If the ’50s had been a more enlightened and progressive period in music history, Wanda Jackson’s name would be accorded the same reverence as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. But because the music industry adhered to the misguided notion that no one would accept a Rockabilly girl playing as hard, loud and fast as the boys — on minor hits like “Let’s Have a Party,” “Fujiyama Mama,” and “Mean, Mean Man,” which should have been bigger, and major Country hits like “Right or Wrong,” “In the Middle of a Heartache” and “The Box It Came In,” which should have cemented her iconic stature — Jackson doesn't enjoy the same vaunted position as her storied male contemporaries.
Of course, Jackson’s fans don’t give a flying fig about the misogynistic missteps of a bygone era. Their devotion has kept her touring over the past five decades. After a recent European jaunt, she’s out for a string of American dates backed by New York’s Lustre Kings, one of the best Rockabilly bands in the country.
She plays the Southgate House Friday with the Lustre Kings. Show starts at 9 p.m. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
