Wanda Jackson: How a church singer became the ‘Queen of Rockabilly’
Rockabilly was the natural precursor to out-and-out rock ‘n’ roll. Much like the rock scene, which established itself towards the end of the 1950s, rockabilly was an oppressive male affair. This should perhaps come as no surprise, given the deeply ingrained gender roles and misogyny that were present in American society during the 1950s, which dictated a woman’s place as being in the home. However, the boy’s club of rockabilly did not count on the pioneering impact of one defiant woman: Wanda Jackson.
Growing up in 1940s Oklahoma, the prospects of Wanda Jackson were fairly limited. Like many women and girls during that era, it was expected that Jackson would go on to be a homemaker while her future husband went out to work. From a very young age, however, Jackson found herself drawn to the exciting world of music. A natural vocalist, her talents were supported by her parents, who bought their daughter a guitar and taught her to play. The musician’s first exposure to performing in public came at the local Baptist church in Oklahoma City – not the most obvious start for a rock star, but everybody has to start somewhere.
From these modest beginnings, Jackson worked tirelessly to establish herself on a national scale. Even during her teenage years, the budding young artist spent virtually all of her free time singing, performing, or broadcasting her own radio show on local station KPLR. Given her geographical location, country music seemed an obvious style for Jackson to pursue, and during the early 1950s, the young singer found an admirable degree of success recording country music.
In 1956, the same year that she graduated high school in Oklahoma, Jackson performed a few tour dates alongside an up-and-coming singer by the name of Elvis Presley. Presley informed Jackson of an exciting new music scene, rockabilly, which was gaining popularity among America’s youth. Following encouragement from the King, Jackson began to embrace this new style, moving away from her roots in country and gospel music. Signing a deal with Capitol Records that same year, Jackson began to cut rock records that broke the mould.
One of her earliest recordings for Capitol was the single ‘I Gotta Know’, which blended elements of country and rockabilly, earning Jackson a hit single in the process. The track reached number 15 in the US country charts, helping to establish Jackson as one of rockabilly’s most promising young artists, and one of its only female stars. From that point on, Jackson’s career seemed to go from strength-to-strength, achieving multiple hit singles and redefining the male-dominated rock scene of the late 1950s.
A defining moment in Jackson’s career as the bonafide ‘Queen of Rockabilly’ came in 1957, with the release of the bizarre single ‘Fujiyama Mama’. The song made reference to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, using them to describe the explosive and powerful nature of Jackson’s performance and personality. Employing themes of horrific atrocities in a light-hearted rock song might seem in pretty poor taste, but the track helped to cement Jackson’s mastery of the rock genre, and it even became an unlikely number-one hit in Japan.
Her Capitol Recordings culminated in the 1960 compilation album Rockin’ With Wanda, which remains one of the finest rockabilly records of all time, an essential part of any rock fan’s record collection. Not only did Jackson produce some of the greatest rockabilly records of the era, but she also blazed a path for women in the rock ‘n’ roll scene. Although the popularity of rockabilly might have been fairly short-lived, in the grand scheme of things, Jackson’s influence was essential in inspiring future generations of women to pursue rock music, regardless of style.
After 44 studio albums and god-knows-how-many live performances around the globe, Jackson retired from the music industry in 2021 after releasing her final album, Encore, at the age of 83. However, her influence over rock music has never particularly subsided. Over the years, the singer has found an audience in everybody from punk hero Elvis Costello to pop icon Cyndi Lauper, and her extensive discography will continue to be loved for years to come.
