Sister Rosetta Tharpe Written Assignment
All readings attached. Please respond to the questions below:
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Written Assignment (1 of 2)
Shout, Sister Shout by Gayle Wald, questions about Chapters 1-4
1. In Chapter 1, author Gayle Wald describes aspects of Sister Rosettas background and her hometown of Cotton Plant, Arkansas. In weeks 2-3 of this class you learned a great deal about the hometown of Florence Price, who grew up nearby in Little Rock and was roughly the same age as Katie Bell, Sister Rosettas mother. What parallels can you draw between what you learned about Florences world in Little Rock and life in Cotton Plant at roughly the same time? (Please write 150 words, min.)
2. Chapters 1-2 describes the particular religious denomination in which Sister Rosetta was raised. What was this denomination called, what were its distinctive characteristics/origins, and in what ways, according to the author, did the church provide Rosettas earliest musical template, the sound palette on which she would draw throughout her career? (p.10) (Please write 200 words, min.)
3. Chapters 3-4 describes Tharpes move to New York, success at the Cotton Club, Caf Society, Savoy Ballroom, and a moment of virtual overnight celebrity at a concert called From Spirituals to Swing at Carnegie Hall. For this question, go listen to a live recording from 1938 of this event. Listen to Thats All and Rock Me (these start at 41:05/tracks #17-18 on the video). For an interesting comparison you can also listen to her commercial recording of “Rock Me” from earlier that year, and the big band/swing version of the same song she recorded with Lucky Millinder soon after. What does Wald have to say in Chapters 3-4 about why Tharpes musical style and stage persona was so appealing at this particular moment in time? (Please write 200 words, min,)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Written Assignment (2 of 2)
Shout, Sister Shout by Gayle Wald, questions about Chapters 5-7 and epilogue
1. Chapter 5 is about the musical partnership between Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight. Crank up the songs Up Above my Head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Jr-W6A5rs and Didnt it Rain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLSbDPqfCE and reflect on what you learned about this relationship from this chapter. (100 words, min.)
2. Chapters 6-7 discuss (among other things) Rosettas life on the road as a touring musician, constantly hustling in service of her career. What did you learn about that aspect of her lifestyle? (100 words, min.)
3. At certain points throughout the excerpts of this book, Wald shows how Rosetta Tharpe was sometimes uncomfortable moving between the world of black sacred music (gospel) and the secular (and often white dominated) spaces of popular music. Looking back on the chapters youve read, what moments caused ambivalence or discomfort for Rosetta, and what are your thoughts more generally about how religious and secular music mix in the marketplace, and how race might potentially complicate this? (200 words, min.)
