Wanda Jackson, the 'Queen of Rockabilly,' remembers ....

Wanda Jackson, the 'Queen of Rockabilly,' remembers her fateful friendship with Elvis


by sean mccourt
Sentinel correspondent

She's been called the "First Lady of Rock 'n' Roll," the "Queen of Rockabilly" and "Hurricane Wanda" She toured with, and later dated, Elvis Presley. She has performed to adoring fans all over the world. And 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.

Wanda Jackson, however, hasn't let all this fame and success go to her head, as some of the other originators of rock 'n' roll have. The Oklahoma native she still lives in Oklahoma City is very humble when it comes to discussing her many accomplishments over the years, including her hit songs "Fujiyama Mama" and "Let's Have A Party" — not to mention blazing a path for women in the world of rock n' roll.

When she was growing up, Jackson's father played several instruments and sang in a band, and he taught her how to play guitar. The two of them would then play and sing at night, and Jackson would often perform and church and school events, which led to an appearance on a local country music radio show.

Singer Hank Thompson, later called "The King of Western Swing," heard her show, and called in one day, asking her to sing with him at an upcoming concert in Oklahoma City.

"I was thrilled to death," Jackson, 69, said, "He was my favorite singer. I remember talking to him, and I said, 'Well, Mr. Thompson, I would love to come sing with you, but I have to ask my mother if I can go.' I think I was 14 or maybe 15 at the time"

It was through her association with Thompson that Jackson was signed to Decca Records when she was a junior in high school — she was only 16 years old. By the time she was 18, she had a contract with Capitol Records, at the time one of the biggest labels in the world.

"After I graduated from high school, I'd had a couple of country songs in the Billboard charts, I think they were in the top 20, so I had a little bit of a name for myself, and when I began touring was in 1955, right after I graduated," says Jackson. "I've been doing it ever since — 52 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, 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. We could see that happening — every night working with him, you'd see the crowds were all of a sudden young people, instead of all adults like it had always been. The young people were beginning to buy records, so that was a whole new market for all of us. 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.

"I worked a lot of different tours with him throughout a year-and-a-half period. So we became good friends, and boyfriend-girlfriend for a while"
For a period of time in the late 1960s and 1970s, Jackson went back to performing more straight-ahead country music, but triumphantly returned to the rockabilly scene in the 1980s when the genre underwent a resurgence with support from younger generations that were discovering the music and pioneering artists for the first time.

On her latest CD, "I Remember Elvis," Jackson introduces the 14-song tribute collection, and also closes it, with spoken parts reflecting on her career and her friendship with Presley.

"I definitely wanted to tell some of these stories, because I had seen this year after year with the audience; just mentioning his name and the fact that I knew him, everybody hollered out questions, you know, 'What was he really like?,' and at my autograph table after the concerts, people had questions. So I thought this is really interesting to the fans of rockabilly music, because most all of the original people, the ones we worked with in the beginning, have died. There's just Jerry Lee Lewis and myself out of those first originals. So they're very interested in hearing anything we have to say about those days"

Contact Sean McCourt at sean@seanmccourt.net

je l'ai déjà vu et entendu en concert la voix n'avait pas changée,elle faisait la 1° partie de Carl Perkins, le levée de rideau étais assuré par Sleepy Labeef.Une petite soirée sympathique.

We saw Wanda at Green Bay, she was really Great! She still has a good and powerfull voice! She put on a very good show!.. And played a tribute to Elvis too!

C'était en qu'elle année ta photo Bebop ?

en 54 a la martinique

bebopcapitol a écrit:

en 54 a la martinique

Voui, voui, c'es'là !!!!

C'est peut être son habit fétiche !!! :70476:

En 2005 , en Belgique avec Smooth & the Bullyboys

Tout va bien, bebopcapitol, merci. J'espère que toi aussi . Bonne fin de journée °)

Contente de te voir Cowboymamy. On ne te vois plus beaucoup, j'espère que tout va bien pour toi ?
Gros bisous à toi

Et en avril 2005, a Cleveland:

:lol!: :whatsnew:

Elle a du avoir un prix de cette tenue dans toutes les couleurs !!!

Sympas vos photos !

Je ne l'ai jamais vu en concert. On devait la voir quand j'étais en GB, mais la Mercury des potes n'est jamais arrivée à bon port .... !!!!

:lol!: Elle a du teindre son haut en rouge, Wanda devait en avoir ras le bol du blanc !


Je n'ai pas eu l'occas de la voir non plus, mes frangins oui...ça devait être en 69
79/80 ? dans ces années là, mais je ne me rappelle plus où ...ça y est j'ai la maladie d'alzheimer !!
Ah si je m'en rappelle lol...il me semble que c'était aux sables d'Olonne, mais j'suis pas sure!!!

1980 sans doute... c'était sûrement lors de la tournée des plages Marlboro en compagnie de Don Everly.
A moins que ce soit en 1981 quand Wanda est revenue incognito aux Sables pour manger une glace sur la promenade Clemenceau et chanter dans un des bistrots de la Chaume. Ou alors c'est quelqu'un qui lui ressemblait!

Facile de savoir si c'était elle dans les bistrots de la Chaume, avait-elle sa tenue fétiche ????

Uncle Gi a écrit:

1980 sans doute... c'était sûrement lors de la tournée des plages Marlboro en compagnie de Don Everly.
A moins que ce soit en 1981 quand Wanda est revenue incognito aux Sables pour manger une glace sur la promenade Clemenceau et chanter dans un des bistrots de la Chaume. Ou alors c'est quelqu'un qui lui ressemblait!

Ca doit être ça !!!