Eamon Blog

Today's Shelf Pull: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Gospel Train (Verve Vault)

Devotion with a little movement in its shoes

Gospel Train (Verve Vault) offers twelve songs worth hearing for the exchange between voice, guitar and supporting voices.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe makes a useful distinction disappear: the one between music meant for reflection and music that gets you moving. Gospel Train (Verve Vault) is today's vinyl shelf pull for Kilmorna in Listowel, with devotion and rhythmic lift sharing the work.

Originally released by Mercury in 1956, the album gathers twelve songs into two sides. That compact shape suits an introduction to Tharpe. There is room to notice her singing and guitar playing without turning the first listen into a course of study.

Start with the relationship between those elements rather than a list of influences. The voice carries conviction; the blues vocabulary gives the music another kind of movement. Supporting voices add warmth without making the individual at the centre feel less distinct.

The catalogue places this record at the meeting of gospel, blues and the roots of rock and roll. Those connections are useful, but they need not become the entire conversation. A record can have historical importance and still deserve an ordinary, attentive afternoon.

Jericho opens Side A. Rather than asking that first song to explain everything about Tharpe, use it as the doorway into the programme. Listen for rhythmic lift, then keep that in mind as the side moves through its next five selections.

When They Ring The Golden Bell and Two Little Fishes, Five Loaves Of Bread follow. The titles establish the devotional setting plainly enough. The listening interest lies in how expressive singing and blues-inflected guitar make that setting feel inhabited rather than merely announced.

The interplay between a lead voice and supporting voices is another thread to follow. Notice where your attention settles, on the individual statement or the sense of company around it. That shift of focus gives the programme more than one centre of interest.

The Harmonizing Four are among the supporting performers. It is worth keeping the idea of support in view: not simply extra voices on a personnel list, but part of the record's balance between personal expression and shared feeling.

Beams Of Heaven, Cain't No Grave Hold My Body Down and All Alone complete the first side. Read together, those titles suggest different scales of feeling, from the heavenly to the solitary. Let the performances supply the detail rather than deciding the mood in advance.

Side B begins with Up Above My Head There's Music In The Air. Even on the printed track list, that is a generous opening gesture. In listening, keep following the album's balance of reflection and celebration, rather than treating either quality as its whole identity.

I Shall Know Him and Fly Away come next, followed by How About You. This is a useful stretch for returning attention to phrasing: how a voice carries a statement, and how rhythmic movement can keep devotional material from becoming a fixed object.

Precious Memories and 99 1/2 Won't Do close the programme. Their titles put recollection beside insistence, an interesting pairing to hold in mind without mistaking a track list for a listening verdict. Give the last two songs the same attention as the opener.

The two-sided LP format provides a modest discipline here. Six songs, a pause, then six more: enough structure to encourage listening in sections without breaking the album into isolated examples. The turn of the record is a useful place to reset your attention.

For someone approaching gospel through blues, the guitar offers a point of entry. For someone drawn first to singing, Tharpe's expressive voice does the same. Neither route requires leaving the other part of the music behind.

What makes this a worthwhile shelf pull is the coexistence of conviction and ease of approach. The material has a devotional purpose, but the rhythmic lift and vocal interplay give a newcomer something immediate to follow.

Gospel Train (Verve Vault) is best approached as twelve performances, not an obligation to admire a landmark. Put the connections in the background for a while. Attend to the voice, the guitar and the company they keep.

On the shelf today:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Gospel Train (Verve Vault)

LP, 1956

Soul / Funk

EUR 35.95

Available from The Kilmorna Collection, Listowel

Buy or reserve: https://www.thekilmornacollection.com/vinyl/sister-rosetta-tharpe-gospel-train-verve-vault

Buying vinyl records in Ireland: https://www.thekilmornacollection.com/vinyl-records-ireland

On the shelf today

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Gospel Train (Verve Vault)

LP / Soul / Funk / 1956

EUR35.95 / Available now

Order / Reserve