''Rockabilly Fever'' 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, ...

. It was released in 1984 via Tab Records for the Scandinavian market in Europe. It was then re-released to other markets, including Jackson's home country in 1986 and was re-titled ''Rock and Roll Away Your Blues''. The album was Jackson's thirtieth in her career and her first to contain

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 ...

recordings in several decades. One single was released from the record in 1985 and the album received positive reviews from critics.

Background

Early in her career, Wanda Jackson became one of the first women to record Rockabilly (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 ...

) and

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. She achieved commercial success in both fields with singles like "

Fujiyama Mama "Fujiyama Mama" is a song written by Jack Hammer. It was first recorded in 1955 by Annisteen Allen, and in 1957 by rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson, both for Capitol. It did not chart in the United States, but Jackson's recording became a No. 1 ...

", "

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 ...

", " Right or Wrong" and " The Box It Came In". She left her long-time record label in the 1970s to pursue gospel music and only occasionally performed secular concerts. In the 1980s, Rockabilly revived in Europe and Jackson's music from that era gained renewed interest from fans. In her autobiography, Jackson recalled receiving a phone call from Swedish businessman Harry Holmes in summer 1984. Holmes had started a record label and invited Jackson to record a rock album for him. With careful consideration Jackson and her husband agreed.

Recording and songs

In September 1984, Jackson traveled to Kumla, Sweden to record what would become ''Rockabilly Fever''. The project was produced by Swedish record producer Kenth Larsson at the Music Mill Recording Studio in Kumla alongside entirely Swedish session musicians. She described the session musicians in her 2017 book as "Swedish rockabilly fanatics". She also recalled a pleasant surprise to record not only Rockabilly music, but also gospel music. A total of 12 tracks comprised the original album, most of which were Rockabilly numbers. Jackson recorded mostly covers of previously successful Rockabilly songs by other performers. Included was her version of

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

' " Stupid Cupid",

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

's "

Sweet Nothin's Sweet Nothin's is a 1959 song by Brenda Lee written by Ronnie Self. It peaked at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 12 on the Hot R&B Sides chart, in 1960. The song (as Sweet Nuthin's) also charted on the UK Singles Chart in 1960, peaki ...

The Crickets The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, ...

's " Oh, Boy!" and "

Rave On "Rave On", also written "Rave On!", is a song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty in 1958. It was first recorded by West for Atlantic Records, which released his version in February 1958 (as Atlantic 45-1174). Buddy Holly recor ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

' " Breathless" and Conway Twitty's "

It's Only Make Believe "It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while both were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. The song was recorded on May 7 for MGM Records; produced by Jim Vienneau, it fe ...

". The latter tracks had actually been first recorded by Jackson for her 1982 album, but were re-recorded for ''Rockabilly Fever''. Also included were several new cuts, including "Rock and Roll Away Your Blues", "Meet Me in Stockholm", "Sad Love Songs" and the gospel track "Ain't It the Gospel".

Release and reception

''Rockabilly Fever'' was originally released in 1984 on Tab Records exclusively for the Scandinavian market. 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 ...

, containing six songs on either side of the record. The album was Jackson's thirtieth studio record in her career. In 1985, it was released under the same title in the United Kingdom but instead under the label Magnum Force Records. The release was also issued as a vinyl LP with an identical track listing. In 1986, it was re-released for the American market under the Varrick label with 11 tracks instead of 12 ("Meet Me in Stockholm" was omitted). It was also issued as a vinyl LP, but had a different album cover than the original. In later decades, ''Rockabilly Fever'' was reissued as to digital and streaming markets. The American version received a three-star rating from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

in later years. In addition, it received a positive response from writers Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann who called the album "Rockabilly fire" in their 2003 book. The original Scandinavian release spawned one single in 1985, which was "Meet Me in Stockholm". The song was backed on the B-side by the track "If I Could Take Sweden Home".

Track listing

''Rockabilly Fever''

''Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues''

Digital 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 ''Rockabilly Fever'' and ''Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues''. Musical personnel * Per-Olof Ahslund –

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

* Bjorn Alriksson – Harmonica * Stephan Berg –

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Östen Eriksson –

Double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

* Sven-Inge Neander – Bass * Wanda Jackson – Lead vocals * Per Erik Jonsson – Piano * Kenth Larsson – Steel guitar * Benny Lawin –

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

* Gunnar Norsten – Drums * Christer Olund – Accordion * Bert Östlund – Piano * Ann Persson – Acoustic guitar Technical personnel * Joann Bodenweber – Design * Mary Bufwack – Liner notes (1986 version) * Kenth Larsson – Producer * Thomas Ljungqvist – Photography

Release history

References

{{Wanda Jackson 1984 albums 1986 albums Wanda Jackson albums