Song:Right or Wrong
Album:Let's Have A Party: The Very Best of Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson is a country music legend known as The Queen of Rockabilly. She had three top ten country hits including Right or Wrong in 1961. Her music career was revived in the 80s and she was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. She was born Oct. 20, 1937 in Maud, OK. Her father was a musician and he moved the family to Bakersfield, CA in the 40s. He bought Wanda a guitar and took her to see Spade Cooley and Bob Wills. Her family moved to Oklahoma City in 1948. Wanda won a 1956 talent contest which got her a local radio show. She was still in high school when Hank Thompson heard her on the radio and invited her to perform with his band. A single Wanda recorded with Thompson's musical director Billy Gray You Can't Have My Love was a top ten country hit. But Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson refused to sign her. He told her "Girls don't sell records". She signed with Decca instead but after touring with Elvis Presley, Capitol signed Wanda in 1956. She briefly dated Elvis. Wanda was a regular on the ABC TV show Ozark Jubilee. Her 1961 single Right or Wrong was a top ten country hit. It reached #9 on the Country Singles chart. It was followed by In The Middle of a Heartache which reached #6. Unlike Wanda's usual Rockabilly, these were ballads. After that success, Wanda went in a more mainstream country direction and stayed there in the 60s. You can get all of her hits on this Varese budget comp. Ronnie Dove's 1964 cover of Right or Wrong was a top 20 pop hit. Wanda's singles charted until she became a born again Christian in 1971. Capitol dropped her and Wanda recorded gospel albums for Word's Myrrh label in the 70s. In the 80s Wanda was invited to record Rockabilly in Europe and that led to a career revival. Female singers like Cyndi Lauper and Rosanne Cash acknowledged Wanda as an influence. She continued to tour and record. Wanda's husband and manager Wendell Goodman died in 2017. After a 2018 stroke, Wanda announced her retirement Mar. 2020. However, she says she is working on a final album produced by Joan Jett. Wanda Jackson was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Here's Wanda Jackson performing Right or Wrong at the eTown Hall in Boulder, CO Feb. 2014.
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