Every now and then I come upon an artist whom I believe deserved to achieve a greater degree of success than their recordings actually did. Wanda Jackson is one such artist.
Wanda was born an only child to a pair of battlers in Oklahoma, in October of 1937. In search of a better life the family moved to Los Angeles, in 1942, where Wanda learned to play the the guitar, as well as the piano. By 1949 the trio had returned to Oklahoma, where Wanda came to the attention of the legendary country vocalist, Hank Thompson.
By 1954 Wanda had been signed to a recording contract and in the following year, became a full-time performer. She toured the South with Elvis Presley, before he burst on to both the national and international stages. Elvis was one of the people who encouraged her to try her hand at recording rock and roll, nevertheless, the only real success she had was to be in Japan, where “Fujiyama Mama” became a major hit, in 1958.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGuPqPte52s
“Let’s Have A Party” — originally recorded by Elvis as “Party” and sung in his film, ‘Loving You’, in 1957 — revived her career, in 1960, when she had all but despaired of her future. Nonetheless, Wanda was to return to her roots, as a country artist, with such self-penned hits as “In The Middle Of A Heartache” and “Right Or Wrong”, in 1961.
The names of other recordings by Wanda Jackson are listed in the suggested playlists.