Jackson opens Palladian Series

CLAYTON -- One of rock and roll's great innovators, Bob Dylan, calls her "An atomic bomb in lipstick."

Wanda Jackson will open the The Clayton Center's Palladian Series at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Jackson, who celebrated her 74th birthday on Friday, is touring behind her latest release, "The Party Ain't Over," a collaboration with Jack White, guitarist and founder of The White Stripes.

"I have planned some really good music," said Jackson, who has been in music for six decades. "I have some rock and roll, some country, a little gospel, and a lot of hand clapping and knee slapping."

Jackson's career began in the 1950s. She had already been recording in high school, and by the time she graduated in 1955 - after two country songs landed on the Billboard charts - Jackson was ready to tour. "My dad was going to travel with me as my road manager, and my mom would stay at home, make my clothes and run my fan club," Jackson said. "But my dad didn't know anything about booking shows."

Jackson was introduced to Bob Neal, a DJ and promoter who was beginning to book Elvis Presley. "He was popular in different regions in the South, but I had never heard of him," Jackson said. "Back then, records were aimed at adults because adults were the ones buying them. The kind of music that Elvis was making was becoming popular with young people, and then DJs were playing his records. The young people were calling the shots and had a voice."

For the next year and a half, Jackson would share the concert stage with Presley, who encouraged her to sing rockabilly. By 1956, Jackson had recorded several rock and roll/country singles.

Jackson continued to record rockabilly singles throughout the 1950s. One of them, "Fujiyama Mama," hit No. 1 in Japan, where she toured for two months in early 1959.

Jackson had a Top 40 pop hit with "Let's Have a Party," a song Presley had cut a year earlier, and toured with her band, which included then-unknown guitarist Roy Clark. Her country music career took off with two more Top 40 hits, "Right or Wrong" and "In The Middle of a Heartache."

From the mid 1960s to 1979, Jackson moved full-time to country as rockabilly declined in popularity and had a string of Top 40 hits. She also recorded two songs in German that hit the German music charts between 1965-70.

In the early 1970s, Jackson and her husband - Wendell Goodman, who has served as her manager for more than 40 years - regularly attended church at their children's request and discovered Christianity. She recorded several gospel songs and albums but was dropped by her label, Capitol Records.

Making a comeback

Jack White brought Jackson into the 21st century with his collaboration as producer and guitarist on "The Party Ain't Over," which was released in January 2011. It includes a cover of Dylan's "Thunder on the Mountain" (at Dylan's request) as well as a remake of "You Know I'm No Good" by the late Amy Winehouse.

"We called him (White) to see if he would be interested in doing a duet with me, because a couple of years prior, he had made a very successful record with Loretta Lynn," Jackson said. "We had heard that he was a fan of mine and we found out that was true, but he wasn't interested in doing a duet. He had his own record company and wanted to record a whole album with me."

Jackson said she has always recorded other artists' songs. "Doing covers was not new to me because in the beginning, I was the only girl doing rock 'n' roll and I had to cover songs that the guys did until I began writing my own. Then songwriters began writing for girls," she said. "The challenge for a cover song is to make it your own but keep the essence of the original one."

Jackson's illustrious career has featured Grammy nominations, dozens of hits in several genres and lifetime achievement awards. In 2009, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

So, why does she continue to write and perform music?

"It's the only thing I've ever done, and I love it," she said. "As long as my health is good and I am still able to do it, I see no reason to stop. I've felt like if my health was fine and people still wanted to watch and cheer me, them I would keep doing it."

Tickets are $22.50 and are available by phone at 553-1737, at The Clayton Center box office from 10 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and online at www.theclaytoncenter.com.