Songcraft: Spotlight On Songwriters

Pioneering female artist and celebrated Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, landed more than 30 songs on the Billboard charts between 1954 and 1974. These include the self-penned singles "Right or Wrong" and "In the Middle of a Heartache," two Top 10 hits which proved to be Jackson’s most successful records as a solo artist. Beginning her career as a pure country singer, Wanda’s debut single was a duet with Billy Gray called “You Can’t Have My Love.” Released on Decca Records, the song hit #8 on the country chart in 1954. She later switched to the Capitol label where she was encouraged by then-boyfriend and tour mate Elvis Presley to embrace rockabilly. Facing a lack of female-oriented material in the genre, Wanda penned her own songs, including the rockabilly standards "Mean Mean Man," "Rock Your Baby," "Cool Love" and "Baby Loves Him," each of which was released as a single on Capitol Records and later appeared on her classic Rockin' with Wanda LP. Additionally, she penned Top 10 hits for other artists, in