Blues and Gospel Train

1 9 6 4 (UK)
1 x 38 minute episode

Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Muddy Waters braved the British rain for this one-off TV special from Granada Television, recorded live on location on 7 May 1964 at the disused railway station at Wilbraham Road in the Manchester suburb of Chorlton (renamed “Chorltonville” for the broadcast).

The pair brought the sound of electric Chicago blues and wondrous electric guitar playing the likes of which British fans had not seen or heard before.

The disused station was converted into a Southern US-style railroad station, complete with hay bales, rusting agricultural equipment and live goats.

Besides Waters and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, other featured American blues and gospel artists on the show included Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Cousin Joe Pleasant, as well as Muddy’s pianist Otis Spann with Chicago musicians Ransom Knowling on bass and Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith on drums.

The show was produced by Johnnie Hamp, who hired a steam train (decked out with a smokestack and cow catcher) for fans to board at Manchester Central Station. When the train arrived in Chorlton, Muddy Waters materialised from a station building playing Blow Wind Blow.

Waters was also filmed walking slowly down the railway track, bag in hand, singing You Can’t Lose What You Never Had. The iconic moment came when he climbed onto the platform, picked up his electric guitar and – without missing a beat – delivered a blistering guitar solo that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up – real live Chicago blues as played in Chicago clubs.

The Mancunian crowd were stunned and enthralled.

But Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the star of the show. Immaculately dressed in white, she also stunned the audience by playing a white-bodied Gibson SG electric guitar (the first one seen in the UK), spontaneously performing Didn’t It Rain? right after a deluge hit South Manchester.

New Orleans pianist Cousin Joe Pleasant was playing Railroad Porter Blues when the rain battered his piano. When he finished playing, Sister Rosetta Tharpe arrived in a horse-drawn buggy.

The pair proceeded to ‘cakewalk’ down the platform as Rosetta could clearly be heard through her radio mic saying, “This is the wonderfulist time of my life”, before playing a piercing guitar solo.

“Pretty good for a woman, ain’t it?” she said as she brought the solo to a close.

Johnnie Hamp ensured the show ran smoothly by keeping the artists supplied with bourbon. Blind gospel evangelist Rev. Gary Davis was meant to be part of the show but didn’t take part – he stayed on the tour coach and got too drunk to perform.

The performers played at the Manchester Free Trade Hall the following evening.

The Blues and Gospel Train TV special was broadcast on 19 August 1964. Granada Television received thousands of letters asking them to broadcast the show again, which they did on a number of occasions during the blues boom of the 1960s.

Muddy Waters
Himself
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Herself
Cousin Joe Pleasant
Himself
Sonny Terry 
Himself
Brownie McGhee 
Himself
Otis Spann
Piano
Ransom Knowling
Bass
Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith
Drums

Video