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  midnightman (midnightman) 6-Zenith Username: midnightman Post Number: 1314 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 65.190.181.80 |
Hey, maybe Little Anthony & the Imperials will get in too hopefully!  But congrats to the "queen of rock 'n' roll": Queen of Rockabilly Jackson is chosen for Hall of Fame Maud native Wanda Jackson, also known as the Queen of Rockabilly and the First Lady of Rock, confirmed Friday that she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As first reported on tulsaworld.com, Jackson also said she will perform at the May 4 ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. She will be the first female Oklahoman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "This is the big one," she told the Tulsa World on Friday in a telephone interview from her Oklahoma City home. "It's turning out to be more exciting than I thought it would be. "The main reason I wanted this is because the people I love have worked so hard to make this happen. I may get the award, but my husband and fans and people who have done so much for me all these years deserve all the credit." Jackson is widely credited with being the first woman to record a rock 'n' roll song, with "Let's Have a Party" in 1958. She also dated a young Elvis Presley, who convinced her to cross over from country to rock and rockabilly music. She still performs all over the world, and her "biggest fans" include music icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Lemmy Kilmister of heavy metal act Motorhead. Other nominees for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include Jeff Beck, Chic, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-DMC, The Stooges and War. Five will likely be inducted. Jackson's husband and manager, Wendell Goodman, said the Hall of Fame will make an official announcement with the full list of inductees early next week. Of her husband, Jackson said, "Today, I have two reasons to celebrate. Wendell went into the emergency room last week with internal bleeding. We almost lost him," she said softly. "It was a tough week." She even did something she rarely does: She canceled a tour gig. "But now he's home, and he's doing great." In fact, when Goodman got the news of Jackson's impending induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he kept it a secret and planned a party for her. "We had the family over for the Sooners game," she said. Though her team lost the FedEx BCS National Championship Game, Jackson won something far more romantic. "He brought in three dozen pink roses, and we broke out some sparkling cider and wine. Then he told me," she said. "Then he said he actually found out yesterday at noon. How he kept that secret the whole day amazes me," she said and laughed. Jackson was discovered by her country music idol, Hank Thompson, when she was only 15, as she played songs live on Oklahoma City radio station KLPR. In a November interview with the Tulsa World, she reminisced, "I got a phone call at the station after the show. They said 'A man is on the phone,' so I assumed it was Daddy. I picked up the phone, and it was Hank Thompson," she said, a little breathless. "I nearly fainted." Soon, she was signed to Decca Records and had a hit single, "You Can't Have My Love," a duet with Thompson's bandleader Billy Gray. "I was bigger than Elvis for about that long," she said with a snap of her fingers. "But those were the early days." From there, she soon met — and dated — Elvis Presley, who convinced her that she could possibly change music history with her trademark growls and unique vocal style. Her now-signature song "Let's Have a Party" followed, along with "Fujiama Mama," "I Gotta Know," "Mean Mean Man," "Rock Your Baby," "Funnel of Love" and more. And, during a period when country and early rockabilly singers wore button-up shirts with pearl snaps, long skirts and cowboy boots, Jackson and her mother bucked tradition by designing spaghetti-strapped dresses with multiple, curve-intensifying rows of undulating fringe. She still tours the world, singing her hits, and has said she's considering recording another album. In 2006, she recorded and released the tribute to her former boyfriend and muse with her album "I Remember Elvis." In the 2008 documentary "The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice," Bruce Springsteen summed up his fascination with the legendary singer: "There's an authenticity in the voice that conjures up a world, a very distinctive place and time, that is so specifically American," Springsteen said. It's an ageless time, one that Jackson embodies, and one that she said she can't imagine ever leaving. "Me? Retire?" she asked rhetorically back in November. "Never." | ||
Destruction (destruction) 6-Zenith Username: destruction Post Number: 3608 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.55.77.192 |
My youngest and I LOVE Funnel of Love and several of her other songs. Congrats. | ||
Mark Speck (mark_speck) 6-Zenith Username: mark_speck Post Number: 5362 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 75.185.188.241 |
I'm happy if she is indeed entering the Hall...my experience with her is not from her rockabilly sides but the later country stuff that she did. Wanda, you ROCK!! Best, Mark | ||
midnightman (midnightman) 6-Zenith Username: midnightman Post Number: 1317 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 65.190.181.80 |
Yeah, didn't she also do some gospel too? Wanda's genres of choice remind me of Elvis. Not to mention those two had a fling in the mid-'50s, lol. | ||
mh (mwlh) 2-Debutant Username: mwlh Post Number: 12 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 62.232.65.170 |
I was lucky enough to see Wanda in London recently at the London Rock'Roll festival in Kentish Town. She sang beautifully, had a good backing band, and did all the hits & more. She also reminisced a lot between songs, talked about Elvis, and said she had been trying for years to get a Number One - and finally she did - with Fujiyama Mama - in Japan!! If you get a chance to see her - go! (P.S. Jerry Lee Lewis wasn't bad either...and his sister, who opened the show, was fantastic!) I met Wanda's husband Mr. Goodman briefly at the bar - he was charming. Sorry to hear of his condition - hope all is well now! Martin | ||
Mark Speck (mark_speck) 6-Zenith Username: mark_speck Post Number: 5374 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 75.185.188.241 |
Her gospel sides are from the early '70s...I think when her contract with Capitol ended, that was when she moved over to the Christian label Myrrh and did those records. Best, Mark | ||
Twirl Records (brianyoung) 4-Laureate Username: brianyoung Post Number: 152 Registered: 9-2008 Posted From: 76.28.165.243 |
I just LOVE Wanda Jackson! My good buddy Don Kirsch in Tacoma, WA booked her a few times for Rockabilly Shows in the Pacific Northwest. The Fabulaires backed her. Don and I would have conversations as to who was the better singer: Wanda Jackson or Janis Martin? Both were AMAZING!!!!! Any votes out there? |
