VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shout, Sister, Shout!: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe (M.C. Records)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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People like this, it's hard to put together adequate tribute records to. I think even the weight of being asked to cover someone like Rosetta Tharpe would be too much for most singers, just because her smoky, rich voice is so distinctive, and unless you're willing to take the reins and turn her music into your own, any attempt you make to capture her sound will almost definitely fall short. And that does happen here and there on this disc, but for the most part, these covers are as classy and classic as Rosetta's own. Especially nice (and how could it be otherwise?) is Odetta's cover of "Two Little Dishes and Five Loaves of Bread," as is the Victoria Williams' countryfied cover of "My Lord and I" and Rory Block's version of "Stand By Me." Kind of irritating are the covers that incorporate way too many voices as background singers, voice that sound like they come from people who are normally lead singers instead of backup singers, so they don't know that the point of backing up a performer is to provide a musical backdrop of the lead, and not to out-sing the rest of the members of the group. As an additional treat, the final track on the CD is an audio/video clip of Sister Rosetta Tharpe herself performing on the 1960's show Gospel Time, which is almost worth the price of the CD itself.

© 2004 - Holly Day