In the News
( 2 stories between 18th November 2009 and 25th January 2011 )New Music Tuesday: Wanda Jackson’s Party
Jan, 25 2011
Five decades after her music career began, Rockabilly Royalty, Ms. Wanda Jackson has released a collection of vintage and contemporary covers suitably titled The Party Ain’t Over. The 73-year-old enlisted fan and friend Jack White of the White Stripes to record and produce the album at his Nashville studio.
Ms. Jackson’s cotton-candy voice belies her age, as does the honky-tonk vibe of her backing band courtesy of members of My Morning Jacket, and White’s bands, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather. Organs and horns back Ms. Jackson’s distinctive growl giving the album a wide-open, reverby, bar-room feel.
The eleven tracks on the album span country, rockabilly, and gospel. Bob Dylan’s “Thunder On the Mountain” follows The Andrew Sisters’ "Rum and Coca Cola,” while Jimmie Rodgers' "Yodel #6” is true to form in its cadence. The DeCastro Sisters' "Teach Me Tonight," and Amy Winehouse’s You Know I'm No Good shine.
In 2004, White produced Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose, which ultimately won a Grammy Award. Perhaps White can help Jackson do the same with The Party Ain’t Over.
-Court
Wanda Jacks White For New Album
Nov, 18 2009
The Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson has persuaded workaholic Jack White to take some time to produce her new album, she told The Oklahoman this week. “[Jack] is one of the biggest stars on the planet right now,” she said of the The White Stripes’ singer and guitarist. In recent years White has been concentrating on new bands The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, but he has produced a country record before: Loretta Lynn’s acclaimed 2004 album Van Lear Rose. “They had a super album, but he didn’t have her do anything different,” Jackson said of it. “She just did her little Loretta Lynn songs. But he told me he’s gonna stretch me some.” Jackson, who has been recording for over half-a-century since boyfriend Elvis Presley first persuaded her to enter a studio, was inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame this April. Now 72, she hasn’t released an album since 2003’s Heart Trouble.
