Born in Oklahoma, raised in California, nurtured on country and rock and roll beats and travelling from the United States all the way to Europe, Asia, and Australia, Wanda Jackson will be making a stop in Evanston, Illinois for the Starlight Concert Series on June 26th at 7:30pm to continue shaking crowds with her distinctive, saucy voice. For the past 50 years, Wanda's raspiness has been capable of hitting folksy traditional tunes, country twang, yodels, and suggestive ballads, keeping her followers and new crowds on their toes and trying to guess what could come next.
Some call her the first female rock and roll singer, though she started out doing the country thing. In high school she won the attention of singer Hank Thompson after winning a 15-minute Oklahoma daily radio show; she was enlisted to record with his band in 1954, doing a duet called 'You Can't Have My Love" with Billy Grey, one of Thompson's musicians, which subsequently was released by Decca records and reached #8 on the country music charts. Because she was still in high school, Capitol turned her down for a record deal, but Decca swept right in to adopt the obvious talent.
Some call her the first female rock and roll singer, though she started out doing the country thing. In high school she won the attention of singer Hank Thompson after winning a 15-minute Oklahoma daily radio show; she was enlisted to record with his band in 1954, doing a duet called 'You Can't Have My Love" with Billy Grey, one of Thompson's musicians, which subsequently was released by Decca records and reached #8 on the country music charts. Because she was still in high school, Capitol turned her down for a record deal, but Decca swept right in to adopt the obvious talent.
A year later at a country music fall festival Wanda met Elvis Presley and a whole new sound; she became an item with this not-yet-sensation who encouraged her to try out this new thing called "rock and roll," and to take a break from the country tinged gospel. Presley predicted it to be "the next big thing" and that Wanda's voice could send her for a ride with it. She took him up on his recommendations, though in disagreement, and signed with Capitol, soon after releasing the rock-country piece "I Gotta Know" which made it in the top 20 on the country charts. Wanda and her wild, growling sound had it.
From '56-61, she was at the height of her rock and roll prowess producing awesome rock and roll tracks. In '57 she covered a song by jump blues singer Annisteen Allen called "Fujiyama Mama" with references to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which, ironically, hit #1 in Japan:
From '56-61, she was at the height of her rock and roll prowess producing awesome rock and roll tracks. In '57 she covered a song by jump blues singer Annisteen Allen called "Fujiyama Mama" with references to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which, ironically, hit #1 in Japan:
Cause I'm a Fujiyama Mama and I'm just about to blow my top
And when I start erupting ain't nobody gonna make me stop
Wanda has had greater success in places outside the U.S. Perhaps it is because a "country girl singing rock and roll" was too "out there" for the conservative American public at the time. Her style fit her sound; on stage she would wear tight silk dresses, red lipstick, and high heels, wanting to add glamour and sex appeal to her image. Once she was not even allowed on stage at the Grand 'Ol Opry until she covered her shoulders.
She was described to be "ahead of her time," singing as an assertive woman years before the women's movement and before female rock singers were commonplace. One hit of hers was "Cool Love" where she portrays a woman who is stuck with a shy guy who cannot fulfill her needs:
And when I start erupting ain't nobody gonna make me stop
Wanda has had greater success in places outside the U.S. Perhaps it is because a "country girl singing rock and roll" was too "out there" for the conservative American public at the time. Her style fit her sound; on stage she would wear tight silk dresses, red lipstick, and high heels, wanting to add glamour and sex appeal to her image. Once she was not even allowed on stage at the Grand 'Ol Opry until she covered her shoulders.
She was described to be "ahead of her time," singing as an assertive woman years before the women's movement and before female rock singers were commonplace. One hit of hers was "Cool Love" where she portrays a woman who is stuck with a shy guy who cannot fulfill her needs:
Now don't you give me that cool love
Give me the kind I need
Start getting with it, baby
You're acting like a square to me
By 1961, Wanda shifted back to doing mostly country, with "Theres a Party Goin' On," "Right or Wrong" and "In the Middle of a Heartache," the latter two making it in the top ten country hits.
An impressive discography, a marriage with Wendell Goodman who became her manager, and two children accompanied her through the past three decades when she has recorded, toured, and accompanied sporadically, experimenting with both country and rock and roll-- both her claims to fame. She toured with rock and roll pioneers such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddle Holly, and Little Richard. She has been nominated for two Grammys, and has been awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award. Wanda has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the International Hall of Fame, the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and the German Country Music Hall of Fame, but remains absent from the Rock and Roll and Country Music Hall of Fames-- something surprising to her fans.
Give me the kind I need
Start getting with it, baby
You're acting like a square to me
By 1961, Wanda shifted back to doing mostly country, with "Theres a Party Goin' On," "Right or Wrong" and "In the Middle of a Heartache," the latter two making it in the top ten country hits.
An impressive discography, a marriage with Wendell Goodman who became her manager, and two children accompanied her through the past three decades when she has recorded, toured, and accompanied sporadically, experimenting with both country and rock and roll-- both her claims to fame. She toured with rock and roll pioneers such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddle Holly, and Little Richard. She has been nominated for two Grammys, and has been awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award. Wanda has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the International Hall of Fame, the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and the German Country Music Hall of Fame, but remains absent from the Rock and Roll and Country Music Hall of Fames-- something surprising to her fans.
Go here to see more and to see the status of efforts by fans for her Rock and Roll Hall induction:
http://www.wandajackson.com/
And listen/ watch her here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0uq1vNHIUI
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