Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions on Saturday
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct its 2009 honorees in a three-hour-plus ceremony, including performances. The ceremony will be Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, the home of the hall.
The 24th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will broadcast live on the music cable station FUSE starting at 8 p.m. Saturday. The channel will also be broadcasting several programs related to the inductees all weekend long, so you can tune in and discover why these people were chosen.
Oklahoma singer Wanda Jackson, known as the Queen of Rockabilly and First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, will be inducted in the early influences category.
The other 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are heavy metal band Metallica, rap pioneers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials. The inductees in the sidemen category are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley’s musicians, drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.
-3D
Oklahoma City Mayor declares today “Wanda Jackson Day”
Wanda Jackson speaks after the mayor proclaimed today “Wanda Jackson Day” in Oklahoma City during a city council meeting this morning. (Photo by Paul B. Southerland/The Oklahoman)
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett declared today “Wanda Jackson Day” in Oklahoma City this morning at the city council meeting.
The Oklahoman’s Assistant Entertainment Editor George Lang was at the meeting this morning when the big day was announced. Click here to read his story.
Jackson, a Maud native who lives in Oklahoma City, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Queen of Rockabilly and First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll is quite deserving of the long-overdue recognition.
It’s an obvious comment, but I think the title of Jackson’s biggest rock hit is the appropriate for today: “Let’s Have a Party.”
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on March 14
Today’s featured event:
Hear Oklahoma singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame newcomer Wanda Jackson at 7 p.m. today at Meacham Auditorium, 900 Asp Ave. on the University of Oklahoma campus, Norman.
Jackson, who is known as the “Queen of Rockabilly” and “First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” will be inducted into the rock hall next month.
For more information, call 307-9320.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Weekend Warmup
Debbie Reynolds
Here’s a list of events happening the weekend of March 13-15:
Arts
- Oklahoma City Philharmonic: Listen to the Oklahoma City Philharmonic perform “Your Musical Childhood,” narrated by Debbie Reynolds, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. Information: 842-5387 or www.okcphilharmonic.org.
- Money Talks, Art Walks: Take part in the art auction/raffle/race at Individual Artists of Oklahoma’s Money Talks, Art Walks from 7 to 10 tonight at IAO Gallery, 811 N Broadway. Information: 232-6060 or www.iaogallery.org.
The 2008 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Oklahoma City and Bricktown. (Photo by Steve Sisney/The Oklahoman Archives)
Family
- St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Get in an Irish mood when the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts marching at 1 p.m. Saturday at Walker and Sheridan and proceeds east on Sheridan. Information: www.okcstpatsparade.com.
Roger Creager
Music
- Roger Creager: Hear Texas country singer-songwriter Roger Creager at 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan. Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
- Wanda Jackson: Hear Oklahoma singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame newcomer Wanda Jackson at 7 p.m. Saturday at Meacham Auditorium, 900 Asp Ave. on the University of Oklahoma campus, Norman. Information: 307-9320.
- Champ Devere: Hear Oklahoma duo Champ Devere at 8:30 tonight at Thunderbird Casino, 15700 East State Highway 9, Norman. Information: www.champdevere.com.
OSU’s Terrel Harris shoots over OU’s Blake Griffin in OSU’s victory Thursday night during the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament at the Ford Center. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman)
Sports
- Big 12 Basketball Championships: The Big 12 men and women’s basketball championships continue today-Sunday at the Ford Center and Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. Information: www.big12sports.com.
Statewide
- Lady Antebellum, MIAMI: Hear country trio Lady Antebellum tonight at Buffalo Run Casino, 1000 Buffalo Run Blvd. Doors open at 7 p.m. Information: www.buffalorun.com.
- Jason Aldean, MIAMI: Hear rising country star Jason Aldean at 8 p.m. Saturday at Buffalo Run Casino. Information: www.buffalorun.com.
- Tornado Benefit Jam, ARDMORE: Hear Chris Cagle and others perform at a benefit for victims of the Feb. 10 tornado that struck Carter County. The show, which also includes a raffle, The Tornado Benefit Jam with Chris Cagle and Friends will start at 5 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Hall, 220 W Broadway. Information: (580) 226-3764.
- Hush Hush Commotion, My Solstice and Built for Speed, TULSA: Hear Hush Hush Commotion, My Solstice and Built for Speed tonight at Flytrap Music Hall, 514 E Second. Doors open at 7 p.m. Information: www.flytrapmusichall.com.
-BAM
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to devote exhibit to Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen (Associated Press photo)
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will unveil its latest exhibit, “From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen” April 1 during the 2009 rock hall induction ceremony week of events.
This will be the first major artifact-driven exhibit about Springsteen’s career. The exhibit will run through the spring of 2010, according to a news release.
“From Asbury Park to the Promised Land” will be a comprehensive look at Springsteen’s music, from such early bands as Child, the Castiles and Steel Mill through his work with the E Street Band and as a solo artist. The exhibit will include several of Springsteen’s guitars, including the Fender Esquire that is on the cover of “Born to Run.” It will also include the outfit he wore on the cover of “Born in the U.S.A.,” as well as numerous handwritten lyric manuscripts, posters and handbills from all phases of his career, and various awards and honors. In addition, the exhibit will include Springsteen’s 1960 Chevrolet Corvette, which he purchased after the success of “Born to Run.”
The exhibit will open just days before Springsteen plays Tulsa’s BOK Center on April 7.
Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
Don’t forget, this year’s rock hall inductees include Oklahoma rock pioneer Wanda Jackson, whom Springsteen has championed in the past.
Here are the 2009 rock hall inductees:
Performer inductees:
Jeff Beck
Little Anthony & the Imperials
Metallica
Run-D.M.C.
Bobby Womack
Early Influence Category Inductee:
Wanda Jackson
Sidemen Category Inductees:
Bill Black
DJ Fontana
Spooner Oldham
-BAM
Biography: Roy Clark
From Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Country Music Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Roy Clark
Renowned country musician Roy Clark was born April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, Va., the son of two amateur musicians. He learned to play banjo, guitar and mandolin at a young age and often performed with his father as a teen. By age 17, he had won two national banjo championships, which earned him his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
He became a regular on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time,” taking over the series when Dean left. In 1960, Clark moved to Las Vegas and became a fixture at the Golden Nugget. He later was the leader of Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson’s band.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Clark notched a series of Top 10 country singles, including “Tips of My Fingers,” “Yesterday When I Was Young,” “I Never Picked Cotton” and “If I Had It to Do All Over Again.”
He also branched out into acting, first with TV shows such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and later in the movies “Uphill All the Way,” “Freeway” and “Gordy.” He finished filming the movie “Palo Pinto Gold” with Mel Tillis and Trent Willmon last year.
In 1969, he got the defining role in his career when CBS tapped Clark and Buck Owens to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He was the show’s co-host until 1992, when it neared the end of its more than 20-year run.
Over the course of his career, Clark has won a Grammy and numerous other awards, gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and joined the Grand Ole Opry. He and Jackson were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Clark and his wife Barbara have made their home in Tulsa for many years.
Clark will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975″ category.
-BAM
Roy Clark honored to join Country Music Hall of Fame
From left, Charlie McCoy, Barbara Mandrell and Roy Clark are announced as the 2009 inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame at a press conference hosted by the Country Music Association Wednesday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by John Russell/CMA)
A version of this story ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Roy Clark ‘honored’ to join Country Hall of Fame
Longtime Tulsan’s career includes a Grammy and several Top 10 singles
Prominent country musician Roy Clark feels honored to be joining what he calls “a very exclusive club”: the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The Country Music Association announced Wednesday that the longtime Tulsa resident will be among the Nashville, Tenn.-based institution’s 2009 inductees, along with singer Barbara Mandrell and musician Charlie McCoy. They will be formally inducted in spring.
“You’re so busy working all the time that you never think about it,” Clark, 75, said. “I’m honored to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame because I know or knew 90 percent of the people who are in here; they’re my friends. And the rest of them I don’t know are my heroes.”
His six-decade career includes a Grammy award and several Top 10 country singles. But the talented banjo, guitar and mandolin player is probably best known for co-hosting the TV variety show “Hee Haw” with Buck Owens for more than 20 years.
“I grew up listening (to) and watching Roy Clark, and what an impact he made on a lot of people’s lives back in the day when he was on ‘Hee Haw” and he and Buck Owens were ‘picking and grinning,’” said Beth Seim, executive director of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. “What an awesome thing that he is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. I would say it’s long overdue.”
Clark and Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson were inducted into the state music hall of fame in 2000. Clark was the leader of Jackson’s band in the 1960s, playing on several of the singer’s recordings, including her rock hit “Let’s Have a Party.” Jackson , who lives in Oklahoma City, was selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
Theresa Kiger, principal of Roy Clark Elementary School in the Tulsa Union district, said teachers will share the exciting news today with the student body. Last year, Clark played a benefit concert that raised $25,000 for the school’s music department; several students performed as his opening act.
“That money has been spent on after-school programs, specifically on guitar lessons and drum lessons for children. It’s also allowed us to have an after-school program that focuses on arts and drama,” she said. “Mr. Clark has been a strong supporter … and we’re so excited for him.”
-BAM
Profile: Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson is considered the first female rock ‘n’ roll singer.
A version of this story ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Getting to know Wanda Jackson
Oklahoma City singer Wanda Jackson, whose nicknames include the Queen of Rockabilly and First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, first recorded as a country artist in 1954. She started singing rock ‘n’ roll in 1956. She tried the new style at the urging of up-and-coming singer Elvis Presley, with whom she toured and dated.
The Maud native later returned to recording country music and also performed as a gospel artist. A perennial rock star in Europe and Japan, her rock career revived in the U.S. in the 1990s with the resurgence of rockabilly.
She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards as the best performing female singer. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and German Country Music Hall of Fame. She also has been awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award.
In 2005, she received the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship Award. A documentary about her, “Wanda Jackson: The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice,” featuring Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Lemmy Kilmister, was released in 2007.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that she would be inducted April 4 in its early influence category.
Now 71, Jackson continues to perform worldwide.
Other inductees
The other 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are heavy metal band Metallica, rap pioneers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials. The inductees in the sidemen category are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley’s musicians, drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.
Still a pioneer
Jackson is apparently the first woman with Oklahoma ties to be inducted into the rock hall. Previous inductees with Oklahoma connections include Woody Guthrie, Charlie Christian, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys and The Ventures.
-BAM
Rock’s first lady, Wanda Jackson, finally accepted to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
A version of this story ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Queen of Rockabilly finally gets her due
The First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll is finally joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Oklahoma singer Wanda Jackson, often called the Queen of Rockabilly and the First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, will be inducted April 4 into the Cleveland institution, the rock hall announced Wednesday.
Artists are eligible for the rock hall 25 years after the release of their first recording; Jackson started singing rock ‘n’ roll in 1956 at the urging of her tourmate and sweetheart Elvis Presley. She is considered the first female rock ‘n’ roll singer.
“It’s a thrill to be in there with all my buddies that I worked with in ‘50s, Elvis and Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee (Lewis) and Buddy Holly,” Jackson said Wednesday. “I guess now it’s official that Elvis was right, that I could sing this music. And I still can and I still do.”
The rock hall’s first class was inducted in 1986, and many of Jackson’s fans have protested that she should have been included then. But the Oklahoma City resident said she is happy to get the honor at a time when her rock songs are more popular than ever.
“I think I probably appreciate it more now than I would have back then … because of this new interest, resurgence, popularity of the ’50s rock music. Rockabilly it was called, but that was the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll,” she said.
The Maud native, who is still touring at 71, will be inducted in the hall of fame’s early influence category.
“We’re excited about it. It’s long overdue, I think anyway, but I’m prejudiced,” said Wendell Goodman, Jackson’s manager and husband of 47 years.
For about 13 years, he and “10,000 friends around the world” have campaigned for Jackson’s inclusion in the rock hall. Rocker Elvis Costello wrote a stinging letter to the rock hall a few years ago, saying that Jackson’s absence “risks ridicule and having the appearance of being a little boy’s club.”
“A lot of people like that have come to bat for her,” Goodman said. “The problem is your younger rock ‘n’ roll fans don’t remember Wanda nor her contribution. … I think Rolling Stone put it: ‘Wanda was there at the creation of rock ‘n’ roll; for girls with guitars, Wanda was the creation of rock ‘n’ roll.’ And that’s quite a statement.”
Now that his wife has been accepted into the rock hall, Goodman said his next project probably will be to get the Country Music Hall of Fame to recognize her contributions to that musical genre.
“They don’t know what she’s done either,” he said. “Wanda set every standard there is for modern-day, beautiful, sexy-looking country female … singers. She was the first.”
Jackson said she will sing at the rock hall induction and plans to perform her best-known rock songs, such as “Let’s Have a Party,” “Fujiyama Mama” and “Right or Wrong.” She also will donate her original guitar and a dress to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
That dress isn’t the only one of Jackson’s mind these days.
“I’m thinking about what I’m gonna wear. Typical woman, right?” she said with a laugh.
-BAM
Wanda Jackson selected for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
Oklahoma singer Wanda Jackson has been chosen for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Maud native and Oklahoma City resident will be inducted in the early influence category, the rock hall announced today. The induction ceremony will take place April 4 in Cleveland.
Known as the Queen of Rockabilly and the First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Jackson, 71, first recorded as a country artist in 1954. She started singing rock ‘n’ roll in 1956. She tried the new style at the urging of up-and-coming singer Elvis Presley, with whom she toured and dated.
She later returned to recording country music and also performed as a gospel artist. A perennial rock star in Europe and Japan, her rock career revived in the U.S. in the 1990s with the resurgence of rockabilly. She continues to perform worldwide.
Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first recording. For years, many music luminaries, particularly Elvis Costello, and thousands of loyal fans have championed Jackson’s entrance into the rock hall.
Jackson is apparently the first woman with Oklahoma ties to be inducted into the rock hall. Previous inductees with Oklahoma connections include Woody Guthrie, Charlie Christian, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys and The Ventures.
The other 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are heavy metal band Metallica, rap pioneers Run-DMC, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials. The inductees in the sidemen category are session musician Spooner Oldham and two of Elvis Presley’s musicians, drummer D.J. Fontana and bassist Bill Black.
(I’ll have an interview with Wanda Jackson up on the blog Thursday.)
-BAM
