30 Oct Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s Look at her Piano Player
A certain kind of slow burn exists in the world. It’s a rare experience that can transport you to another place and time. Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s impeccably grooved take on “This Train is Bound for Glory” is one of those slow burns. Sparked by an oh-so-sweet-and-spicy guitar lead in, the song settles into a shuffling bluesy turnaround conducted by the sister herself. Sparse instrumentation carries her guitar voice down the line and takes you from wherever and whenever you see it to that room decades ago.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe seems to live in three worlds. She often slips away to a transcendent place, eyes fixed upwards, on the ceiling or beyond. Lost in the moment, the music, and the energy of the room, she marches toward an ethereal place and we follow, but not too closely out of reverence. It’s a true place and deserves respect.
Her second world is in the moment with the audience. She controls the room with authority, leaving little doubt who the people have come to see. Her fierce eyes drift around the room as she calls out the:
Liars
False pretenders
Backbiters
Winkers
Crap Shooters
Whiskey drinkers
Jokers
Tobacco Chewers
Cigar Smokers
These folks may have gotten on the train, but conductor Tharpe is checking tickets and cleaning house.
Which brings us to the third place. It’s a quick but meaningful stay and the inspiration for this post. Toward the end of the song, singing about whiskey drinkers, she tosses a scathing look toward the piano player:
If hellfire-and-brimstone sermons were finely aged wine, this look would be get-you-drunk-quick distilled liquor. It’s not just her earthquaking look, but the aftershock of the second glance that is so devastating. I know nothing about this guy except what I see on this video, but if he didn’t live a perfectly chaste and sober life after this, he must have had nerves of steel. I don’t want to put too fine a point on this, but Jonathan Edwards had nothing on this woman when serving up a scare in the name of morality.
Aside from the sermonizing, I can only imagine what it was like to hear music like this for the first time. Was it confusing to live in the brackish waters of gospel and rock and roll? The musical prophets were speaking truer words than they may have known as they described the cultural blending of what had been primarily spiritual expressions with the raw energy and excitement carried in on the electric guitar and the rise of mass media.
Armed with a Gibson SG, some overdrive, and that voice, Tharpe inspired the likes of Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard with her infectious cocktail of styles. As a harbinger of rock and roll, Sister Rosetta played her part in opening the door for so much music that we enjoy today. I’m so glad to live in a time where I get to witness videos of performances like this. Also, just to be safe, I’m going to think twice before bringing my vices on that train. Just in case she comes around to check my ticket.
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