Gospel Truth Live

October 19, 2007 was a warm, wet and overcast day in North Adams, MA. It was also a fitting backdrop for Marie Knight, who rose to fame singing "Didn't It Rain" with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, back in the late 1940s. She rose early that dreary morning to conduct a world music class with students on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts campus and then headlined the school's Gospel Fest later that evening. Now, over a decade later, that revelatory performance finally sees the light of day on this brilliant compilation, The Gospel Truth Live. The timing couldn't be more perfect as the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced in December 2017 that it would be posthumously inducting Sister Rosetta Tharpe into the hallowed hall in April 2018 as an early influence on artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan. In a way, it's also an acknowledgement for Knight's musical contributions since she collaborated professionally and served as a confidante with Tharpe at the height of her popularity in the early 1950s.