Live In France: The 1966 Concert In Limoges

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of Americas true musical innovators. The singer and pioneering electric guitarists recordings and performances reveal a canny intersection of blues, gospel, Northern soul, and proto-rock & roll. Between 1938 and 1957, she recorded gospel records on Decca. In late 1957 she traveled to England to perform. Tharpe was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2017. None of the music on Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges has been issued before. It details a solo concert by Tharpe during which she played gospel songs on guitar and piano for an audience unfamiliar with the genre. She won them over -- they brought her back for three encores. Several recordings from the era have been previously released, most notably the semi-official Hot Club de France Concerts from the same year, as well as live sets in Paris from 1964 and 1966. That said, none of them register the dynamic atmosphere and musicality of this evening. Producer and jazz detective Zev Feldman found the tape while digging through the archives at the Institut National de Laudiovisuel (INA). He spent years trying to find a label to release it but couldnt, so he and partner Cory Weeds decided to issue it on their Deep Digs label. Tharpe is at her raw, woolly best here, particularly as the show progresses. She begins with a nearly sedate reading of "This Train" buoyed by rockabilly licks and blues scales. Her singing voice is matter of fact but gathers authority quickly. Check the braid of stompbox, distorted guitar riffing, resonant vocal, and roots rock riffs that moves the crowd into a frenzied clapalong. On "Mothers Prayer," Tharpe digs into the Delta blues while singing spirit-filled, religious lyrics. She plays a barrelhouse piano on "Up Above My Head, I Hear Music in the Air." A tad more subdued than her guitar workouts, her piano playing lies in the stylistic slipstream between Thomas Dorsey and Meade Lux Lewis. "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" is deep and blue, a biblical tale rendered with repentance, sorrow, and possibility sung above sizzling single lines and slurry chords. The stomping spiritual "Traveling Shoes" puts Tharpes razor-wire rockabilly chords and blues vamps up front, and shes supported by the crowds enthusiastic clapping in time. "Thats All - Denomination Blues" is a stellar guitar workout. As Tharpe sings like a preacher, her fingers fly over the guitar neck, alternating single strings with jagged harmonic vamps. The concert closes three encores later with her inimitable version of "Nobodys Fault But Mine." Her vocal is a steely manifesto of purpose and faithfulness amid trials, tribulations, and death both physical and spiritual. Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges is an essential document in Tharpes catalog. Her performance here is open, dynamic, immediate, and powerful. It is arguably the most authoritative document to date from the musician, highlighting her true artistic worth and influence. ~ Thom Jurek