Wald, Gayle 1965–

(Gayle Freda Wald)

PERSONAL:

Born October 25, 1965. Education: Princeton University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Washington, DC. Office— English Department, George Washington University, Rome Hall 760, 801 22nd St. N.W., Washington, DC 20052. E-mail— [email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

George Washington University, Washington, DC, professor of English.

WRITINGS:

Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in Twentieth-Century U.S. Literature and Culture, Duke University Press (Durham, NC), 2000.

Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 2007.

Also author of liner notes for the album Shout, Sister, Shout! A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, M.C. Records, 2003. Contributor to periodicals, including American Quarterly, Genders, Camera Obscura, and Signs.

SIDELIGHTS:

Although Gayle Wald earned her doctorate in English and teaches literature courses in her capacity as professor at George Washington University, the general focus of her writing—and many of her courses—is popular music and African American culture. Her first book,Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in Twentieth-Century U.S. Literature and Culture, focuses on racial hierarchy and how race does or does not affect identity. To support her theories, Wald analyzed works from many well-regarded African American writers and filmmakers. The author later wrote liner notes for a 2003 album in tribute to groundbreaking singer "Sister" Rosetta Tharpe, a project which subsequently led to the biography Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

In the book, Wald takes the reader through the tumultuous life of early African American vocalist Rosetta Tharpe, from her birth in the Deep South and childhood beginnings in traditional gospel to her experiences fronting a secular band at the renowned Cotton Club and the famed Apollo theatre, blues shows in Europe, and time spent serving as emcee for the television program TV Gospel Time. Wald also touches on problems with Tharpe's health, frequent financial instability, and three failed marriages. As MBR Bookwatch critic Eric Banister noted, Tharpe is an "often overlooked" performer despite having affected numerous well-respected musicians over the years, including Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Banister predicted that, along with other similar works,Shout, Sister, Shout! "will help rewrite music history" by making people aware of the legacy of artists like Tharpe. Moreover, a Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that the author's "competent research provides readers with the larger historical framework within which Tharpe's contributions can be appreciated."

In fact, Wald asserts in that without Tharpe and her outstanding guitar work and unique gospel style, performers like Elvis Presley and the genre of rock-and-roll would not have become what they did. Chris Willman, reviewing Shout, Sister, Shout! for Entertainment Weekly, found Wald's argument that Tharpe "played a key role in inventing rock" persuasive, as did a number of other critics.

Tharpe once apparently attempted to improve upon her finances and her love life in one event by selling thousands of tickets to one of her weddings, an occasion whose coverage in Shout, Sister, Shout was not treated with enough objective criticism for a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The critic also felt that the subject's "fascinating experiences fail to come alive," and that the author's affection for Tharpe makes her portrayal too "uncritical." Sing Out! reviewer Michael Cala, on the other hand, observed that Shout, Sister, Shout! "shines in presenting the artist within her times," calling the book "stunning." Cala also remarked that the more than 150 interviews Ward conducted result in "a comprehensive portrait of the artist, whose star has waned unfairly since her death in 1973."

Many critics echoed MBR Bookwatch contributor Banister's conviction that Shout, Sister, Shout! would help Tharpe gain what the Publishers Weekly reviewer deemed "the recognition she deserves." Among them was Library Journal contributor Carol J. Binkowski, who expressed a hope that the "candid and thorough biography" will create new fans who will "seek out [Tharpe's] recordings."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biography, summer, 2007, Laura Sinagra, review of Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, p. 446.

Black Issues Book Review, May-June, 2007, Clarence V. Reynolds, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 15.

Booklist, January 1, 2007, June Sawyers, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 38.

Down Beat, March, 2007, Frank-John Hadley, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 67.

Entertainment Weekly, February 16, 2007, Chris Willman, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 82.

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2006, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 1168.

Library Journal, November 15, 2006, Carol J. Binkowski, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 73.

MBR Bookwatch, May, 2007, Eric Banister, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!

New York Times, March 18, 2007, Laura Sinagra, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!

Publishers Weekly, November 13, 2006, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 43.

Sing Out!, summer, 2007, Michael Cala, review of Shout, Sister, Shout!, p. 106.

ONLINE

Duke University Press Web site,http://www.dukeupress.edu/ (December 7, 2007), brief description of Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in Twentieth-Century U.S. Literature and Culture.

Genders Journal,http://www.genders.org/ (December 7, 2007), brief biography of Wald.

George Washington University,http://www.gwu.edu/ (December 6, 2007), brief biography of Wald.

Shout Sister Shout! Web site,http://www.shoutsistershout.net (December 6, 2007).