– Customer review on 19/06/2011

Sister Rosetta Tharpe plays with a lively, swinging, push-the-envelope ferocity that foreshadows Chuck Berry's playing. For that reason alone, this collection would be worth the nominal amount it costs. But there's plenty more to recommend this set of material from one of gospel's unjustly neglected giants. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a passionate and gifted singer, with a grittiness that again presages the best of the rock-and-roll era. The material is first-rate throughout--these are songs you cannot get out of your head. Most of all, it's the way the music celebrates the gift of life and the joy of living, thereby offering the most compelling argument for the faith and doctrine it champions. This is music that invariably puts a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

Proper UK is a label worth exploring in depth, by the way. Its budget sets provide wonderful overviews of genres (everything from ska to Western swing to guitar blues) and great artists (from crooners to shouters and everything in between). Purists looking for pristine packaging and exquisite remastering will prefer Bear Family, but for us plebes on a budget, Proper is a godsend.