It really doesn't matter if you like Elvis or not – if he paid you a complement in public, it will probably wind up on your tombstone. In Wanda Jackson's case, Elvis probably didn't pay anyone a higher compliment than deeming a woman "The Queen of Rockabilly.”
When the rockabilly genre was at its peak in the '50s, Jackson was right in the thick of things. In fact, she even dated Elvis Presley himself! (There is no doubt that woman has serious mojo).
Jackson has certainly been here from the beginning. She is the real deal and there are not many of her contemporaries who survived to be able to play along side her to this day. That certainly makes Jackson seem old, and technically that is true, but her spirit was as young as they come at the Rockabilly on the Route festival in the summer of 2013. Hall of fames for rockabilly, rock n' roll, and Oklahoma country have finally welcomed her and, as a fan, it was long overdue that I made it out to her concert.
The modern rockabilly revivalists generally are not people from the ’50’s. They are in their 20’s and 30’s perfecting the look of the street punks from Rebel without a Cause. Many of them don’t mind or even prefer an exaggerated punk rock version of the Sun Records icons. The Chop Tops, Jackson’s opening act, loved watching her rock that stage like teenagers watching Katy Perry. Jackson’s fan base is not fickle, but a loyal and respectful one.
Jackson sounds EXACTLY like she did in her early records, which is extremely bizarre. If I didn't know better, I can almost believe it was staged. Jackson’s voice hadn't aged a bit. Let's just put this out there: what Jackson sang like in her day wasn't exactly a pretty sound. She had a hardened smoker’s voice, lots of sass, way more so than her predecessors and even contemporaries. It’s difficult to find her direct influence. She sort of reinvented country and rock n’ roll in her own way, with her glittery outfits and her raw and unapologetic delivery. In Jackson’s day, she epitomized youth and was a total rebel to the American establishment. Not only a pioneer of women everywhere, but a pioneer for rock n’ roll music itself.
It’s strange – in 2013, Jackson not only sounds like she did in 1957, but she still has that attitude. Don’t get me wrong, she is not prancing around the stage like a sex goddess (I doubt she ever really did), but she just understands the underlining principle of rock n’ roll – that it’s about energy and rocking like you don’t care what people think.
I was tickled pink to notice that her band was not a touring act, but one of the burgeoning rockabilly bands who came to the festival. They were called Whiskey Kiss and they had never met Jackson before. Whiskey Kiss was not a Wanda Jackson tribute act – they were just the band in town to get the job done. That is old school and bad ass at the same time. You may or may not know this, but most bands were not like Buddy Holly and Crickets or Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two. People like Chuck Berry came to your town expecting a band to not only know his songs, but the keys and the order he was going to play them in. Honestly, I thought that sort of rock music culture died with the plane crash of ’61, but I guess some things never change for some rockers. Jackson doesn’t travel with a bus full of musicians and roadies, just her husband and personal manager. And it should be noted that these young rockabilly hot shots Whiskey Kiss nailed Jackson’s songs completely seamlessly.
Jackson had a terrific show, playing her hits as well as some standards, and she even did a nod to her modern day pop collaborators like Amy Winehouse. She told jokes to the crowd and was honestly pretty funny. She made mention of her new record company and jokingly had a senior moment when she honestly could not recall the name of her new label. The crowd gave a big laugh with her, and it was as if Jackson could do no wrong... at least if you were ever a fan to begin with.
The highlight for me was when she shook hands with some of the audience in the front, when she got to me, Jackson gave me "Well hello handsome". Her tone very much said, "If I was only a little bit younger…" My wife and I looked at each other in pure glee, she full well knowing I will be proud of that until the day I die.
“Rock n’ roll is the fountain of youth,” is what I have always said. The day you begin to turn your music down to a reasonable level, or just say to yourself, “no honey, I am too tired to go to the rock concert tonight” is the day you get old. Rock music keeps you young and alive. People have argued with me, but they are wrong. As long as Wanda Jackson is still kickin’ around, I will always have proof that age is a state of mind.
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