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Wanda Jackson is one of the pioneers of early rock ‘n’ roll and American roots music, but it took a younger generation of musicians to remind many American listeners of the contribution of the “Queen of Rockabilly.”
From 1985 until 1995, the vast majority of her touring dates were in Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries, Jackson said in a phone interview. Then in 1995, country singer Rosie Flores asked her to sing some duets on the album “Rockabilly Filly.”
“That’s when I saw all these new fans and new venues,” Jackson said. “Rosie Flores was the one who reintroduced me to the new generation of rockabilly and roots music [fans]. I had no idea it was so popular in America,” she said. She still tours Europe, but thanks to Flores and artists like Elvis Costello and Jack White, “I’m getting to stay home a lot more,” and tour in this country, she said.
Jackson – who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 – will perform today at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Audiences can expect many of her classic songs – like “Let’s Have a Party,” “Cool Love” – as well as music from her most recent release “The Party Ain’t Over,” which guitarist Jack White produced. In 1971, Jackson and her husband and manager Wendell Goodman, became Christians, and she has recorded extensively in the gospel tradition as well. Audiences will hear some testimony from her and “a little bit of every genre that I do,” she said.
The association with White was serendipitous. She, her husband and publicist were discussing a recording project, and decided to put together a “Wanda and friends” session. A friend in Nashville told her, “be sure you contact Jack White. I’ve heard many people say he’s a big fan of Wanda’s and rock and roll,” Jackson said.
Her publicist contacted White, who at first rejected the idea of a series of duets. Instead, White said he was interested in recording a single and an album with Jackson. White then called Goodman.
“We talked to him,” Jackson said. “We were interested. I was a little apprehensive and I think Jack picked up on that. I didn’t know what he wanted from me, but he put my mind at ease when he said, ‘Wanda, I’m not out to change your sound one bit. I just want to give you some fresh sounds to sing’,” she recalled.
The album has classics like “Shakin’ All Over,” “Rip It Up,” as well as tunes like Bob Dylan’s “Thunder on the Mountain” and Amy Winehouse’s “You Know that I’m No Good.”
She was hesitant to sing the Winehouse song because she did not find the second verse age-appropriate for her. They rewrote the verse, and White was pleased with her performance. She eventually told White, “I want you to have full reign of the material. You have your pulse on the public.” White insisted that she have some control as well, and Jackson chose three of the tunes for the recording.
The association proved fruitful. “For me, I enjoyed working with a producer who knew exactly what he wanted out of my performance, and he pushed me until I got there,” she said. Through many recordings, producers have been “leery of telling me how to sing a song. I do know, but I need someone else’s input. …” she said.
Jackson was born in 1937 in Maud, Okla. Her exposure to music came early. Her father, Tom, had been a country singer before the Great Depression, and he taught his daughter to play guitar. At age 15, she had a daily show on radio station KPLR in Oklahoma City. Country singer Hank Thompson heard her sing, and she recorded with the Brazos Valley Boys, which led to the hit recording “You Can’t Have My Love” on the Decca label. (She would switch to Capitol Records in 1956, an association that continued into the 1970s.)
When she finished high school, her father became her manager, and her mom made her costumes. Jackson said she did not feel comfortable in cowboy boots, and she preferred heels and straight skirts with frills.
On her first tour she was put on a bill with Elvis Presley (whom she dated for a while), an association that would earn her the “Queen of Rockabilly” title. Her decision to sing in the then nascent rock ‘n’ roll style started “after a dare kind of from Elvis Presley. … I worked well with him,” Jackson said. “His audience took to me. I was doing straight country of course.” She was hesitant at first, because Presley’s fans were women, and she did not think they would accept a woman singing the rockabilly style.
She and her father decided Presley was right about “a new fresh music that the young people wanted,” and decided to sing in that style. As she continued to work with Presley, “we could see the popularity of this music that was sweeping the whole world,” Jackson said. She recorded the rockabilly tune “Fujiyama Mama,” which became a hit in Japan. Her first rock ‘n’ roll hit in the United States was “Let’s Have a Party” in 1960.
She has continued to tour and record through the later decades. She attributes her longevity as a performer in part to her husband and manager. Goodman gave up his career with IBM to become her manager, eventually taking over booking. (Because of recent success, they have turned over the booking to the APA agency.) With the success of “Let’s Have a Party,” “I said, we’ve got to have a meeting of the minds here. Which career are we going to go with?” Jackson recalled. “He said, Stay with your career. You’ve worked very hard and your mother and dad did, and you’re just staring to benefit from that.” Goodman has traveled with her and managed her and been a father and husband. “That’s a lot on a guy’s plate, but he’s always handled it real well,” she said.
They are in the process of choosing tunes for a new recording to be made in Nashville. Justin Townes Earle will produce it. “I’ll be working with another new young man again,” Jackson said.
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GO&Do
WHAT: Wanda Jackson in concert
WHEN: Today, 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: The ArtsCenter, 300-G E. Main St., Carrboro
ADMISSION: Tickets are $26 the day of the show. For information, call 929-2787.
