31. The Gaymother of Rock n' Roll, O.G. Electric Lady Sister Rosetta Tharpe
History is Gay
Leigh Pfeffer
4.6 • 536 Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2020
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Holy crap, y'all! It's already AUGUST. Somehow this year has simultaneously lasted forever and also gone by way too quickly. We're back in your podcatchers today with a new episode, this time introducing you all to the Godmother (or Gaymother, if you will) of Rock n' Roll, the original stadium rockstar, and badass Black woman guitar virtuoso, Sister Rosetta Tharpe! Think Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry invented rock n' roll? Think again! Sister Rosetta was shredding on guitar way before them, and it's time she gets the credit she is due. She broke boundaries wherever she went, straddling the line between worldly and chaste, secular and gospel, and loved both men and women.
Our wonderful guest host for today's episode is Aubree Calvin- writer, professor, and podcast host! You can learn more about Aubree and her freelance writing at her website www.aubreecalvin.com, and check out her brand new podcast Southern Queeries, all about LGBTQ life in the South!
0:00 – Introduction
3:49 – Main Topic: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
6:12 – Socio-Historical Context
12:44: – Who were they? Bio Time.
37:46 – An Aside: Rosetta's Guitar & Singing Style
1:05:40 – Why do we think they're gay?
1:17:15 – Word of the Week
1:22:33 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:25:06 – How Gay were They?
1:26:55 – Closing and Where to Find us Online
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, and welcome to History is Gay, a podcast that examines the underappreciated and overlooked |
| 0:05.7 | queer ladies, gents, and gentle enbies that have always been there in the unexplored |
| 0:10.1 | corners of history, because history has never been as straight as you think. |
| 0:34.0 | Okay. Hello, lovely listeners, welcome to August. |
| 0:39.8 | Holy crap, it's already August, and it's a little terrifying. A little terrifying. I hope that you are doing okay with quarantine wherever you are in this world. I have a wonderful guest with me. |
| 0:47.0 | I actually met her through the Friends of Nancy podcast Facebook group, which RIP to Nancy. |
| 0:54.0 | Love for that podcast. I'm very sad that it is no longer |
| 0:57.4 | going to be putting out new episodes, but it has created a wonderful gaggle of new friends. And so I would |
| 1:03.1 | love to introduce today's guest host, Aubrey Calvin. Hello. Hi, I'm glad to be here. Thanks |
| 1:10.2 | for having me on. |
| 1:11.1 | Thank you. |
| 1:12.0 | You are so wonderful. |
| 1:13.8 | We've gotten along so well every single time we've talked about doing this episode together. |
| 1:20.3 | Aubrey actually is a writer and a professor. |
| 1:24.3 | She's all fancy-like. |
| 1:25.3 | And she did a really wonderful series of posts back in June |
| 1:30.0 | for Pride Month that was, each day was highlighting a different queer person of color from history, |
| 1:35.5 | and I was like, this person is super interested in all the things I'm interested in. Let's talk, |
| 1:41.0 | let's chat. So, Aubrey, tell me and also everybody who's listening a little bit about yourself before we hear your lovely dulcet tones for the next hour and a half. |
| 1:49.9 | Well, I teach government at a community college here in Texas, and I have not listened to the last episode of Nancy. |
| 1:58.5 | I don't know if you've listened to it yet. |
| 2:00.1 | I can't bring myself to |
... |
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