VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shout, Sister, Shout! (Stony Plain)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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A tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe - need I say more? Well I will. For the most part, tribute albums are boorish, plodding vehicles for big name artists in a rut to rehash hits by older, has been artists. But every now and then you get a slab that not only works on its own level, but raises consciousness. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a shaker and a mover of Biblical proportions. That is, she was a gospel diva that crossed boundaries. She hammered out soulful rhythm and blues, played a wicked electric guitar and took church music up the charts. We're talking war era here by the by. Best of all, Tharpe was an entertainer: choosing to celebrate her wedding day by blasting some 20,000 guests with her axe from second base at Washington's Griffith Stadium - in her bridal gown. Someone deserving a tribute I should think. With Maria Muldaur as the chief ring-leader, Shout, Sister, Shout! does justice to the legend. Rory Block, Marcia Ball, Odetta and Michelle Shocked turn in fine performances, but it is Sister Rosetta Tharpe that steals her own tribute with a video clip of "Down By The Riverside." There ain't nothin' like the real thing, uh, baby.... the end.

© 2003 - John Sekerka