September 22, 2015

86 Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) and Marie Knight (1925-2009) “Up Above My Head” 1948

Tharpe heard Marie Knight’s “rich contralto” voice at a gospel program in Harlem and invited her to tour together. “There was magic in the combination of Rosetta and Marie.” Their recording of this song “captured people’s budding hope that the late 1940's and early 1950's would bring about sorely overdue change.” They separated soon after Marie’s mother and children died in a fire the following year (Shout, Sister, Shout!).

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