Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson出生于1937年代的奧克拉荷馬，1956年正式出道推出個人錄音作品，她也可算是美國最早期唱Rock & Roll的女歌手喔！想想當年的白人女歌手多以鄉(xiāng)村樂發(fā)跡，Wanda Jackson算是很大膽地要跟男人一樣開唱搖滾歌曲，而早年將這種鄉(xiāng)村樂與搖滾樂融合在一起的新型流行音樂稱為“Rockabilly”，而嘗試這樣狂野豪邁歌唱的Wanda Jackson，雖然早年有受到一些保守的美國人的排斥，但隨著時光的流逝。大家反而開始尊稱她“The First Lady Of Rockabilly”或是“Queen Of Rockabilly”…Rockabilly的祖師娘是也！至今，她還不時跑出來巡回唱唱歌哩！如今已經70多高齡的Wanda Jackson，出道超過半個世紀，然而難能可貴的是她的嗓音幾乎沒有改變，依然還是那么質樸、純凈。不愧是山地搖滾第一夫人！
 
Wanda Lavonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and '60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist. She is known to many as the Queen (or First Lady) of Rockabilly.
 
Jackson mixed country music with fast-moving rockabilly, often recording them on opposite sides of a record. As rockabilly declined in popularity in the mid-1960s, she moved to a successful career in mainstream country music with a string of hits between 1966 and 1973, including &Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine&, &A Woman Lives for Love& and &Fancy Satin Pillows&.
 
She has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity among rockabilly revivalists in Europe and younger Americana fans, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence in 2009.
 
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by Kurt Wolff
 
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.
 
Rockabilly Filly 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. Jackson returned to the studio in 2010 to begin work on a new album. Produced by Jack White and featuring a band comprised of the White Stripes frontman, his wife Karen Elson, various Raconteurs, My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel, and a host of others, The Party Ain't Over arrived in early 2011. Jackson's 31st studio album, 2012's Unfinished Business, was produced by Justin Townes Earle and featured original material as well as covers of songs by Woody Guthrie, Etta James, Bobby Womack, and others.