Hard Headed Woman

She toured with Elvis, and 50 years later she’s still rockin’. WANDA JACKSON talks to Rob Hughes

Wanda Jackson was the original Riot Grrrl. In the late ‘50s, she shook, rattled and roared next to Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and boyfriend Elvis. Electrifying hits like Fujiyama Mama, Rock Your Baby and Let’s Have A Party were as feral as anything by her male rockabilly peers. Amongst those who’ve paid a public debt are The Cramps, Neko Case, Dave Alvin, Richard Hawley, Laura Cantrell, Tanya Tucker and Wayne Hancock. She’s also the subject of an extraordinary campaign to be elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, led by uber-fan Elvis Costello.

In his most recent letter to the organisation, Costello was particularly biting. “For heaven’s sake,” he wrote, “the whole thing risks ridicule and having the appearance of being a little boys’ club until it acknowledges the contribution of one of the first women of rock and roll. She was standing up on stage with a guitar in her hands and making a sound that was as wild and raw as any rocker – man or woman – while other gals were still asking ‘How much is that doggy in the window?’”

Today, the woman once described by writer Nick Tosches as ‘the greatest menstruating rock’n’roll singer the world has ever known’ is sharing a pot of tea with Record Collector in a Cricklewood hotel …

by Rob Hughes
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