Dr. Gayle Wald on SISTER ROSETTA THARPE!

Sister Rosetta Tharpe. A trailblazer; an exuberant and charismatic performer from the 1930s all the way to the 1970s; and a wicked electric guitar player. This amazing woman was raised in, and remained loyal to, her gospel roots throughout her entire life and career; yet she took the secular music world by storm in the 1950s - and had a major, and largely under appreciated, influence on the birth of rock and roll itself. This is her amazing story, as told by the author of the great Rosetta Tharpe biographer, Dr. Gayle Ward.

Dr. Wald's book, Shout, Sister, Shout: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is the definitive accounting of the life, music and influence of this truly groundbreaking performer. It's available here on Amazon, and if you want to visit Gayle's informative and entertaining website, you can do so here. The book is a classic, and I can't recommend it enough!

Dr. Wald is a professor of English and the Chair of American Studies of American Studies at George Washington University in Washington, DC. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I'm sure you will too. Thank you, Gayle, for your great generosity of time and insights!