In the mid-'50s, country music was under siege from a new competitor called rock 'n' roll. Teenagers who could have been counted on to listen to country records just five years earlier were now in the thrall of the new style.

And country music was on the ropes. Sales were down, concert bookings had fallen through the floor, and some of the top names in the business, including Ernest Tubb, were seriously contemplating retirement.

While older performers decided they'd rather fight than switch, younger artists such as George Jones and Wynn Stewart decided to hedge their bets and cut rock 'n' roll sides, sometimes under pseudonyms.

Others, however, cannily played both ends against the middle. Elvis Presley's five remarkable Sun singles, for instance, all followed a similar blueprint: A rocker on the a-side, and something for the country audience on the b-side. And his infamous Opry appearance aside, it was an approach which bore fruit, with some of Presley's greatest support in the late '50s coming from country radio.

One of the most remarkable performers to follow in Presley's wake was Wanda Jackson, an Oklahoman whose records never approached Presley's in terms of sales, but have proven incredibly influential since their release.

Jackson looked and sounded like no one else in rock 'n' roll or country. Uncommonly photogenic, she was a photographer's dream; easily cast in Capitol publicity photos as either the classic girl-next-door or as a Lana Turner-esque glamour queen, depending on the need.

It was the voice that got one's attention, though; a sexy, speaker-shredding growl on "Let's Have a Party," or the mischievousness heard on "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad."

Trace the origins of female rock 'n' roll singers back from Courtney Love to Joan Jett to Janis Joplin, and at the root of them all, you'll find Wanda Jackson.

As part of a series also including the reissue of the first two Gene Vincent albums, Jackson's first two albums - 1958's "Wanda Jackson" and 1960's "Rockin' With Wanda!" - have recently been re-released (with a half-dozen bonus tracks apiece) by Capitol Records, for whom she recorded between 1956 and 1972. This is the first time any of her original Capitol albums have been available domestically in decades.

"I'm very excited about it," says Jackson in a telephone interview from her home in Oklahoma City. "I can't believe all the product out there on me that's available. For so long now, I just had to either produce my own or just sell them at my concerts. Which I'll continue to do, but it's nice to have some on the shelf."

Born in 1937 in Maud, Okla., Wanda Lavonne Jackson began singing in church as a child and cites Charline Arthur as a major influence on her as a young singer.

"She was my hero," says Jackson. "In fact, I used one of her songs ('Heartbreak Ahead') for my demonstration record that Hank Thompson sent to Decca. I worked with her at the Big 'D' Jamboree. I thought she was such a cute, feisty thing, and I loved her singing. She and Rose Maddox were about the only ones I had to pattern myself after."

Jackson's father, a barber, had been a country musician himself before starting his family. As a result, he and his wife regularly encouraged their daughter when she began showing signs of musical aptitude as a child. After winning a high school talent show at the age of 15, Jackson was given a 15-minute radio show on Oklahoma City's KLPR where she came to the attention of Hank Thompson, then one of the top country artists in the nation.

Thompson was impressed enough by Jackson's talent to offer her a weekend slot with his band. Thompson also tried to convince his label, Capitol Records, to sign her, though the label declined due to Jackson's young age.

Signing with Decca Records in 1954, the teenaged Jackson cut a string of country records on which she was sometimes backed by Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys, including "You Can't Have My Love," a top 10 duet with Thompson sideman Billy Gray.

Following her graduation from high school in 1955, Jackson was free to spend more time performing, playing regularly on Missouri's Ozark Jubilee and touring with a young singer from Memphis named Elvis Presley.

"To me, he was the first one who gave (rock 'n' roll) national recognition," says Jackson. "When Elvis came along, that was the catalyst that made it take off. I was working with Elvis in '55, '56 and early '57, so I was seeing what was happening. But I thought, 'Well, it's just because he's a good-looking guy.'"

"We became really good friends, and we dated what we could on the road in those days. He took me to his home, and he'd play records for me. He kept saying, 'You need to be doing this new music.' I said, 'I really like it when you sing it, but I don't think I can do it because I'm a country singer.' He said, 'No, I know you can do it. You've got a voice, and you've got enthusiasm. You can do it.'"

"And so when I signed with Capitol about '56 I decided, 'Well, I'll try what Elvis said. 'So I tried it, and I loved singing it, but it just took a while for me to get a hit.'"

Indeed. Wanda Jackson recorded a string of now-classic rock 'n' roll records for Capitol (who finally signed her in 1956) during the latter half of the '50s - "Rock Your Baby," "Honey Bop," "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," "Mean Mean Man," as well as occasional covers of numbers popularized by other artists like "Money Honey" and "Long Tall Sally."

Interestingly, Jackson's early Capitol recordings included performances by a couple of musicians who would enjoy success in their own right later on. Buck Owens played rhythm ' guitar on a number of Jackson's sessions, a favor which Jackson later returned by writing a top 10 hit for Owens - 1962's "Kickin' Our Hearts Around."

Also heard on "Let's Have a Party" and other early cuts was Big Al Downing, an African-American piano player who cut one of the very few rockabilly records to be recorded by a non-caucasian, 1958's "Down on the Farm." In the late '70s and early '80s, Downing scored several hit country singles of his own and today lives in central Massachusetts.

Jackson says that audiences in the '50s sometimes had difficulty accepting Downing's presence on the bandstand.

"It was very hard on Al," says Jackson. "He would have to be snuck into most of the clubs. He couldn't get out and mix. He wasn't allowed to use the restrooms. He says in the documentary (2002's "Welcome to the Club," which features interviews with both Jackson and Downing) that it was hard on him, but because he loved the music, he put up with it."

"What began to happen was that the band would take a break, and Al would stay up there and sit by the piano. Then I noticed that people would start migrating up to him, 10 or 12 people talking to him. So, it made it worthwhile for him."

Surprisingly, the kind of national success enjoyed by the likes of Presley, Bill Haley and her labelmate Gene Vincent eluded Jackson until 1960 when "Let's Have a Party" - released two years earlier - entered the top 40. Ironically, by this time Jackson had given up recording rock 'n' roll and had moved back to recording straight country material.

"(Rock 'n' roll) wasn't happening for me. In person, I would do these songs, and people loved them. But the DJs weren't playing them. And I had to do something to stay on the charts or at least stay on the air."

Jackson's return to rock 'n' roll following the unexpected success of "Let's Have a Party" was relatively short-lived. Although "Fujiyama Mama" was also a major hit in Japan the following year, Jackson decided to stick with country music for the remainder of her time with Capitol, racking up a total of 18 top 40 hits on the country charts between 1954 and 1972.

After Jackson and her husband/manager became born-again Christians in 1971, she began recording a string of gospel albums for Christian labels Myrrh and Word, though her rediscovery by European rockabilly fans in the early '80s made her a favorite on the international rockabilly circuit for nearly two decades.

Still, Jackson's career in America remained focused on gospel music until she appeared (along with Janis Martin) on Rosie Flores' 1995 album "Rockabilly Filly." What began as a handful of American dates with Flores turned into a 5-week tour; Jackson's first U.S. appearances as a rock 'n' roller in more than 30 years.

"I told Rosie I'd help her any way I could, and all these people kept calling her. So she kept calling me: 'Hey, they want us to play here...' Finally it just got out of her control. She had to hire an agent to handle it."

Jackson, a born-again Christian for nearly a quarter-century by this time, hadn't performed in bars and nightclubs in decades.

"In Europe, I was playing concerts, and they're just nicer places. All of these venues were clubs, so I had to make a decision. Wendell (Jackson's husband) and I prayed about it. I was so excited about what was happening and decided to try it, and I've been having the time of my life ever since."

Perhaps the best news for fans is that Jackson recently signed a new record contract with CMH Records. Although the label is better known for bluegrass recordings, Jackson says that the label has given her carte blanche to record whatever she want with the album out sometime during the spring.

"Their real forte is bluegrass. And when they first contacted me that's what they wanted me to do, and I got excited about that because I love bluegrass. Then they changed their minds, so now it'd be down to a showcase. They really don't care (what I do). I can do original things, I can cover my old stuff, I can do things I've always wanted to record but never had a chance. And once you open up an area like that it takes a while to narrow down material. I'm just listening to songs and trying them out at this point. I still want rockabilly to be the main thing."

Over the past 7 years, Jackson has continued appearing at American rockabilly festivals and in nightclubs, happy to be traveling closer to home after nearly 20 years of flying overseas several times a year. Jackson says that her health is good, she genuinely enjoys meeting and talking with young people, and she looks forward to future performances, including a couple of Europeans trips per year.

"Now because of my stature in rockabilly music I've got the ear of all these young people," says Jackson. "I see God's hand in that."