Wanda Jackson and Elvis Presley

Wanda Jackson’s recommendation: “Early on in my career I saw how Elvis commanded an audience and kept them in the palm of his hand the entire show. It was quite the impact on me as a young singer in the 1950s. He is the one who also encouraged me to sing rock n roll.”

New to Elvis? Wanda suggests you start here: Elvis Is Back — One of my favorite Elvis albums. I recently cut a song from it called Like a Baby with Jack White for my new album.

About our guest author, Wanda Jackson: Where do you even begin to describe the greatness that is Wanda Jackson? You can talk about her well earned titles of “Queen of Rockabilly” or “First Lady of Rock,” but leave it to Bob Dylan to come up with the description that is perhaps the most fitting: “An Atomic Bomb in Lipstick.” Who else but the trailblazing Wanda could have toured with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis and, as her site bio describes it, “was the first woman to perform unadulterated rock and roll?” Wanda signed with Capitol records in 1956 and then blasted up the charts with a top 40 hit, Let’s Have a Party. Since then, she’s been nominated twice for Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. But the story doesn’t end there. Jack White has produced her latest album, The Party Ain’t Over which features White himself, Karen Elson and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel. Wanda Jackson is currently on tour and, as Bruce Springsteen mentions in the clip below, has no problem covering Elvis in the show and giving The King a run for his money.