Totally Tunes: The Lovely Ladies Who Rock Us

Rock & Roll for the most part is a man's world and unfortunately, the women are often overlooked. Today, we salute the women whose music moves us.

First up, The Godmother Of Rock & Roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe - She was born in 1915 and by age 9, was traveling the church circuit with her mother, Evangelist Katie Bell, as the musical entertainment. She sang and played both guitar and piano. By the time she was a young adult, she was the #1 gospel artist in the United States. It's been documented that artists such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Buddy Holly would sneak into area black churches when she was performing, just to see her in action. She was a heavy influence on them as well as on Chuck Berry. They wanted to capture the emotion she put into her music and they succeeded. And we all know the later artists which credit them as their major influences.

By the mid-1950s, she fell off the top of the charts and was near the poverty level when Chris Barber asked her to join him in England as the opening act for his Dixieland Jazz band. In 1957, she took the country by storm and Bob Dylan has often credited her with being the driving force behind so many young British boys suddenly falling in love with the electric guitar. We all know the influence of the Brits on the world of Rock & Roll.

Here's a clip from a performance near Manchester in 1964, when she did an English tour with Muddy Waters. Pay attention to her moves and you'll see Keith Richards as well as Pete Townshend. 

Sister Rosetta opened the door for artists to move us with their music and few have done that as well as Janis Joplin.

And the ladies who demand some respect, like Aretha.

The ones who dare to be themselves and be different like Cyndi.

A few of my personal favs:

What ladies of Rock & Roll have captured your heart? Please share!