Sister Rosetta Tharpe • Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges
 fixture of
Record Store Day (RSD) and Black Friday events has been the release of previously unknown
performances from jazz masters. Bill Evans has been especially well represented in these,
and there have also been releases from Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Ahmad Jamal, Chet
Baker and many others.
Live in France is a two-LP set that's both similar and different. This is a previously unknown performance released on RSD, but it's by a legendary blues, R&B and spiritual singer and guitarist. I purposely refer to Sister Rosetta Tharpe's repertoire as "spiritual" because it evolved over time -- from strict gospel to more diverse, and hipper, numbers. She was born in Arkansas and grew up in Chicago; you can hear the influence of both in her music. In 2018, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which goes a long way toward explaining her nickname, "the Godmother of Rock 'N' Roll." With this collection of 21 solo tracks, on which she provides both vocals and electric guitar, captured in Limoges, France, in 1966, her choice of material wears God on its sleeve, but her performance is as rooted in the blues as in the Bible. It is in the minimalist spirit of performances common during the folk revival of the 1960s, but the music is more revival meeting, laced with high-energy singing and playing. It's easy to forget that this is religious music, because of its effortless swing and bluesy edge. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an expressive singer; she could belt it out with reach-the-back-row power, but the gentle rasp of her voice reminds me of Ray Charles. She was also a forward-thinking guitarist who could hold an audience's attention even if she didn't sing a word. Some of the licks she plays migrate effortlessly from the blues to rock 'n' roll and back again. She opens with "This Train," an original she wrote in 1966. It has been covered by everyone from the Winans to Peter Case, Randy Travis and Louis Armstrong. Here it's stripped down, a raw and immediate take on a standard. While the lesser-known numbers invite singing along, a medley of religious standards -- "Down By the Riverside," "When the Saints Go Marching In," "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho" -- provides the highlight of the set. The playing chugs and the vocals are full of character, the audience becoming involved almost involuntarily. Music archeologist Zev Feldman released Live in France on his own Deep Digs label, in association with Elemental Music. The music was transferred to digital from the original tapes at the Institut national de l'audiovisuel in France. Grammy-winning engineer Michael Graves restored and mastered the music, Matthew Lutthans cut the lacquers at The Mastering Lab, and Memphis Record Pressing pressed the 180-gram LPs in a run of 1800 copies. Included with the LPs is a booklet packed with biographical information, rare photos, and liner notes that give greater insight into the concert. There are also comments by a host of musicians, including Susan Tedeschi, Henry Rollins and Bonnie Raitt. As is common for Zev Feldman's releases, the sound is very good. There is immediacy and presence to Sister Rosetta Tharpe's vocals and guitar, and an air of informality to the concert. She is a commanding performer, and the recording creates many you-are-there moments. I'm unsure if the recording is in mono or stereo, because the voice and guitar (and piano on one cut) are dead center -- as I would expect, given the single performer. If it's mono, it's big mono, the center image abundant with bloom and inner detail, not a pinpoint in space. I've now written about nearly a dozen RSD releases, and
this is one of my favorites -- for Sister Rosetta Tharpe's choice of music, her singing
and especially her guitar playing. It's off the beaten RSD path and yet in keeping with
the idea of releasing special music on a special day. The RSD website shows that a few
copies are still available, even though the LP set is fetching double its asking price
on eBay. A CD is also available for those who can live without the vinyl. |
