A major injustice to the black community and to Rock & Roll is the absence of Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the R&R Hall of Fame. To the black community because she (and black history) was ignored for being the influence of nearly every musician in the inaugural class of the HOF. I believe she was purposely forgotten simply because she was a black woman.
Her first hit, "This Train" was recorded in 1939, more than a decade before guys like Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash came along with the R&R sound. Every one of those guys cited her as an influence. If you can't hear the song "Johnny B. Good" (Chuck Berry, 1958) in her RIF's, you are hopeless.
She was a gospel performer, but it appears she may have been the single source of R&R and deserves proper credit.



