Behind Blue Eyes

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

A friend of mine told me to look up Sister Rosetta Tharpe on YouTube and I would be pleasantly impressed. That was an understatement.

Here is just one of the videos of her songs. You have to watch the whole video to see this women really work that double cutaway Les Paul Custom guitar. [I stand corrected, she is playing a Gibson SG in this clip. They don't even look remotely alike. D'oh!]  The best part is that she can transition effortlessly from rocking Gospel to a face-melting* guitar solo and back without a missing a beat.

Popular in the '30s and '40s she surely had an impact on both Gospel and the influences that became Rock and Roll. Apparently her popularity began to fade when she would not choose one or the other.

Regardless, iTunes has 8 albums with Sister Rosetta.

I love both aspects of these songs. She has a sweet way of delivering the Gospel part that makes the songs such an easy listen. But, the ever-present electric guitar adds an element that satisfies the '60s kid in me. Wonderful.

Now I add a new book to my reading list. I guess my friend was not the only person know about the Sister Rosetta Tharpe story. (Looks like a standard Les Paul on the book cover.)

A agree with the title of the book - Shout, Sister, Shout. I would like to add, Swing That Axe!

It is sad that popular music audiences cannot seem to grasp an artist that is planted firmly in two genres. I always figured that once The Byrds released Sweetheart of the Rodeo , they knew they were doomed. They managed to offend two audiences at once.

* A technical guitar term used by Dewey Finn in the movie "School of Rock"

I am also big fan of The Who. I first heard that song when I was a senior in high school. Just about any high school boy could identify with the lament of anger and angst—no matter how good their life might be in reality. The song was on the Who’s Next (1971) album. But I had been listening to The Who since their first transatlantic hit My Generation.

I think The Who is glossed over as a band that smashed their instruments at the end of their concerts. They were actually more ground-breaking than most people realize. Their first departure from straight rock and roll was their second album—Happy Jack as it was titled in the US or A Quick One as it was titled in the UK.

That was the first Who album I actually owned. Happy Jack (1966) was a real eye opener for a young teenager—a glimpse at what was the insane genius of Peter Townshend. I mean Happy Jack was a pretty strange dude. But nothing compared to Boris the Spider or Whiskey Man (“he only comes out when I drink my whiskey”) The Happy Jack album had to be a personal favorite— like much of The Who’s output, it was not much of a commercial success. Sure, they had hits that people heard on the radio, but actually had the albums? I did.

If you are my age, you probably remember the big hit I Can See For Miles but you probably have no idea it was on the album The Who Sellout (1967). Along with the serious music (if we can say that about 60s rock) it had a hilarious overlaying concept. Between the songs are radio station jingles and musical ads. (Chorus singing pleasantly: “Radio London reminds you go to the church of your choice.”) There is also one song that I still think of when ever I see the tattooed populace today - Tattoo.

"Welcome to my life, tattoo
I'm a man now, thanks to you
I expect I'll regret you
But the skin graft man won't get you
You'll be there when I die
Tattoo"

It has a pleasant melody about as far away from I Can See From Miles as you can get.

More about The Who some other time.