Artist:   Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Song:   "Strange Things Happening Everyday"
Album: The Gospel Of The Blues
Label:   Decca
Year:    1944

There aren’t many artists more important to modern music than Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Born in Arkansas and raised in Chicago, she began recording in 1938. Tharpe’s genius was mixing gospel songs with the proclivities of the blues, adding her swinging guitar stylings to everything she touched.  It gave the results such a sense of urgency that audiences literally couldn’t resist. She was mixing heaven with earth, defining what life was really like for everyone within earshot. Tharpe paid a price for it too, when churchgoers felt she’d crossed the separation line and shouldn’t come back. “Strange Things Happening Everyday” is a righteous example of how this woman blazed a trail for those coming behind her. Her voice takes it to the edges of expression, and then worries the ending like a sinner who knew she’d never be let back in. Supported by the Sammy Price Trio, they could as easily been playing a night club as a proper church, but neither they nor Sister Rosetta Tharpe offers a hint of apology. Instead, Tharpe takes a crushing guitar solo in the middle of the song, throwing notes at the ceiling like the fearless leader she was. And as for those strange things in the song’s title, no one knew better than Sister Rosetta Tharpe what was right outside her door—“If you want to do the crime/you must learn to quit your lying”—but she never blinked when she saw them. More likely, the lady lit up with a huge smile and turned her guitar even louder. Right on.