Crowning Rockabilly Royalty: Wanda Jackson Honored For Paving A Path (Article published in today's Good Times Santa Cruz)
She’s been called the “First Lady of Rock n’ Roll,” the “Queen of Rockabilly,” and “Hurricane Wanda.” She has performed to adoring fans all over the world. She continues to entertain and thrill new generations of music lovers more than 50 years after first gracing a stage with her one of a kind presence—and now Wanda Jackson has been inducted in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame—an honor that has been a long time coming.
“As a singer of early rock n’ roll, this is the big one,” says Jackson, who was inducted on April 4. “You want to be remembered for the body of work that you did, and I am being remembered just wonderfully these days. I feel that I have certainly been rewarded—I’m still working and still getting full houses and so that’s very gratifying—but this will kinda be the icing on the cake I guess.”
The beginnings of Jackson’s impressive and inspiring career go all the way back to her childhood, when she landed a recording contract with Decca Records when she was only 16 years old.
“After I graduated from high school, I’d had a couple of country songs in the Billboard charts, so I had a little bit of a name for myself, and I began touring in 1955, right after I graduated,” says Jackson. “I’ve been doing it ever since—54 years.”
Just a few short months after first hitting the road, Jackson found herself touring with a then up and coming Elvis Presley, with whom she quickly became friends with, and whom she credits with teaching her how to play rock n’ roll.
“It was his encouragement, taking time to show me the feel for this music, and explaining to me that this was going to be the next big thing. So I tried my hand at it, and I found that I really liked it and felt really good about singing that style of music.”
During those early years, Jackson shattered any pre-conceived stereotypes that many people in the music business had about women singing and performing rockabilly and rock n’ roll with her instantly recognizable voice and electric stage presence.
“The whole music scene was definitely a boy’s club, so we kind of shook things up and opened people’s eyes that women could sell records, and that we could carry a show on our own with good energy.”
After blazing a path for women in rock with songs such as “Fujiyama Mama,” “Let’s Have a Party,” and “Mean, Mean Man,” Jackson eventually found the music world changing again in the 1960s, and went back to country and gospel inspired singing for several years until a rockabilly resurgence hit Europe in the 1980s. She began performing her older songs for new audiences at festivals and clubs around the world and hasn’t looked back since.
“Music is such a wonderful bridge to people, it always has been. Rockabilly is more popular now than it ever was. My audience has such a span of ages, from my age to young adults that are just now discovering our music—it’s quite simple and easy to sing along to; I think it’s those things that make it continue to live on.”
While Jackson’s fans are awaiting her concert at Don Quixote’s on Tuesday night they can enjoy a recent documentary on her career, “The Sweet Lady With The Nasty Voice,” which recently premiered on the Smithsonian Channel and screened at various film festivals.
As Jackson explains it, the title of the film was taken from an article that a journalist in southern California wrote a few years ago after attending one of her concerts.
“At the end of his article, it said something like, ‘After meeting and talking with Wanda I realized that she’s really a sweet lady with a nasty voice.’ I’m not sure I fully agree with the title,” Jackson says with a mischievous chuckle. “Because I’m not sure at all on the ‘Sweet Lady’ part.”
Info Box:
Wanda Jackson
with Red Meat
Tuesday, April 14
7:30 p.m.
$14-$16
Don Quixote’s International Music Hall
6275 Highway 9
Felton
(831) 603-2294
www.donquixotesmusic.info
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