Ripping Up the Rug

"Heart Trouble" is a total blast from beginning to end. Wanda Jackson's performances here burst with energy and passion. My two favorite tracks are her pairings with the Cramps. "Riot in Cellblock #9" cooks like few new recordings. Smokey Hormel's electric lead sears the speakers as Wanda teases the last ounce of sass from the lyric. On "Funnel of Love," Wanda takes Charlie McCoy's great classic & milks the passion as Poison Ivy's guitar splatters mud every which-a-way. This music contains the spirit of original rock with sass & sex. There are no weak tracks. The opener title track cooks, "The way you treat me baby, cheat & tell me lies, guess I shouldn't care at all, but still I sympathize cause you got heart trouble coming on," Wanda sings with a sly vindictive swagger. Elvis Costello, sounding soulful, guests on the slower "Crying Time" as these two great artists blend delightfully. "Mean Mean Man" burns and throbs. "Lonely for You" has pounding drums and thudding bass above which Wanda cries & moans. My biggest complaint is about the photographer who threw a spotlight in Wanda's face making the cover seem like a Halloween shot or Joan Crawford being ready for her close-up. The liner notes and retrospective photo display are excellent. This is a tremendous disc. Bravo!

Waht a treat...

It it truly great when your favorite singer from the 50's, is still recording, and is not past his or her primr. As a matter a fact wanda sounds exactly the same now as she did in 1957! She has the same energy and rowdiness she always had. Wanda sounds as youthful and creative as ever. Here she sinsg a few new rockabilly classics, a Sleepy LaBeef standard, and a couple of her old hits like "Let's Have A Party." Here she is joined by a plethora of guest rock stars who don't nessicarily add anything, but at least they don't take away anything. Wanda never sounded so appealing as she does on songs like Heart Trouble and Funnell Of Love.

Great comeback cd, and wanda, I am waiting for your next 2005 release, let's have a newer version of Fujiyama Mama and Fever(the Peggy Lee version). And here's an idea instead of rock stars why not have Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Biys back you up, or some all star blues guest artists like BB King, Kid Ramos, and Clarence Gatemouth. Just an idea... in any case buy this cd NOW

Wanda is back

Be still, my heart...Wanda is back. After a recording hiatus of nearly 20 years, the Queen of Rockabilly returns with a collection of recordings that affirms her place in the pantheon of American music.

The album begins with the title track, an uptempo country number that showcases the often overlooked melodic qualities of Wanda's voice. This toe-tapper sets the tone for a more subdued collection than Wanda's blistering early rockabilly recordings, and introduces the cast of side performers who help to make each song an instrumental masterpiece. Bassist Larry Taylor, drummer Stephen Hodges, and backing vocalist Siedah Garrett lay a solid foundation on the whole collection, setting the stage for the guitar work of Dave Alvin, James Intveld and Smokey Hormel, who also contributes fine pluckin' on the banjo and mandolin.

Psychobilly pioneers The Cramps add their twist to Wanda's classic "Funnel of Love", styling this signature tune without distorting or parodying. The rasp is gone from Wanda's voice here, but the eeriness of Poison Ivy's guitar gives the song all the texture it had the first time around. Lee Rocker and Rosie Flores crank up the honky-tonk of "Woman Walk Out the Door", delivered by Wanda as no other can, walking the line between smitten and empowered with unmatched vocal authority.

As was the case in the 1950's, Wanda delivers her own songs and those written by others in a distinctive and magnificent style. "Mean Mean Man" and Carl Perkins' "Rockabilly Fever" are just as vital and infectious as they were 50 years ago, sung with the conviction that carries a sentence in Cellblock #9. This collection is the perfect complement to Wanda's early work, and to the contemporary works of her many collaborators who trace their lineage to the early days of country and western. That's right, they called it rockabilly long before they called it rock and roll....
- Dante Murphy
www.PortHalcyon.com