Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant and Music Club
Holland St. Somerville MA 02144
Davis Square, across from the Davis T stop
Wanda Jackson
Thursday, October 8, 2010
“Better late than never,” Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson quips with a cheerful smile. An avalanche of applause rolls through Johnny Ds from fans who’ve been waiting an hour for her highness to appear from her gig earlier in New York City.
After checking her web site, I expected a tall, raw-boned drink of water to appear on stage. Surprise, surprise. The petite woman in the bright red-fringed jacket and black slacks is hardly visible over the standing room only audience when she stepped gingerly onto the stage. Jackson’s unassuming personality and captivating sense of showmanship, skillfully presented with a mix of personal stories and anecdotes, is pure “country.”
“I want to sing my first country rock 'n roll song I recorded in 1956,” Wanda says as she settles behind the mike. A youngster (in this case someone under 40 years old) shouts out, “Yeah!”
Wanda pauses a moment, peers in the direction of the comment, and shoots back, “How would you know?” She brings down the house then launches into "I Gotta Know."
This feisty spirit, and the sheer number of years she’s been on the planet, trumps her vocal ability, which is clearly in decline, at least tonight.
Wanda Jackson may be running on fumes. But, ohhh, what a fine ruckus the 72-year-old Queen of Rockabilly can still make. If this elderly woman walked by you in the drugstore, you’d never ever in your wildest dreams believe such a dynamic, spirited voice could emanate from that diminutive frame.
She’s still got the trademark mama grizzly rockabilly growl that helped propel her to rarified status on country charts two generations ago, but she’s lost the ability to stay on key and is wobbly on sustained notes. Damn…it doesn’t make a difference because you’re witnessing a vintage country act. When she expires, so goes another piece of Americana.
“I was in New York, talking all day making bites, what do you call them?” she says about the interviews she had all morning. Then there was an eight-hour drive from NYC to Boston. And yes, she doesn’t like to make excuses for being a little off her game but was gonna keep on growlin’ and singin’ till she was done. And that’s exactly what she did.
The evening’s greatest surprise comes when Wanda dives into “I'll Bet You My Heart I Love You” and yodels up a storm. The fact she misses as many yodels as she hits may have more deeply endeared this legend to the crowd.
“When I was on tour with Elvis (she was 17), we dated a bit, just friends out to have a soda together. He’s the one who encouraged me to try singing rock ‘n roll,” she says. Her inimitable gravelly voice was a great calling card. She was one of the first females to cross from country to rock ‘n roll.
“I wanted to make an album in his memory and sing the songs that for me were the real Elvis, songs from 1955, 56, and 57.” The result was titled “I Remember Elvis: Wanda’s Tribute to Elvis,” in 2006.
“Just start a few of ‘em up, boys, I’ll figure out where you’re going,” the pro says to her band The Lustre Kings, then gallops into “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and “Heartbreak Hotel.” By now the audience is positively giddy.
What Wanda brings to the stage is an authentic whiff of what country audiences have craved since Hank Williams’ days. Songs that preach and exemplify a steely backbone to make it through the vicissitudes of love found, love lost, and more often than not, sense a good time around the corner.
Toward the end of her set, a gray haired man steps onto the stage, two champagne glasses in hand. “I want to toast my wife on our 49th wedding anniversary,” Wendell Goodman says as he puts his arm around the Queen.
“We gave our hearts to Jesus Christ in 1971 and the Lord still allows me to entertain,” Wanda says. “I feel a responsibility to show the younger generation that a marriage like ours can be done.”
She launches into “I Saw The Light,” a gospel song with enough fervor to get some in the audience to clap and sing along.
Voice aside, Wanda Jackson is an original, a heart on her sleeve, authentic entertainer. We applaud her fading star for her spark, her spunk, and her unmistakable drive to entertain us.
If you’re of a certain age, you also cheer Wanda for not giving in to the stereotype that younger is better. Perhaps no medium embraces its aging stars as lovingly as country/ rockabilly fans. By the show’s finale, you love her.
Photos with text by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Photo at very bottom courtesy of Wanda's web site
Partial Set List
“Mean Mean Man”
“Rock Your Baby All Night Long”
"I Gotta Know"
Wanda Jackson - I'll Bet You My Heart I Love You"
“Good Rockin’ Tonight”
“Heartbreak Hotel”
Two recent releases by Wanda
Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good" (“The A side”)
Classic Johnny Kidd and the Pirates hit "Shakin' All Over" (“The B side”)
‘Right or Wrong”
“I Saw The Light”
“Let’s Have A Party”
“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On"
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