Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s ‘Gospel Train’ Joins Verve Vault Series
The landmark 1956 recording blending jazz, blues, and classic spirituals is coming back to vinyl.
Gospel Train, the landmark 1956 album from musical pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is coming back to vinyl. Often considered a vital recording not just in Tharpe’s discography but in the history of popular music, Gospel Train is among the latest albums to be reissues to the Verve Vault Series, and is available for preorder now.
The Gospel Train reissue will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl cut from the original master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Like the rest of the Verve Vault Series, the album is all-analog. Fittingly, Gospel Train also has a unique place in vinyl history, being her first album on any label to be pressed on 12” vinyl, still a new format at the time.
Tharpe’s album was received enthusiastically upon the release, and has only risen in esteem in the years since. In 2008, it was included in Tom Moon’s book, 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, a listening guide. It’s not hard to see why Gospel Train warranted inclusion. Tharpe’s voice, both powerful and delicate, soulful and intimate, traverses genres on the album, hitting gospel, classic spirituals, blues, and jazz, as with the case of “Two Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread” from composer Bernie Hanighen. Elsewhere, Tharpe largely composed the tracklist herself, and played guitar across the album.
Though Tharpe died in 1973, her legacy has extended far beyond her lifetime, including with her induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2018 as an Early Influence. Those who remember her speak to her talent and influence. According to Rolling Stone, Jordanaires member Gordon Stoker remembered how “Elvis loved Sister Rosetta,” especially for her skill at guitar: “He liked her singing, but he liked that pickin’ first – because it was so different.” Said Bob Dylan, “Sister Rosetta Tharpe was anything but ordinary and plain… She was a big, good-lookin woman, and divine, not to mention sublime and splendid. She was a powerful force of nature. A guitar-playin’, singin’ evangelist.”
