When the Jackson/Flores revue hit New York’s Bottom Line in early 1996, Laura Cantrell, the renowned DJ of WFMU’s “Radio Thrift Shop” and an acclaimed recording artist, was in the packed room. “Wanda came out in this white pantsuit with fringe on it and she sang great,” Cantrell recalls. “I hung on every word, every note. I was amazed that this many years later she looked and sounded so fantastic.”
Six years later, Cantrell was on the road with another Jackson enthusiast. “When we were on tour with Elvis Costello last year, we went to Nashville, where he did some shopping at Ernest Tubb’s record shop,” Cantrell says. “I asked him what he bought, and he said, ‘Wanda Jackson records — I’m mad for her!'”
Costello and Flores are among Jackson’s duet partners on her fiery new disc Heart Attack. Flores also co-wrote two songs on the album, the righteous “Woman Walk Out That Door” and “What Gives You The Right (To Do Me Wrong)”. Veteran country songwriter Paul Kennerly contributed the title track and two others, one of which he co-wrote with Kelly Willis, who has frequently voiced her admiration for Jackson. Wanda says she’s especially fond of the gospel number, “Walk With Me”, written for her by James Intveld.
Though the Cramps overdubbed their guitar and vocal contributions to a spooky “Funnel Of Love” and a raucous “Riot In Cell Block #9” in the middle of the night, most of Heart Attack, produced by John Wooler, was done live to analog. “Hard Headed Woman” features her longtime West Coast touring band, the Cadillac Angels; Dave Alvin’s guitar is spotlighted on Carl Perkins’ “Rockabilly Fever” and other tracks, while former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker shines on “Woman Walk Out The Door”.
For the Buck Owens classic “Crying Time”, Costello also brought in Attractions drummer Pete Thomas. Jackson says she and Costello hit it off immediately, feeling as comfortable “as an old pair of shoes,” she says. “He played the guitar and we stood facing each other and sang. It made getting the phrasing a lot easier.” Costello, who just released the jazz-tinged North, says, “It was a real thrill to cut ‘Crying Time’ with Wanda. It was done live and spontaneously, just the way all her best records sound. She’s certainly got the spark.”
One of the artists contributing to the forthcoming Bloodshot tribute, Kristi Rose, describes that spark this way. “I think Wanda Jackson is a woman who has continued to do just what she wants to do. And you can hear that in her voice.”
Since 1996, Holly George-Warren has seen more than a dozen Wanda Jackson performances in six different states. She contributed liner notes to Capitol’s 2002 expanded reissues of Jackson’s first two albums.
