Release Date: April 2024
Label: Deep Digs Music / Elemental Music
Formats: Deluxe 180g 2xLP (Record Store Day), Deluxe CD, Digital
Audio Restoration & Mastering: Michael Graves, Osiris Studio
Osiris Studio is proud to announce the release of Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges, a previously unreleased live recording by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, captured at the Grand Theatre in Limoges, France on November 11, 1966. Long recognized as the Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll, Tharpe’s revolutionary fusion of gospel music, blues phrasing, and amplified electric guitar helped define the foundations of rock music well before the genre had a name. This archival release documents her influence not in retrospect, but in motion—direct, commanding, and fully realized on stage.
By the mid-1960s, Tharpe’s impact on the origins of rock ’n’ roll was gaining renewed recognition in Europe, where audiences embraced her as both a gospel innovator and a guitar pioneer. The Limoges concert presents Tharpe in a solo live performance, stripped to voice and guitar, free from studio production or commercial constraints. What emerges is a masterclass in rhythm, dynamics, and emotional authority—percussive electric guitar lines supporting gospel-rooted vocals delivered with striking clarity and power.
Culturally, Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges stands as a vital historical document. It centers Sister Rosetta Tharpe where she belongs: at the core of rock history, not as an influence filtered through others, but as a primary source. Heard today, the performance feels unmistakably modern, underscoring how deeply her innovations continue to shape contemporary music, live performance, and guitar-driven expression.
Restored and mastered by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio, the audio was approached with a preservation-first philosophy—maintaining the integrity of the source while revealing the immediacy, emotion, and physicality of the room. The goal was not modernization, but access: allowing today’s listeners to experience Tharpe as audiences did in 1966—powerful, fearless, and unmistakably influential.
Credits
Recording Date: November 11, 1966
Producer (Reissue): Zev Feldman
In Cooperation With: Sister Rosetta Tharpe Estate, INA France
Audio Restoration & Mastering: Michael Graves, Osiris Studio
Lacquer Cutting: Bernie Grundman, Bernie Grundman Mastering
Closing
Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges preserves a singular moment in music history—one where the Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll stands alone on stage, shaping the future of electric guitar and live performance in real time. Osiris Studio is honored to have played a role in restoring and mastering this essential recording, ensuring that Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy can be heard as vividly and truthfully as possible.