 nominees include Judas Priest, Bon Jovi, LL Cool J, The J Geils Band, Nina Simone, The Zombies, Link Wray, The Cars, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Dire Straits, Eurythmics, MC5, The Meters, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and The Moody Blues.
The induction ceremony will take place April 14, 2018, at Cleveland's Public Hall. Inductees are voted upon by over 900 historians, music industry folk and artists -- including every living Hall member -- and only five are chosen for induction. Fans may also cast their votes through Dec. 5 at rockhall.com.
"ROCK ME"
Rosetta Nubin Tharpe began performing at age 4, playing guitar and singing gospel songs. By age 6, she was appearing with her mother, Katie Bell Nubin Atkins, an evangelist, singer and mandolin player, and was billed as the "singing and guitar-playing miracle," according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
She and her mother moved to Chicago in the late '20s. By the mid-'30s, Tharpe moved to New York where, in 1938, she was signed to Decca Records and, boom, her recordings of "This Train" and the jaunty "Rock Me" became hits. Her knack for coupling the holy spirit with the secular won her fans on both sides of the aisle and made Tharpe a perfect choice for the Carnegie Hall concert "From Spirituals to Swing," which included other black performers and was organized by record producer John Hammond.
Her recording career flourished on the strength of tracks like "Trouble in Mind," "Shout, Sister, Shout" and "That's All." She recorded with Cab Calloway and Lucky Millinder's jazz orchestras and was one of just two black gospel acts to record "V-Discs" for troops during World War II.
In 1951, 25,000 people paid to see her marry her third husband, Russell Morrison, in a ceremony at Washington, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium. She continued to tour and record throughout the '60s. She suffered a stroke in 1970 and died in Philadelphia on Oct. 9, 1973.
The United States Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor in 1998 and she holds a place in the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, where she was inducted in 2012 and in the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, where she was part of the Class of 2013. Also in 2013, the PBS series American Masters featured her in an episode titled Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock and Roll.
Music journalist Peter Guralnick, biographer of Presley, Sam Cooke and Sam Phillips, once wrote, "You can't go wrong with Sister Rosetta -- there's a jump-and-joy that translated directly into the underlying message of rock 'n'roll."
CURRENT ARKANSAS ROCK HALL OF FAMERS
Louis Jordan
• Born July 8, 1908, Brinkley
• Bandleader who crafted a mix of jazz and blues that served as the building blocks of rock 'n' roll. He was called "The Father of Rhythm & Blues" and "The Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll."
• Inducted, 1987
Johnny Cash
• Born Feb. 26, 1932, Kingsland
• "The Man in Black" was a singer-songwriter whose 'boom-chicka-boom' rockabilly sound propelled early Sun Records singles like "Cry, Cry Cry" and "Folsom Prison Blues" and who later became one of country's biggest stars.
• Inducted, 1992
Al Green
• Born April 13, 1946, Forrest City
• Recorded a string of chart-topping hits, including "Let's Stay Together," "Look What You Done For Me," "Call Me" and others, that melded gritty Memphis soul with a smoother, Motown groove.
• Inducted, 1995
Levon Helm
• Born May 26, 1940, Phillips County
• Drummer and singer for The Band, the influential group behind hits like "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek" and albums like Music From Big Pink and The Band.
• Inducted, 1994, along with the rest of The Band
Little Willie John
• Born Nov. 15, 1937, Cullendale
• One of the greatest R&B singers of the '50s and '60s, his song "Fever" topped the charts for five weeks in 1956. Additional hits include "Need Your Love So Bad," "Talk to Me, Talk to Me," "All Around the World" and others.
• Inducted, 1996
Style on 11/26/2017