“Nobody’s fault but mine/Nobody’s fault but mine/If I die and my soul be lost/Nobody’s fault but mine”
— from “Nobody’s Fault but Mine”
Traditional gospel music has always had an uneasy relationship with its jazzier and bluesier offspring. Favored sons or daughters who blend faith-inspired lyrics with the innovative looks and sounds of the day are likely to find themselves in a lonely place—languishing in the no-man’s-land between the sacred and the secular music worlds until what is considered “sacrilegious” becomes the standard (usually about 20 years!).
Although artists like Tonéx, Kirk Franklin, the Winans and Andraé Crouch are relatively recent examples of this phenomenon, the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the more poignant ones.
This tribute album, released 30 years after Tharpe’s death, is a testimony to the impact of this original church-grown chick-with-a-guitar whose gritty, expressive style influenced artists as diverse as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Johnny Cash and Isaac Hayes—and that’s the short, male list.
On this tribute album, Maria Muldaur is one of several women influenced by Tharpe who perform a collection of her best-loved songs. The enhanced CD also includes footage of Tharpe performing “Down By The Riverside” circa 1960.
Shout, Sister, Shout! opens with Joan Osborne’s earthy, folksy rendition of “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” followed by Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt in “My Journey to the Sky.” Other outstanding tracks include Toshi Reagon’s hard-driving interpretation of “Rock Me,” one of the songs that put the gospel-circuit child prodigy on the map as a young recording artist. This song was originally written and performed by Thomas Dorsey under the name “Hide Me In Thy Bosom.”
Because Tharpe’s record company, Decca, wanted her music to have a broader appeal, the overt and covert meanings of gospel songs like “Hide Me In Thy Bosom” and “My Lord and I” were changed, often through titling or a single word (for example, into “Rock Me” and “My Man and I”). As a result, gospel fans were frequently confused or offended by the meanings—and wondered if she was a backslidden Christian who was satirically appropriating the term “Sister.”
A couple of the album’s 18 tracks hint at the nature of the on-again, off-again relationship Tharpe had with her denomination, the Church of God In Christ (COGIC). Though she never left the church, songs like “Strange Things” (sung here by Michelle Shocked), which critiqued overly pious “church people,” and “I Want A Tall Skinny Papa” (performed with sassy aplomb by Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson, Maria Muldaur and Angela Strehli) alienated many of the Sanctified folk who made up her original audience.
Songs like “This Train” (Janis Ian), “Two Little Fishes and Five Loaves of Bread” (Odetta) and “Didn’t It Rain” (Marie Knight) give the listener a glimpse of Tharpe’s engaging showmanship and ability tell a story through song.
Shout, Sister, Shout! is a great album for several reasons. Not only because its blend of folk-rock and soul provides a smorgasbord of musical history lessons, but also because it provides an opportunity to explore afresh the church’s ever-evolving approaches to the meanings of art, faith, and culture—and the ways they intersect and collide within mainstream and popular music.
Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author’s. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here.
