Wanda Jackson featured in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s new “Women Who Rock” exhibit
Wanda Jackson
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman
BAM column: Wanda Jackson featured in rock hall’s “Women Who Rock” exhibit
Billed as “the world’s first museum exhibit dedicated to the most influential female artists,” it will open Friday at the Cleveland, Ohio, institution.
Starting this weekend, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is paying homage to “Women Who Rock,” and appropriately enough, Oklahoma’s own Queen of Rockabilly will be smack in the middle of the festivities.
The Cleveland, Ohio, institution is opening to the public Friday the vast new showcase “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power,” billed as “the world’s first museum exhibit dedicated to the most influential female artists.” The rock hall is promising a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the vital roles women have played throughout the history of rock ‘n’ roll, from the genre’s inception to today.
Longtime Oklahoma City resident and 2009 rock hall inductee Wanda Jackson, 73, not only will be featured in the exhibit, she also will be part of the star-studded lineup Saturday at the museum’s annual “It’s Only Rock and Roll Spring Benefit Concert.” which will tie into “Women Who Rock” theme.
“I supposed that after they inducted me, they decided they’d better do this,” quipped Jackson, who is widely regarded as the first woman to record rock ‘n’ roll music. “It’s exciting certainly. … I know if they do it, it’ll be done right.”
Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson?s 1958 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar will be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's new exhibit "Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power," which opens Friday.
The interactive exhibition will spotlight more than 70 female artists and span two full floors of the museum. Along with video and listening stations, it will feature an array of artifacts, from a Mahalia Jackson concert poster and The Runaways’ handwritten lyrics to “Cherry Bomb” to Madonna’s golden “Blond Ambition Tour” bustier and Lady Gaga’s alien-esque 2010 Grammys performance outfit. It also will include Jackson’s 1958 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar.
“It was my first real guitar, with the blood, sweat and tears in it,” she said. “I had my named painted on it on out at (Oklahoma City’s) WKY Television … and then I stuck rhinestones on there.”
The exhibit will move through the various eras of rock ‘n’ roll history, from early 20th-century foremothers like blueswoman Bessie Smith, country artist Mother Maybelle Carter and jazz crooner Billie Holiday to modern-day stars like Meg White, Taylor Swift and Alicia Keys. Along the way, it will honor “Women Who Rock” as divergent as the Ronettes, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Heart, Chrissie Hynde, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, to name a few.
In the portion of the exhibit titled “Get Outta that Kitchen, Rattle Those Pots and Pans: Rock and Roll Emerges,” Jackson and the late R&B singer Ruth Brown will be the predominant voices. Although both recorded frequently in the 1950s, Jackson recalled they only worked together once, at a 1995 show in New York. Brown died in 2006.
The Maud native also will lend her distinctive growling voice to Saturday’s benefit concert, which will feature fellow rock hall members Mavis Staples and Darlene Love along with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer Cyndi Lauper.
“I haven’t seen them perform, so I’ll get to see a good show myself,” she said.
She is particularly looking forward to hearing newly inducted songstress Love, who at 72 is “still perking, too.”
“It’s wonderful to be honored by your peers,” Jackson said. “But we were the ones that broke down the doors for all of these girls who nowadays, they still don’t think they have it very easy, but so much easier than we have it. And yet we just hung in there and made it happen for ourselves. For the younger ones now to recognize that we did that for them, that’s what’s nice.”
Along those lines, British singer-songwriter Adele, 22, has invited Jackson to open for her at a series of
British singer-songwriter Adele has invited Wanda Jackson to open for her on tour this summer. (AP file)
sold-out shows this summer. The two performers haven’t met in person yet, but Jackson heard that Adele recently discovered her music when the blue-eyed soul singer’s tour bus driver was playing a CD that included the Oklahoman’s 1960 signature hit “Let’s Have a Party.”
“She recently had the cover of Rolling Stone, and I read that article. I was astounded with her language, of course, but maybe I can help her there, too,” said the stalwart Christian with a laugh. “But (she has) a fabulous voice and writes all the songs and she’s a musician, too.”
Although her music career spans six decades, Jackson has been experiencing a resurgence since January, when she released her new album “The Party Ain’t Over,” produced by rocker Jack White of The White Stripes. Along with performing on “Conan” and “The Late Show With David Letterman,” she has since been booked on prestigious music festivals like Stagecoach, Bonnaroo and Newport Folk Festival.
“This new album of mine and working with Jack White has given me like a whole new career that’s just been put in my lap for me,” she said.
-BAM
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