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Category: Music
Wanda Jackson Marshall Scott Warner Band High Flyers
November 28th, 2009 9:30PM
Dante's
1 SW 3rd Ave, Portland OR
Tickets: $12 (adv. through TicketsWest)/ $15 at the door
contact: dantesbooking@qwest.net or 503.226.6630
CLICK FOR TICKETS
Wanda Jackson
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. After releasing the
critically acclaimed, "Heart Trouble", and "I Remember Elvis".. Wanda
continues to tour all over the world to sold out venues.
In 2009, it was announced that Wanda would be inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Bruce Springsteen
were just a few artists who encouraged the Hall to induct the Rock N
Roll Queen over the last few years.
http://www.wandajackson.com/main.html
2:54 AM
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