''Let's Have a Party in Prague'' is a studio album by American recording artist

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

and European recording artist

Karel Zich Karel Zich (10 June 1949 – 13 July 2004) was a Czech singer, guitarist and composer whose voice was often compared with that of Elvis Presley. Life Karel Zich was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, into a musical family. His grandfather was Ota ...

. It was released on the

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. ...

label in 1988 and contained a total of 13 tracks. The album was a collection of

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

songs released exclusively for the European market. It was Jackson's first collaborative studio album and Zich's second. One single was spawned from the album in 1988.

Background and content

Wanda Jackson was among the first women to have commercial success in both

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

music and

(later known as

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

) music. Her singles included "

Let's Have a Party "Let's Have a Party" is a 1957 song written by Jessie Mae Robinson and recorded by Elvis Presley for the movie '' Loving You''. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom under the title "Party" and peaked at #2 in the UK Singles Chart. W ...

", "

In the Middle of a Heartache "In the Middle of a Heartache"' is a song written by Laurie Christenson, Pat Franzese, and Wanda Jackson. The song was recorded by Wanda Jackson, an American country, rock, and Christian artist. Background The song was recorded specifically on A ...

" and " The Box It Came In". She focused more on gospel music in the 1970s and recorded a series of albums for several spiritual labels. By the 1980s, her popularity had waned and she recalled feeling past her prime in her 2017 autobiography. However, in 1984, Jackson learned of Rockabilly's revival in Europe and recorded her first rock album in several decades the same year. Among the European rock projects she collaborated on was with Czech performer Karel Zich. Known as the "Iron Curtain Elvis", Zich's Rockabilly records found success in several eastern European countries. Jackson recalled in a 2005 interview first meeting Zich at a Czech airport and began recording an album shortly after. ''Let's Have a Party in Prague'' was recorded at the Supraphon studio in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, a capital of the Czech Republic. Sessions were held in May 1987 alongside producer Stanislav Chmelík who recorded 13 tracks with the pair. All of the songs were duets between both artists, including a re-working of Jackson's "Mean Mean Man", "Let's Have a Party" and "Right or Wrong". Zich contributed five self-composed songs to the project. Also included was a cover of Johnny Cash and

June Carter June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in t ...

's "

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Release

''Let's Have a Party in Prague'' was released in 1988 on the Supraphon label, exclusively for the Czech market in Europe. It was originally issued as a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

, with seven songs on "Side A" and six songs on "Side B". It was also distributed with the same identification number as a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

. In addition, the disc was issued as a

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

, with songs on both sides of the tape. The album was Jackson's thirty second studio recording and Zich's tenth. Jackson's and Zich's "My Party" was spawned as the album's only single, which also occurred in 1988. The single was issued as a seven-inch vinyl record, containing the duo's cover "Jackson" on the B-side. A year following the album's original release, it sold an estimated 220,000 copies in Czechoslovakia. In 1990, the album certified gold in sales in the nation.

Track listings

Vinyl and cassette versions

Compact disc version

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

of ''Let's Have a Party in Prague''. Musical and technical personnel * Vlastimila Brčáková – Translator * Michal Bukovič – Supervisor (editor) * Stanislav Chmelík – Arranger, producer * Wanda Jackson – Lead vocals * Milan Kincl – Design * Vít Popp – Recording Supervisor * Josef Spěváček – Sleeve Notes * Karel Zich – Lead vocals

Release history

References

{{Wanda Jackson 1988 albums Wanda Jackson albums