Rockabilly Fever

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rockabilly Fever
Studio album by
Wanda Jackson
Released1984 (1984)
RecordedSeptember 1984 (1984-09)
StudioMusic Mill Recording Studio
GenreRockabilly[1]
LabelTab
ProducerKenth Larsson
Wanda Jackson chronology
My Kind of Gospel
(1983) 		Rockabilly Fever
(1984) 		Teach Me to Love
(1984)
Rock and Roll Away Your Blues
Singles from Rockabilly Fever
  1. "Meet Me in Stockholm"
    Released: 1985

Rockabilly Fever is a studio album by American recording artist Wanda Jackson. 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 recordings in several decades. One single was released from the record in 1985 and the album received positive reviews from critics.

Background[edit]

Early in her career, Wanda Jackson became one of the first women to record Rockabilly (later known as rock and roll) and country music. She achieved commercial success in both fields with singles like "Fujiyama Mama", "Let's Have a Party", "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.[2] In the 1980s, Rockabilly revived in Europe and Jackson's music from that era gained renewed interest from fans.[3][4] 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.[4]

Recording and songs[edit]

In September 1984, Jackson traveled to Kumla, Sweden to record what would become Rockabilly Fever.[4] The project was produced by Swedish record producer Kenth Larsson at the Music Mill Recording Studio in Kumla alongside entirely Swedish session musicians.[5] 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.[4]

A total of 12 tracks comprised the original album, most of which were Rockabilly numbers.[5] Jackson recorded mostly covers of previously successful Rockabilly songs by other performers. Included was her version of Connie Francis' "Stupid Cupid", Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothin's", The Crickets's "Oh, Boy!" and "Rave On", Jerry Lee Lewis' "Breathless" and Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe".[5] The latter tracks had actually been first recorded by Jackson for her 1982 album,[6] but were re-recorded for Rockabilly Fever.[5] 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".[5]

Release and reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic

Rockabilly Fever was originally released in 1984 on Tab Records exclusively for the Scandinavian market. It was originally issued as a vinyl LP, containing six songs on either side of the record. The album was Jackson's thirtieth studio record in her career.[5] 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.[7] 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.[8] In later decades, Rockabilly Fever was reissued as to digital and streaming markets.[9] The American version received a three-star rating from AllMusic in later years.[1] 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.[10] 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".[11]

Track listing[edit]

Rockabilly Fever[edit]

Side one[5][7]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rock-A-Billy Fever"Carl Perkins4:07
2."Stupid Cupid"
2:07
3."Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues"Ronald Brashear2:27
4."Sweet Nuthin's"Ronnie Self2:27
5."It's Only Make Believe"
2:25
6."Oh Boy"
2:14
Side two[7]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rock-a-Billy Hound Dog"Brashear2:44
2."Breathless"Otis Blackwell3:00
3."Sad Love Songs"Brashear2:27
4."Rave On"
  • Petty
  • Tilgman
  • West
1:53
5."Meet Me in Stockholm"Doug Sahm3:23
6."Ain't It the Gospel"George Gagliardi2:31

Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues[edit]

Side one[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Breathless"Blackwell3:00
2."Rock-A-Billy Fever"Perkins4:07
3."Sweet Nuthin's"Self2:27
4."It's Only Make Believe"
  • Nance
  • Twitty
2:25
5."Oh Boy"
  • Petty
  • Tilghman
  • West
2:14
Side two[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rave On"
  • Petty
  • Tilgman
  • West
1:53
2."Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues"Brashear2:27
3."Sad Love Songs"Brashear2:27
4."RockaBilly Hound Dog"Brashear2:44
5."Stupid Cupid"
  • Greenfield
  • Sedaka
2:07
6."Ain't It the Gospel"Gagliardi2:31

Digital version[edit]

Rockabilly Fever (digital)[9]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rock-A-Billy Fever"Perkins4:12
2."Stupid Cupid"
  • Greenfield
  • Sedaka
2:33
3."Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues"Brashear2:35
4."Sweet Nuthin's"Self2:35
5."It's Only Make Believe"
  • Nance
  • Twitty
2:33
6."Oh Boy"
  • Petty
  • Tilghman
  • West
2:22
7."Rock-a-Billy Hound Dog"Brashear2:53
8."Breathless"Blackwell3:07
9."Sad Love Songs"Brashear2:35
10."Rave On"
  • Petty
  • Tilgman
  • West
2:02
11."Meet Me in Stockholm"Sahm3:33
12."Ain't It the Gospel"Gagliardi2:34

Personnel[edit]

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Rockabilly Fever and Rock 'n' Roll Away Your Blues.[5][7]

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Sweden 1984 Vinyl Tab Records [5]
United Kingdom 1985 Magnum Force Records Ltd. [7]
  • Canada
  • United States
 1986 Varrick Records [8]
2010s
  • Music download
  • streaming
 Tab Records [9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Rockabilly Fever: Wanda Jackson: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  2. ^ Wolff, Kurt. "Wanda Jackson: Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  3. ^ Caldwell, Patrick. "Birthday bash celebrates rockabilly's 'queen,' Wanda Jackson". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Bomar, Scott; Jackson, Wanda (2017). Every night is Saturday night : a country girl's journey to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. United States: BMG. p. 281-283. ISBN 9781947026070.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jackson, Wanda (1984). "Rockabilly Fever (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". Tab Records. TAB-LP-8404.
  6. ^ Jackson, Wanda (1982). "Let's Have a Party (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". K-tel. NC549.
  7. ^ a b c d e Jackson, Wanda (1985). "Rockabilly Fever (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". Magnum Force Records LTD. MFLP-037.
  8. ^ a b c d Jackson, Wanda (1986). "Rockabilly Fever (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". Varrick Records. VR-025.
  9. ^ a b c "Rockabilly Fever - Album by Wanda Jackson". Spotify. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  10. ^ Oermann, Robert K.; Bufwack, Mary A. (2003). Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music: 1800–2000. Nashville, TN: The Country Music Press & Vanderbilt University Press. ISBN 0-8265-1432-4.
  11. ^ Jackson, Wanda (1985). ""Meet Me in Stockholm"/"If I Could Take Sweden Home" (7" vinyl single)". Tab Records. TAB-ES-505.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rockabilly_Fever&oldid=1168099298"