Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
I only committed to three interviews while I was at the SXSW Film Festival in March. Two were with people who have fairly established careers in the visual arts, both of whom had new films coming out at the time. The third is a singer named Wanda Jackson, and I did this interview because I damn well wanted me meet this icon.
I've never had the privilege of interviewing a singer before, and certainly no one of the caliber of Jackson, whose fascinating life story is chronicled in the new documentary THE SWEET LADY WITH THE NASTY VOICE, which played at SXSW and is premiering on the Smithsonian Channel this Sunday, May 18. At age 70, Jackson still knows how to rock as the Queen of Rockabilly and really the first woman to play rock music to a mass audience. Her absence from the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is one of that institution's greatest omissions. She dated Elvis Presley for two years as his star was just beginning to rise, and she scandalized the music world by wearing tight-fitting party dresses and daring to be not just glamorous but also sexy.
After a long absence from the rock circuit to concentrate on gospel recordings and a television ministry, Jackson cut a new album a few years back, which featured guest appearances by he likes of Elvis Costello. The film (from co-directors Vincent Kralyevich and Joanne Fish) reveals a celebrity fan base as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and Lemmy from Motorhead. Her latest album is a collection of Presley tunes that represent her favorites, many of which he was performing while they dated. I met with Wanda just before her soundcheck before a SXSW club date, and I got to watch her rehearse for more than an hour afterwards. What a treat to see her lead a band and work out songs, some of which she hasn't played in decades. She was an absolute joy to talk to about her career, her return to rockabilly playing, and the movie that chronicles her surprising life story. Here's a little slice of Wanda Jackson…
Capone: I’m young enough that I actually discovered you through--not the Elvis Presley covers album--but the album before that, because I’m a fan of Elvis Costello, and I had heard that he had recorded with you. And, he’s always very good about introducing me to people I’m not familiar with. And, he does a lot of versions of other people’s songs. But, that’s great, because it makes me go back and…
WJ: It fills you in.
CAPONE: Right, exactly. Have you found that a lot of your younger fans have discovered you through channels, like I did? Because somebody recorded one of your songs?
WJ: Yeah, I have. It’s been really amazing to me that every day, I mean, as we speak, I’m picking up fans all over the world because of the Internet, probably, most of all, plus just word of mouth. One person tells them about me, and they check me out, and then they become a fan. So, it’s great to have all these…well, they’re young people to me .
CAPONE: Yeah, some of them are young to me!
WJ: Young adults that have just fallen for this rockabilly music, simple little old stuff that we recorded in the 50s. So, it’s really unusual, and I’m having the time of my life. I’ve never gotten so much praise, and honors, and things like that. Or press coverage, and more publicity than I’ve ever had in my life. So, it’s like handing me a brand new career. And, it’s great.
CAPONE: Even on the way over here, I took a cab, and the woman driving the cab, who was probably in her 50s, had a country station. When I told her where I was going, she said, “Is that place even open?” And, I told her what I was doing, and she was thrilled. She didn’t know you were here.
WJ: Yeah, I have something that’s kind of unique in that I’ve recorded country, rockabilly, and gospel. So, depending on the venue or the occasion or whatever they’re promoting, you know, if it’s a rock festival or a county fair, I can gear my show in those directions.
CAPONE: So, you do still do that? You sort of change your set list depending on the occasion?
WJ: Right. Certain ones I leave in, because most country fans like rockabilly too, and rockabilly fans like country. So, I don’t have any trouble. I just add a few more, or take out some.
CAPONE: Do you still perform spiritual music? Do you still do that on occasion?
WJ: Yes I do. Of course, we had a ministry for about 15-20 years, and I concentrated strictly on gospel music then. But then, when the rockabilly thing broke again for me in 1985--it was mostly in Europe--well, it just seemed like that was what I was supposed to do. And, being a Christian, I prayed about it, and my husband did.
And, I felt very comfortable about going back into the secular music. So many people want to put God in a box and say, “If you’re a Christian, you have to do this.” Well, if you listen to God and not people, you’ll find out quite different, that He’ll use you, you know, if you’re willing, He will use you in the marketplace as it says in the Bible, yeah.
CAPONE: When you became born again, and you recorded gospel music and had the ministry, was there something in that change that made you say, “No, I can’t play the rock or the rockabilly music anymore”?
WJ: Well, in the beginning, I’ll have to admit my husband and I were quite zealous. But, also we had to grow in our Christian walk. You’ve got to get acquainted with God. How is He going to work in my life? What is His will for me? So, that was one reason that we primarily went with gospel venues and shows.
It wasn’t because ‘Oh, these are bad people, and now I’m a good person.’ It’s not that at all. Because, like I say, now I’m right back in the same places, and it’s just so much fun. I’m not out to change everybody. I’m just enjoying the change in myself and like to tell people about it, if they want to hear it.
CAPONE: Let me ask you about the movie a little bit. It’s great to hear people like Bruce Springsteen and his wife and Elvis Costello sing your praises. Again, that’s sort of how I discovered you.
WJ: You’ve done your homework, haven’t you!
CAPONE: Probably my two favorite musicians are those two men. How does that feel to you? You know who they are.
WJ: I was very impressed to say the least. My vocabulary is limited--I don’t know how to express it. But, yeah, I was overjoyed.
CAPONE: There’s certainly a lot of discussion about the clothes you were wearing and the hair. And, as much as that may seem superficial, I think it kind of liberated a lot of female singers, the way you presented yourself and your image. Was that all your creation, or were there people pulling strings behind the scenes?
WJ: There were people, like my manager at the time, who didn’t want me to dress different. I was going against the grain, against ‘the tried and true’, but it was just something I had to do. I just couldn’t stay in cowboy boots and full skirts. I’m only 5’2”, and clothes like that--with a hat on or something--it just squashes you in the ground.
And, I decided, look, you’ve got a pretty decent figure, why don’t you dress on stage like you do for street wear?. My mother had always sewn all my clothes for me, so we just got our heads together, and we designed this. And, fringe, of course, we’d always used on the cowboy clothes. So, we just got a different kind of fringe and put it on. It’s still fringes that move a lot when you move. I didn’t have to move a lot for it to look like I was. Yes, so I guess I kind of had the first go-go dress.
CAPONE: Was it true…I think this was during your country era…that you weren’t allowed to play at the Grand Ole Opry because of the clothes?
WJ: No, they let me play.
CAPONE:…eventually. They weren’t going to let you play?
WJ: They weren't. Ernest Tubb told me that…[Greets visitor] ‘Hi, Sweetie!’ My best girlfriend there, Rosie Flores [the musician who brought Wanda back to playing rockabilly live in the U.S.]. But anyway, back to the clothes, Ernest Tubb said, “You can’t go on stage like that.” And, I said, “Like what?” I didn’t understand. And, he said, “You can’t show your bare shoulders on the stage at the Opry” And, I said, “Well, this is a fine time to tell me.” So, I had to go put on my jacket that I had worn and go out on stage and sing in a coat to cover myself up. I was so mad, I was in tears. I didn’t like that experience at all.
Just like Elvis, he didn’t like it. And my mentor Hank Thompson. He was on one time, and that was all. We were just freer spirits.
CAPONE: Were you someone who pushed back? When someone pushed you in a certain direction, did you push back twice as hard? Was that your style being rebellious?
WJ: Yeah, probably. I didn’t realize it, you know. I had my folks’ approval all the time, on any of this stuff. My dad traveled with me and managed me. My mother made by clothes. So, I didn’t have to worry about them being unhappy. At least, I changed the way that girls in country music dress, made way for Dolly Parton’s mystique.
CAPONE: Do you see other people, even more current, who show your influence?
WJ: So, I don’t know if I want to take the credit for all of them. Anyway, I did a little bit free up country music. ‘Get with it guys,’ you know? They just talked about me kind of opening the door, so…
CAPONE: You mentioned Elvis before, I know people are always so curious about your relationship. In the time that you knew him, what did you teach him about being a better person, and what did he teach you?
WJ: Well, he taught me, but without knowing it, as I worked with him and just watched him on stage and all, to not take myself seriously, because he didn’t. That’s the attitude to have, isn’t it? And, he had fun on stage. He didn’t have a cut way of doing this or introducing that. He was just totally free and just did funny things on stage. I learned stuff like that from him.
CAPONE: What do you think he might have picked up from you?
WJ: Well, at that time, I don’t think much, because I was just doing country, straight country. I was already in the tight clothes, the fringe and things, so that caught his eye. He was the one who convinced me to try rockabilly, so it’s mainly the thing that I received from him that made it such a good relationship. Very helpful.
CAPONE: What did you think about the path that his career took later on as the decades when on?
WJ: When I stopped touring with him, he was going to Hollywood to start his movie career. And, he was excited. I was happy for him, and that’s when our paths didn’t cross anymore.
CAPONE: I was going to ask if you ever ran into him again after…
WJ: I did see him once in Vegas, but he wasn’t performing and I wasn’t either.
CAPONE: Do you ever think of retiring or are you going to keep doing this until you can’t do it anymore?
WJ: No, I’ll do it as long as I physically can and as long as the fans will still come out and see me. I’m not going to beat it to death and go on stage in a wheel chair [laughs]. I’m only 70, and my husband’s just 72, and we’re both in good health. And, we both feel love, just traveling, being together like we are. So, I hope to do it for a while longer.
CAPONE: I meant to ask earlier about the movie. How were you approached about actually participating in this documentary?
WJ: Well, they contacted my husband, who manages and books me, that they were interested in doing this. As it turned out, Finnie, who was from the East coast, and Joanne was from the West coast, and within a week of each other, they both contacted my husband, and they both wanted to do a documentary. So he told them, “Why don’t you two work together?", so he kind of introduced them, and that’s how that came about.
CAPONE: I take it you’ve seen it and given your seal of approval?
WJ: Yeah, I’m very happy.
CAPONE: Well, it’s a great film. And, it was wonderful to finally to put all of the pieces of your life and career in order, because, for me, it was kind of scattered.
WJ: And, it did do that for you?
CAPONE: Absolutely. I wasn’t sure what record came out when…
WJ: Finnie was a big fan of mine. Apparently, he knew the timelines.
CAPONE: It was astonishing seeing the fan bases you have in other parts, like Germany and Japan. Does that strike you as strange? Or, you take them where you can get them?
WJ: Well, music is such a wonderful thing. You can relate to people much easier through music. I feel just as much at home in Germany or in Sweden as I do here in Austin.
CAPONE: Do you play with a different band in each city, like, local people?
WJ: I have bands, like, two or three in the Midwest and one or two, maybe, on the coasts.
CAPONE: So, it’s the same group of people, depending on where you’re playing?
WJ: We try to do that. It doesn’t always work, but, like, in Austin, I work with so many that it doesn’t really matter who’s backing me. They know my stuff.
CAPONE: Right, so it’s not strangers.
WJ: No, at least not here. In a lot of places, they are.
CAPONE: They show you in the movie rehearsing with musicians, providing cues.
WJ: In the foreign countries, that becomes more of an issue
CAPONE: Well, Wanda, thank you so much for talking to us. This was a genuine thrill.
WJ: Thank you for still being interested in my music. Are you coming to the show tonight?
CAPONE: I'm going to try, but my film duties may keep me from coming.
WJ: Well, at least stick around now to watch us do the soundcheck.
CAPONE: I will. Thanks.
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