Wanda Jackson records new disc with Justin Townes Earle
Thursday, July 12, 2012 – Wanda Jackson isn't slowing down. "Unfinished Business" will be released Oct. 9 on Sugar Hill Records.
This is Jackson's 31st studio album and marks the producing debut of Justin Townes Earle. Of working with Earle, Jackson said, "From day one I really liked Justin's idea to take me back to my roots and make a record of country, blues and rockabilly songs. The band was extra tight and great to work with during the whole process. The record just sounds terrific, and I'm hoping that my fans enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it."
Recorded in Nashville at House of David Studios in early 2012, the 10-song album features renditions of California Stars (an unfinished Woody Guthrie song with music later added by Wilco's Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy), Pushover (Billy Davis and Tony Clarke), It's All Over Now (Bobby Womack and Shirley Jean Womack) as well as a duet with Earle on Am I Even A Memory (Greg Garing).
Songs on the CD are:
1. I'm Tore Down
2. The Graveyard Shift
3. Am I Even a Memory (featuring Justin Townes Earle)
4. Pushover
5. It's All Over Now
6. Two Hands
7. Old Weakness
8. What Do You Do When You're Lonesome
9. Down Past the Bottom
10. California Stars
The new album follows Jackson's 2011 Jack White-produced "The Party Ain't Over," which received both widespread critical and commercial acclaim.
Jackson embarks on a series of performances this fall, including a special show at New York's Highline Ballroom on Oct. 12 with additional dates will be announced shortly.
The Queen of Rockabilly is credited with being the first woman to ever record a rock and roll song-Let's Have a Party in 1958. In 2009, Jackson was inducted into the
More news
CD reviews
Unfinished Business
During her heyday in the '50s, Wanda Jackson was frequently identified as "the sweet girl with the nasty voice." The rockabilly chanteuse more than lived up to the tag by maintaining a spotless image (even as she dated Elvis Presley) while peeling off raucous rumpshakers like Let's Have a Party and Fujiyama Mama.
Although casual listeners eventually thought Jackson had retired or died, true fans knew she had shifted her focus to European markets where she remained a big star »»» |
Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
Just like his famously troubled father, Justin Townes Earle has often generated as much press for his substance-fueled escapades as his musical prowess. Thankfully, that genetic predilection has been tempered with a similarly potent gift for song craft and creative evolution, two elements that have distinguished Earle's catalog to date, particularly his last album, the sacred-meets-secular traditional modernism of 2010's "Harlem River Blues."
With his fifth and latest, »»» |
The Party Ain't Over
Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wanda Jackson teams up with Jack White of White Stripes for a horn and guitar FX heavy set of neatly chosen cover songs. Although frequently invigorating, at times, the 73-year-old Jackson sounds dangerously close to being blown off her own album.
From the get-go, Jackson can be heard fighting - even triumphing over - the fat, brassy horn section guitar vibrato on Shakin' All Over and although the Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' version remains »»» |
Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: Size doesn't matter to Winslow-King –
Luke Winslow-King may have a fine new CD out ("The Coming Tide") on a long respected indie country/roots label (Bloodshot), but that didn't mean the throngs were going to fill the club. In fact, in a second night of shows in the Boston area, Winslow-King drew a handful of people. Well, make that literally two handfuls of people.
As in 10 people.... »»»
Concert Review: McGraw has plenty of fight left –
Despite the fact that Tim McGraw is five years sober, fit as a triathlete and touring behind a number one album, he is still in an unenviable position. As he approaches 50, McGraw has to stay a step ahead of the current crop of young country hunks with TV shows, cross format radio airplay and wider appeal. But as he proved at First Niagara's... »»»
|
|
Country News Digest
 CST
 CST
Elsewhere in the news
Currently at the CST blogs
Some folks listening to Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's new duet album, "Cheaters Game," may well exclaim, 'Well, it's about time!' after finally hearing these two talented country singer/songwriters recording music as a pair for the first time. Willis has built quite a following for her independently-minded feminine perspective, while Robison has written hits for the Dixie Chicks ( Travelin' Soldier) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ( Angry All the Time), as well as penning the ultimate Willie Nelson tribute, What Would Willie Do? and recording it as a solo act.
... »»»
Last fall, singer/songwriter Steve Forbert dropped the 14th studio album of his 35-year career, the impeccable "Over With You." Critics recognized the album as a return to the form Forbert displayed on his earliest works - 1978's stripped back and personal "Alive on Arrival" and 1979's more lushly produced and commercially accessible "Jackrabbit Slim" - but the fact is that Forbert has never strayed far from their basic folk/rock tenets.... »»»
Over the course of the past 20 years or so, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller have both experienced a certain rise in their respective rootsy country profiles. Miller has become one of Nashville's hottest speed dial numbers, as an artist, a guitarist-for-hire (a role he has performed for Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, among others) and an intuitive producer (he's currently working with Executive Music Producer T Bone Burnett to provide the soundtrack for ABC's "Nashville" television series).... »»»
Wilderness
"Wilderness" is another twisted menagerie of The Handsome Family songs. Once again, husband Brett Sparks sings their songs, sometimes in a bellowing gravedigger voice, after adding music to wife Rennie's lyrics. This time out, each and every tune is named after an animal, insect or other such nature creature. However, Rennie studies animals the way Flannery O'Connor wrote about humans, which is with the weirdness and character flaws in primary focus. »»» |
Love Is Everything
George Strait may have reached his seventh decade, but he shows zero signs of slowing down. In fact, Strait seems to be getting even more consistent as he gets older. Strait doesn't stray all that far from the formula that has resulted in superstar status. First and foremost, that means his sonorous voice is mixed far above the music, a very good thing. »»» |
Dark Dirty Mile
Jason Boland and the Stragglers have released a new country album that sounds old. This isn't to imply that the sound is aged in a negative way; they have a classic country maturity that isn't heard too much these days with the exception of Jamey Johnson. For those not familiar with the music of Boland, the first track is a great way to decide whether this is your kind of country music. The title track is a mid tempo country song reminiscent of the late Waylon Jennings. »»» |
Golden
Lady Antebellum probably needed a change in direction after "Own the Night" dropped in 2011. The material was overly geared towards taking dead aim at the radio jugular. That isn't the case this time out on the trio's fifth release because most of the songs veer away from being obviously radio fodder (except for the current single Downtown with its soulful beginning and strong vocals from Hillary Scott), but that also doesn't man that this was the right change. »»» |
|
