Wanda Jackson on advice from Jack White and Elvis, and being a hard-headed woman
In Set List, we talk to veteran musicians about some of their most famous songs, learning about their lives and careers, and maybe hearing a good backstage anecdote or two in the process.
The artist: For almost 60 years now, Wanda Jackson has been making and recording music. Known to most of her fans as The Queen Of Rockabilly, Jackson has had a more varied career recently. A born-again Christian who experienced a musical resurgence through a collaboration with Jack White, she’s spent the past few years recording and releasing everything from Amy Winehouse covers to more traditional country tracks. Her latest record, Unfinished Business, was produced by country singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle and is out now on Sugar Hill Records.
“Am I Even A Memory” (from 2012’s Unfinished Business)
Wanda Jackson: I love the song. I think the melody is beautiful, and the thought is so sad, you know? “Don’t you even remember me?” [Laughs.] But I met the songwriter right before I recorded the song, and I told him I thought it was so beautiful. And he said, “Well, I was hoping you’d do it, because 17 years ago, I wrote that song just for you.” And I thought, “All these years later”—and I’m sure the song has circulated around a little bit—“and I wind up recording it on a new album.” That’s kind of amazing.
The A.V. Club: Did you like working with Justin Townes Earle?
WJ: I just found him very easy to work with. He and I have country roots, and each song, we’d set a tempo—he would, or the band—and we’d get the tempo at the pace we wanted, and we thought pretty much alike. But these days, you can record your part, and the band does theirs. But still, when the record comes out, they add voices, they add maybe an organ in the background or something like that. So you never know exactly what’s on your record until it comes out. I enjoyed working with him in the studio, and I was in there with the band, so it wasn’t like it was already recorded and I had to sing it their way. I got to have some input that way. It’s the old-fashioned way of doing it, but all of us seemed to like it better anyway.
AVC: How did you end up working with Justin? Did your label come to you with him in mind, or did you meet him independently?
WJ: Well, my publicist and assistant—he’s really my husband’s assistant—he’s really a get-up-and-go, make-things-happen type of guy, and he came to us wanting to do our website. He said, “You have a nice website, but I can make a great one for you.” [Laughs.] And he did that for free for, I don’t know, a year or two. So he’s that kind of guy who’s just a mover and a shaker. He’s the one who got Jack [White] lined up for me to record for him, too. And he just said, “We gotta get another album out.” And I said, “Well, I don’t see any big hurry. Most of the artists these days, they put out one every three years.” He said, “No, we want to get another one out so we can ride on the momentum of the last one.” “Well, okay,” I said, kind of dragging my feet. It just happened to hit me at a time when I wasn’t feeling well. I had impacted sinuses and lung congestion. Still traveling and trying to work. I had laryngitis. [Laughs.] And so I was not in much of a mood to do an album, but I got a lot better before I went into the studio.
AVC: So he said, “You should work with Justin”?
WJ: Something like that. He said, “What do you think about letting Justin Townes Earle produce this album?” I said, “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him.” I didn’t really know who he was. Of course, I didn’t know who Jack White was either, at the beginning. I’m kind of out of the loop these days. I work by myself so much, and I don’t work with other artists, so I don’t know anything about them. But I said, “Well, sure, fine. Tell me something about him.” And then he did.