Customer Reviews

Original Soul Sister

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe plays with a lively, swinging, push-the-envelope ferocity that foreshadows Chuck Berry's playing. For that reason alone, this collection would be worth the nominal amount it costs. But there's plenty more to recommend this set of material from one of gospel's unjustly neglected giants. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a passionate and gifted singer, with a grittiness that again presages the best of the rock-and-roll era. The material is first-rate throughout--these are songs you cannot get out of your head. Most of all, it's the way the music celebrates the gift of life and the joy of living, thereby offering the most compelling argument for the faith and doctrine it champions. This is music that invariably puts a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

Proper UK is a label worth exploring in depth, by the way. Its budget sets provide wonderful overviews of genres (everything from ska to Western swing to guitar blues) and great artists (from crooners to shouters and everything in between). Purists looking for pristine packaging and exquisite remastering will prefer Bear Family, but for us plebes on a budget, Proper is a godsend.

Why fool around with a single disc sampler for $18.99 when for $24.99 you get everything from her early period on this box set. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a Gospel singer who sounded more like a niteclub jazz singer, she sings more like Helen Humes then Mahalia Jackson. She plays guitar in a jazz style similar to Charie Christianson. This set will prove that Rosetta is the greatest Gospel singer of all time abd a underrated and forgotten jazz guitar legend, some of the best cuts feature her singin with just her guitar, man she swings!!! She is also featured with big bands, and she jums the blues!!!

I completely agree with Ms. Brooks above.

Not only is this some fine music by one of the best performers in Gospel and R&B, but it's excellently inexpensive. Four song-stuffed disks for a mere $24.00.

You can't go wrong with this one.

What A GREAT piece of work for the money!! absoultly great compliation! The only aspect I don't like is, there duplications of some of the same songs albeit in different years and styles. Would highly recommend!!

Sister Rosetta is the real thing. She sings from deep down and lets us take a look at her soul. her guitar playing is blues at it's finest.

Great CD comp for the price. Rossetta was doin' it at the Cotton Club long before the white boys she later inspired...Elvis, Jerry Lee, etc. Highly recommended!

Well, I am ambivalent. There is a mountain of good, nah, great music in here. Sister Rosetta could sing, could play, and worked seamlessly with Lucky Millinder and his very talented orchestra, who sound as if they really enjoyed backing her. Not only sterling guitar but lots of lovely supporting sax and trumpet in the background. There are several tracks on here that qualify as classics, things that will (or, doggone it, SHOULD) be listened to as long as folks listen to recorded music.

And yet..... well, there is unnecessary track repetition. I know I can rip these on to a home brew CD and get rid of the repeats. But in a real sense, I got MORE here than I want. Rosetta was, while a powerful talent, not a particularly inventive one, so the guitar on many tracks sounds quite similar. I'm not expecting Les Paul, but there is a certain sameness that runs through much of her guitar work. Compare her performances to Odetta's, a similarly soulful vocalist and an equally talented guitarist. I never find (the old 1950s-60s) Odetta repetitive; she imbues each song with a uniqueness that Rosetta just cannot manage. And Rosetta's vocal range was near the end of what many of these microphones could pick up, which makes too many tracks really hurt the ears. Some are muddy, some are screechy, and some are a combination.

I enjoyed the live versions of the "hits", which feature an incredible amount of music from such a small group. Wow, those guys sound good! But the affectation in her voice is audible, and much less endearing than the charm of much else.

As others have said, at a price in the twenties, with notes that offer as much as I want to know, this is a good bargain. I've paid almost this much for single CDs that provided nowhere near as much pleasure. Yet a 5 star release is nearly perfect. This has much that diminishes it.

Ultimately, no regret that I purchased it, none at all. Can't imagine I'd ever need any more of her work -- this should be a lifetime's listening. Just someday gotta rip and burn the best on to one 5++ star package.

Wow, I can't wait to get to heaven(not only to see my King), but to also hear Sister Rosetta Tharpe(& Ethel Waters). Tharpe is my type of Christian music(I just can't relate to todays alternative style). Tharpe just sings teh Gospel to truthfully, not to mention she plays jazz guitar on the same level(if not better) as Charlie Christianson. Tharpe fused Gospel and Christian messages with swing and urban blues, for a ntural blend of swignin' jazz Gospel! This cd set will make you wonder why there is nobody today who sings or plays Gospel music in theis appealing style!!! Exellent cd box set under 25 bucks, ESSENTIAL!!!