When I phoned Wanda Jackson earlier this week at her Oklahoma City home, she lacked the growl that has been her trademark as “the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” for more than five decades.
Instead, she was sniffly and congested between her sweet, maternal musings and coughing fits that rivaled those of . . . well, mine.
Ah, allergies. Jackson and I were a pathetic pair on the telephone together. Sometimes her coughing fits would erupt to the point that I’d encourage her to take her time — and a drink of water. Later on, she would have to pause to allow my allergies their own spotlight.
But high pollen counts be damned: Jackson still has that firecracker in her voice, that sunshine in her drawl.
“I feel like I got ran over by an airplane,” said Jackson, who has three Colorado dates this weekend, with an honest laugh. “But I’m truly having fun on this tour. I’ve always had fun. If you’re an entertainer, I think you should have fun, too. And I’ve always tried to do that. Sometimes it’s more work than other times, but right now I’m having the time of my life.”
And what a life it’s been for the 73-year-old legend. Jackson toured with (and briefly dated) Elvis Presley in the mid-’50s and became a star via 1960’s “Let’s Have a Party.” She blazed a trail for women everywhere by successfully pursuing careers in rock ‘n’ roll, country, rockabilly and, later, gospel.
While Jackson has largely been out of the public eye since the ’70s, her recent comeback has mirrored that of country legend Loretta Lynn’s in more ways than one. Never fully forgotten, Jackson is back in the spotlight with buzz and a bang — and a new record produced by rock’s minister of cool, Jack White.
“I have wonderful fans to work with and good venues and sold-out houses almost every night of this last tour,” Jackson said. “And there was a lot of publicity around the album, and Jack White has single-handedly taken it upon himself to promote me by doing this album with me.”
As he did with Lynn for her 2004 album “Van Lear Rose,” White (he of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather) produced Jackson’s latest LP, “The Party Ain’t Over” — a rollicking, horn-packed rock record that pays homage to Jackson’s heyday in the ’60s.
And because everybody loves a good comeback story, a media circus has surrounded Jackson’s latest release.
“I have all the fans I’ve always had — the ones who haven’t died off,” she said with a sly laugh. “But with the Internet and all these names (attached to the new record), I’m making fans as we speak. And every night people tell me, ‘I was just turned onto you last week’ or ‘two months ago’ and ‘since then, I’ve been buying all your stuff.’ “
Jackson’s current show plays with a modest band compared with her studio sessions. It’s her and four players plus a horn section, and when she plays the Boulder Theater tonight, the Belly Up in Aspen on Saturday and the Bluebird Theater in Denver on Sunday, she will be focusing on the new material, with special attention showed to her hits and stories.
And when Jackson starts telling stories, her fans listen. She might talk about the differences between today’s music industry and that of the ’50s. (“It was simpler then,” she said, “but not always for the best.”) She might talk about her adventures with White. (“At one point, Conan O’Brien said to me, ‘I believe you worked with Elvis back in the early days.’ And Jack said, ‘I think you did a little more than work with him.’ “)
Those are the stories most people want to hear — about the King to Jackson’s Queen. And Jackson is OK with discussing her departed friend.
“I’ve talked with others who worked with (Presley) and knew him personally, and it happens to them too — people wanting to know more about him — and it’s understandable,” Jackson said. “I never get put out. He was such a special person. I felt so privileged to have known him and worked with him, not to mention having dated him.”
But Jackson is also an icon, a national treasure, and she and her husband/manager are learning that touring is a whole different game when you’re 73. She’s working with a new booking agent, and she recently had to call a meeting to discuss her band’s too-strenuous tour schedule.
Now that things are evened out there, she’s working on her own sleep schedule.
“My husband is learning that in order for me to sing and growl and yodel, I have to get a lot of rest,” Jackson said. “He’ll let me sleep till noon, if I can, because that’s the only way I can keep my voice up because I work it pretty hard at night.
“But that’s always been my style.”
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394, rbaca@ , @RVRB on Twitter
WANDA JACKSON.
Legendary rock ‘n’ roll. Boulder Theater, Friday, $25.75-$28.25, ; Belly Up, Aspen, Saturday, $25-$28, ; Bluebird Theater, Denver, Sunday, $20.50-$25, . More info:
