Sister Rosetta Tharpe began recording on the electric guitar in 1941 at her first studio session for Decca with Lucky Millinder's band. She was one of the first true fusion artists, combining multiple styles of music in her delivery.
At this point in time, hundreds of thousands of black Americans were on the move. Many were leaving the rural farms of the South and Southwest for better-paying manufacturing jobs near cities up North and out West, where their lives weren't at the same level of risk.
By the late 1930s, war was raging in Europe and Asia with the rise of global fascism. In early 1941, America's involvement was less about if the country would mobilize and more about when that would take place. Despite the country's isolationists, the government had already begun plans to repurpose factories as makers of tanks, planes, guns, ammunition, uniforms and supplies.
As blacks took jobs in plants that would soon switch over to defense production, their income climbed and they represented a new market for urban swing, Delta blues and gospel. After the war, with the rise of independent record labels, many of these styles overlapped into hybrids of swing, blues and gospel that would become known by 1949 as R&B. Tharpe was on the cutting edge, especially as an electric guitar pioneer. As an artist who used all three in her artistry, she would deeply influence the rise of Chicago's electric blues and rock 'n' roll guitarists and singers.
Here's a documentary on Tharpe and what made her special. Tomorrow, I will have a review of a terrific new Tharpe release of previously unissued live performances...
