The gospel legend that inspired Jimi Hendrix
When people think of guitar legends, they often turn to the iconic figures of Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry, renowned as initiators and innovators of rock and roll. However, even before Berry earned his title as the ‘Father of Rock and Roll’ and before Hendrix popularised distortion, a gospel legend was already laying the groundwork for their success.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe didn’t find her roots in rock. She came up through gospel, spending the 1940s penning massively successful songs within the genre, unique for containing elements of what would become rock and roll. Tharpe wasn’t penning straightforward gospel tracks, she was infusing them with electric guitars and distortion, creating her own fuzzy form of sonic spirituality.
Hendrix, as a future distortion enthusiast himself, was inspired by Tharpe’s playing, though many have assumed the opposite. As director Mick Csaky recalled after directing an episode of PBS’ American Masters focused on Tharpe’s impact, many people, upon discovering her sound, would compare her to the likes of Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Pete Townshend.
He would always correct them – it’s not that she sounded like Hendrix or Berry, it was always that they sounded like her. She had pre-dated all of them with her rocking and rolling distortion, blending genres and making hits with ease. Her trips to Europe had called the likes of Clapton and Keith Richards to her stylings, while her sound influenced those on the other side of the Atlantic, too.
From Bob Dylan to Berry, Tharpe’s influence extended across songwriters widely considered to be the best of the best, but she was never considered for the same revere. Seattle Rep quote Dylan as deeming her a “powerful force of nature, a guitar playing, singing evangelist,” while Berry apparently said his career was “one long Sister Rosetta Tharpe impersonation.”
They also suggest that Hendrix borrowed from her distortion techniques and quoted him as saying he wanted to play just like her. With his own penchants for genre-blending and tone-altering effects, it’s easy to see how her sound permeated his own. For his innovative guitar playing, he would come to be known as one of the greatest musicians to ever wield the instrument.
Meanwhile, Tharpe is more widely known for her influence on others, though she has come to be known as the Godmother of rock and roll. In 2018, she received an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her influence, but she deserves to receive more credit for her achievements in her own right, too.
