A Rock and Roll Slice of Heaven

Just yesterday we OMG'd when we heard that Sue Sylvester and Olivia Newton John are going to team up on a version of
"Physical" on next week's "Glee", but today we got news that even topped that. We found out today that Jack White has produced a new album for the legendary "Queen of Rockabilly", Wanda Jackson. This news was first announced back in November, but somehow we missed it until they played clips of one of the songs on NPR today. Wow.
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Okay, we know most of you are saying,
"Wanda who?", but come on, do your homework. You can't seriously consider yourself a fan of rock and roll and not know who Wanda Jackson is. Born in Oklahoma, raised in Bakersfield, California, she started singing as a teen, but she first sang country music. Elvis Presley heard her, loved her "growling voice" and begged her to sing rockabilly. Barely out of high school, Jackson began touring with Presley in the late "50's and was an immediate success. If you've never heard her songs, YouTube her, you won't believe what you've missed all your life. Our favorite Wanda Jackson hit is the classic rip-it-up, "Riot in Cell Block #9". Rockabilly scared the hell out of middle America in the 1950's, though, especially coming from a young, very pretty girl, so Jackson returned to country music to extend her career. Jackson has never stopped performing in the decades since the 1950's, and finally, in 2009, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, thanks to heavy lobbying by Elvis Costello. Costello shamed the Hall of Fame telling them they couldn't consider themselves as a serious paen to rock and roll without having Wanda Jackson as a member. Many rock critics consider Jackson to be the first woman to sing rock and roll.
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Which brings us to the present. Everyone knows Jack White, of The White Stripes, and most people know that White produced the mindblowing 2004 Loretta Lynn album, "Van Lear Rose", which won two Grammy Awards and which Rolling Stone Magazine named as the second best album of 2004. Well, now Jack White has produced a new album for Wanda Jackson, and it's amazing. Jackson can still sing, can still growl, and is clearly enjoying her time back in the spotlight. We love the album, and Jack White, you are a genius. Thank you.


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Wanda Jackson and Jack White