by JOHNSON CUMMINS

When rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson screamed out "Let's Have a Party" in 1956, she blazed a new trail for women of the time, sick of gingham skirts and cooing over their man. Jackson's delivery in that song is still one of the single greatest vocal performances in rock 'n' roll history. Jackson will be celebrating over 50 years as a recording artist in April and is enjoying more attention now than she ever has in her immense career. Associated Press voted her recent record Heart Trouble among the top 10 releases of 2003 and she's up for induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (the results will be announced in November). The Mirror talked to this rockabilly legend over the phone from her home in Oklahoma City.

Mirror: "Let's Have a Party" seems to translate so well from the '50s to now because you packed so much energy into your vocal performance.

Wanda Jackson: Well, a great song is a great song. People don't change that much over the years, with their troubles and emotions, and when you think of rock 'n' roll in the '50s, I always think about two songs that really captured it - "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Let's Have a Party."

M: Why do you think there's such a rockabilly revival lately?

WJ: I really started noticing it happening in Scandinavia when I started to go over there in '85, and then it started to catch up in North America in '95. A lot of my fans are my age or older, but the majority are young. I think a lot of young people are attracted to this music because the '50s was America's last innocent age. After Vietnam, it just changed so drastically and it was just a different world. I really think the '50s were just the best times.

The King and she

M: You dated and toured with Elvis when you started out - he was the one credited as starting you off in rock 'n' roll.

WJ: I did various tours, including my first, with him. I was travelling with my father in those days and Elvis was a real gentleman to both my father and myself. You have to remember that in the '50s, a girl's reputation was very important. We liked each other quite a bit but his home was in Memphis and mine was in Oklahoma City, so we only saw each other on tour. But he would call me every day. He gave me his ring, which I wore.

M: You had a kind of pistol-packin'-mama reputation, due to your hollering singing style, your drape skirts, high heels and powerful lyrics sung from a definite woman's point of view.

WJ: I think that when people saw me in person, they knew I wasn't really that wild. I have always been hell-bent on being a lady and I have always demanded respect. I always listened to people like Little Richard and Elvis and they had that kind of vocal style and that kind of rock 'n' roll sound, but back in the mid-'50s, no one was writing songs like that for girls. A woman singing songs like that was so out of step at the time. People just weren't used to women singing rock 'n' roll back then. I didn't know at the time I was such a trailblazer, but I can kind of see it now. I was just a teenager living day by day.

Devil may care

M: You became a Christian in 1971. Were you ever at odds with playing what was once called the devil's music?

WJ: Rockabilly has never been the devil's music. I remember the days when they were breaking Elvis's records at radio stations and it really broke his heart because he was brought up in a religious home and he didn't have any of those meanings in his songs. My parents never had a problem with it. They just thought it was innocent teenage music that talked about dancing and dating and other teenager things.

M: It seems that in 2004, with the realities of poverty, terrorism, war, drugs and disease, we need songs like "Let's Have a Party" to transport us to innocent times more than ever.

WJ: Oh my, I've never thought of it that way but that gave me chill bumps when you said that. Hmmmm... I still got 'em!

With the Lustre King, Bloodshot Bill and DJs John and Jenny in the basement of l'Église Immaculée-Conception (1855 Rachel E.) on Saturday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m., $20

>> Music Listings