Wanda Jackson

All Music Guide:

Wanda Jackson was only halfway through high school when, in 1954, country singer Hank Thompson heard her on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By the end of the decade, Jackson had become one of America's first major female country and rockabilly singers.

Jackson was born in Oklahoma, but her father Tom -- himself a country singer who quit because of the Depression -- moved the family to California in 1941. He bought Wanda her first guitar two years later, gave her lessons, and encouraged her to play piano as well. In addition, he took her to see such acts as Tex Williams, Spade Cooley, and Bob Wills, which left a lasting impression on her young mind. Tom moved the family back to Oklahoma City when his daughter was 12 years old. In 1952, she won a local talent contest and was given a 15-minute daily show on KLPR. The program, soon upped to 30 minutes, lasted throughout Jackson's high-school years. It's here that Thompson heard her sing. Jackson recorded several songs with the Brazos Valley Boys, including "You Can't Have My Love," a duet with Thompson's bandleader, Billy Gray. The song, on the Decca label, became a national hit, and Jackson's career was off and running. She had wanted to sign with Capitol, Thompson's label, but was turned down, so she signed with Decca instead.

Jackson insisted on finishing high school before hitting the road. When she did, her father came with her. Her mother made and helped design Wanda's stage outfits. "I was the first one to put some glamour in the country music -- fringe dresses, high heels, long earrings," Jackson said of these outfits. When Jackson first toured in 1955 and 1956, she was placed on a bill with none other than Elvis Presley. The two hit it off almost immediately. Jackson said it was Presley, along with her father, who encouraged her to sing rockabilly.

In 1956, Jackson finally signed with Capitol, a relationship that lasted until the early '70s. Her recording career bounced back and forth between country and rockabilly; she did this by often putting one song in each style on either side of a single. Jackson cut the rockabilly hit "Fujiyama Mama" in 1958, which became a major success in Japan. Her version of "Let's Have a Party," which Elvis had cut earlier, was a U.S. Top 40 pop hit for her in 1960, after which she began calling her band the Party Timers. A year later, she was back in the country Top Ten with "Right or Wrong" and "In the Middle of a Heartache." In 1965, she topped the German charts with "Santa Domingo," sung in German. In 1966, she hit the U.S. Top 20 with "The Box It Came In" and "Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine." Jackson's popularity continued through the end of the decade.

Jackson toured regularly, was twice nominated for a Grammy, and was a big attraction in Las Vegas from the mid-'50s into the '70s. She married IBM programmer Wendell Goodman in 1961, and instead of quitting the business -- as many women singers had done at the time -- Goodman gave up his job in order to manage his wife's career. He also packaged Jackson's syndicated TV show, Music Village. In 1971, Jackson and her husband became Christians, which she says saved their marriage. She released one gospel album on Capitol in 1972, Praise the Lord, before shifting to the Myrrh label for three more gospel albums. In 1977, she switched again, this time to Word Records, and released another two.

In the early '80s, Jackson was invited to Europe to play rockabilly and country festivals and to record. She's since been back numerous times. More recently, American country artists Pam Tillis, Jann Browne, and Rosie Flores have acknowledged Jackson as a major influence. In 1995, Flores released a rockabilly album, Rockabilly Filly, and invited Jackson, her longtime idol, to sing two duets on it with her. Jackson embarked on a major U.S. tour with Flores later that year. It was her first secular tour in this country since the '70s, not to mention her first time back in a nightclub atmosphere. Jackson returned to the studio in 2010 to begin work on a new album. Produced by Jack White and featuring a band comprised of the White Stripes frontman, his wife Karen Elson, various Raconteurs, My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel, and a host of others, The Party Ain’t Over arrived in early 2011.

Wikipedia:

Wanda Lavonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist. She is known to many as the Queen (or First Lady) of Rockabilly.

Jackson mixed country music with fast-moving rockabilly, often recording them on opposite sides of a record. As rockabilly declined in popularity in the mid-1960s, she moved to a successful career in mainstream country music with a string of hits between 1966 and 1973, including "Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine", "A Woman Lives for Love" and "Fancy Satin Pillows".

She has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity among rockabilly revivalists in Europe, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 2009.

Biography

Early life

Wanda Jackson was born in Maud, Oklahoma on October 20, 1937, but has lived much of her life in Oklahoma City. Her father, a musician, moved the family to California during the 1940s in hopes of a better life. Two years later, he bought Jackson a guitar and encouraged her to play. He also took her to see performances by Spade Cooley, Tex Williams and Bob Wills, which left a lasting impression. In 1948, when she was 11, the family moved back to Oklahoma. In 1956, she won a talent contest which led to her own radio program, soon extended by 30 minutes.

Jackson began her professional career while still attending Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City after being discovered by Hank Thompson in 1954, who heard her singing on local station KLPR-AM and invited her to perform with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. She recorded a few songs on their label, Capitol Records, including "You Can't Have My Love", a duet with Thompson's bandleader, Billy Gray. The song was released as a single in 1954 and reached No. 8 on the country chart. Jackson asked Capitol to sign her, but was turned down by producer Ken Nelson who told her, "Girls don't sell records." Instead, she signed with Decca Records.

1955–1959: Early career

After graduating from high school, Jackson began to tour with her father as manager and chaperon. She often shared the bill with Elvis Presley, who encouraged Jackson to sing rockabilly. She was a cast member of ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri from 1955–1960, and in 1956 she signed with Capitol, recording a number of singles mixing country with rock and roll. "I Gotta Know", released in 1956, peaked at No. 15.

During the 1950s, Jackson's stage outfits were often designed by her mother. Unlike traditional clothing worn by female country music singers of the time, she wore fringe dresses, high heels and long earrings; and has claimed she was the first female to put "glamor into country music."

She continued to record more rockabilly singles through the decade with producer Ken Nelson. Jackson insisted that Nelson make her records sound like those of label mates Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps. Nelson brought in many experienced and popular session players, including rock and roll pianist Merill Moore and the then unknown Buck Owens. With a unique vocal style and upbeat material, Jackson created some of the most influential rock and roll music of the time.

In the late 1950s, Jackson recorded and released a number of rockabilly songs, including "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," "Mean, Mean Man," "Fujiyama Mama" (which hit No. 1 in Japan) and "Honey Bop." The songs, however, were only regional hits. She toured Japan in February and March 1959.

1960–1964: The Queen of Rockabilly

In 1960, Jackson had a Top 40 pop hit with "Let's Have a Party", a song Presley had cut three years earlier. She was headlining concerts with her own band, which she dubbed The Party Timers. Prominently featured were pianist Big Al Downing and guitarist Roy Clark, virtually unknown at the time. Her country music career also began to take off with the self-penned "Right or Wrong", a No. 9 hit, and "In The Middle of a Heartache", which peaked at No. 6. Both songs also enjoyed top 40 pop success.

The unexpected success of her records led Capitol to release a number of albums composed of her 1950s material, including 1960's Rockin' with Wanda and There's a Party Goin' On, which included "Tongue Tied" and "Riot in the Cell Block #9". Her 1961 and 1962 albums, Right or Wrong and Wonderful Wanda, featured her two top ten country hits from 1961. In 1963, Jackson recorded a final album titled Two Sides of Wanda, which included both rock and roll and country music, including a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". The album earned Jackson her first Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

1965–1979: Country and gospel hits and foreign language recording

In 1965, Jackson made the move to country music as rockabilly declined in popularity, and had a string of Top 40 hits during the next ten years. In 1966, she released two singles that peaked in the country top 20, "Tears Will Be the Chaser For Your Wine" and "The Box it Came In".

In early 1965, Jackson was invited by Capitol Records's German distribution partner, Electrola, to record in German. Jackson's German language debut single, Santo Domingo (b/w Morgen, ja morgen), recorded at Electrola's studios in Cologne, peaked at No. 5 on the official German charts and at No. 1 on the charts of Germany's most influential teen magazine, Bravo. In the first months following the chart success of Santo Domingo, Jackson also re-recorded some of her German songs in Dutch and Japanese. The success of Santo Domingo prompted the recording of eight further German language singles until 1968, which were also released on an album, Made in Germany. A last German single was recorded in 1970.

In 1967, she recorded two albums, and released a string of singles during the next few years that often asserted a fiery and violent persona, including 1969's "My Big Iron Skillet", a top 20 hit which threatened death or assault for cheating on a spouse. In 1970 and 1971, she had her final top 20 country hits with "A Woman Lives For Love" (her second Grammy nomination) and "Fancy Satin Pillows". Jackson was a premier attraction in Las Vegas. She followed Kitty Wells' lead as only the second country female vocalist to have her own syndicated television show, Music Village, from 1967–68.

In the early 1970s, at her children's request, Jackson and her husband began to regularly attend church and discovered Christianity. She began recording gospel songs and albums, including 1972's Praise the Lord on Capitol. After Capitol dropped her, she recorded a number of albums for small religious labels and set up evangelical church tours across the country with her husband. Jackson wanted to record a mix of country and gospel music for her albums; however, religious labels were not interested.

1980–1999: New beginnings

In the early 1980s, Jackson was invited to Europe to play and record rockabilly material when revivalists sought her out. She regularly toured Scandinavia, England, and Germany during the decade. Now embracing her rock n'roll history, Jackson released a 1984 album titled Rockabilly Fever (later issued by Rounder Records as "Rock N' Roll Your Blues Away" in 1986), her first secular album in a decade and her first recording of rock music in over twenty years.

Cyndi Lauper acknowledged Jackson's classic rockabilly records were a major influence and inspiration for her during this period and Jackson's fan following also included a new generation of country music female vocalists, among them Rosanne Cash, Pam Tillis, Jann Browne and Rosie Flores. Jackson recorded a duet with Browne on a 1987 album release by Browne and in 1995, she sang two duets with Flores on her 1995 album, Rockabilly Filly, and then embarked on a United States tour with her, her first American tour since the 1970s.

2000-present: Rockin' in the 21st Century

Jackson played at the Rockabilly Festival in Jackson, Tennessee in 2001 with Narvel Felts and Billy Haley and His Comets. Her backup band was The Cadillac Angels (Tony Balbinot, Micky Rae and Anders Stone). Despite her age, Jackson continued touring.

In 2003, Jackson released her first studio album since 1987, Heart Trouble on CMH Records. The 16-track album included guest appearances by Elvis Costello, The Cramps and Rosie Flores. In 2005, singer Amy LaVere portrayed a young Jackson in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line.

In 2008, Wanda Jackson appeared in an award-winning Canadian documentary entitled Rockabilly 514 (directed by Patricia Chica and Mike Wafer). She was interviewed about the origins of rockabilly music.

On October 28, 2008, Jackson returned to England for an appearance at the London Rock 'n' Roll Festival with Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Gail Lewis at the London Forum.

In 2009, it was announced that Jackson would start work on new recordings with Jack White. The resulting album, The Party Ain't Over, was released on January 25, 2011. It included a cover of the Bob Dylan rockabilly song, "Thunder on the Mountain".

"The Party Ain't Over" was well-received by many critics and Jackson enjoyed her first ever charting on the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart, peaking at No. 58. The album also broke Mae West's long-standing record for being the oldest female vocalist to make the chart with her 1966 album Way Out West with Jackson at 73 being a year older than West at the time of her hit rock LP. Billboard inexplicably failed to include "The Party Ain't Over" on the Billboard Hot Country LPS chart, although several of the songs were blatantly country, and the genre in which Jackson was always most successful in the United States.

On July 25, 2010 Jackson's song, "Funnel of Love" was featured as the music to the ending credits to the HBO program Entourage (season 7, episode 4).

Jackson appeared on the BBC's Hootenanny on December 31, 2010, performing with Jools Holland and his orchestra. She covered Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good" as well as performing some of her own songs.

On January 20, 2011, she performed with Jack White on The Late Show With David Letterman and again on January 25, 2011, on Conan.

Personal life

In 1955, Jackson briefly dated Elvis Presley while on tour with him. She married former IBM programmer Wendell Goodman in 1961, who serves as her manager. The couple have two children. As of the 2000s she lives in Oklahoma City.

Recognition

Jackson is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Music and Oklahoma Country Music halls of fame, as well as the International Gospel and the German Music halls of fame.

She was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 but was not elected. In September 2008, she was nominated for a second time; and was inducted on April 4, 2009 as an Early Influence. She was the first addition to the category in nine years.

Jackson ranked number 35 on CMT's 2002 special, The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music.

In 2006 Alfred Publishing acknowledged her influence on young musicians by publishing The Best of Wanda Jackson: Let's Have a Party, a songbook with music and lyrics to thirteen songs associated with Jackson. It was the first songbook ever published on Jackson.

In 2009, Oklahoma City named an alley for her in the Bricktown entertainment district. "Wanda Jackson Way" was officially christened with a live performance by Jackson in her "Way" on September 30, 2009. Besides this street in Oklahoma City, the city of Maud, Oklahoma, where she was born, has named one of its streets, Wanda Jackson Boulevard.

On September 9, 2010, she was given the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Jack White presented the award to her.

Covers

Jackson's "Funnel of Love" was covered by the English rock band The Fall on its 2010 album Your Future Our Clutter, by the band The Young Veins for its 2010 album Take a Vacation! as a bonus MP3 track when bought on Amazon.com, and by Social Distortion lead singer Mike Ness on his 1999 album Under the Influences, as well as Southern Culture on the Skids' 2007 album Countrypolitan Favorites.