In the 1950s, Wanda Jackson became one of the United States' first female Rockabilly performers. During this era she recorded singles like "
Fujiyama Mama" and "
Let's Have a Party". In 1961, Jackson returned to the country market with the single "
Right or Wrong".[3] After the song's country success, Jackson traveled to
Nashville, Tennessee to record more country sides with producer
Ken Nelson. According to Jackson and fellow-writer/historian Scott Bomar, it was the first Nashville sessions to feature musician
Roy Clark on guitar. It was also among her first sessions to feature orchestra and string arrangements.[4]
The sessions for Wonderful Wanda were held at the
Bradley Studio in Nashville between April 1961 and February 1962.[5] The album was a collection of 12 songs.[1] Both "I'd Be Ashamed" and "In the Middle of a Heartache" were penned by Jackson herself. Also included were cover versions of songs first made successful by other artists. "
Is It Wrong (For Loving You)", which was first made popular by
Warner Mack, while "
Seven Lonely Days" was first made successful by
Georgia Gibbs. Other songwriters included on the album project were
Hank Cochran and
Harlan Howard.[5]
Wonderful Wanda was released in August 1962 on Capitol Records and was the fourth proper studio release of Jackson's career. The album was originally distributed as a
vinyl LP containing six songs on either side of the record.[5] In later years, it was distributed to
digital and streaming sites, including
Apple Music, which issued the album on
Capitol Records Nashville.[6]Wonderful Wanda received a positive review from Billboard magazine following its original release. "In all moods she's in fine form here and the fans will quickly dig," staff writers noted.[2]
Prior to the album's release, Jackson had reached success with its first single, "In the Middle of a Heartache".[4] The song spent 15 weeks on the BillboardHot Country Songs and peaked at number six in January 1962, becoming her highest-charting disc on the survey.[7] It also became her third single to chart on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 27 in December 1961.[8] It was followed by Jackson's version of "A Little Bitty Tear", which was released as a single in December 1961[9] and peaked at number 84 on the Hot 100 in January 1962.[10] In March 1962, "If I Cried Every Time You Hurt Me" was issued as the project's final single.[11] Not only did it peak at number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100,[12] it also climbed to number 28 on the country songs chart[13] and number 16 on the
adult contemporary singles chart.[14] In addition, both "A Little Bitty Tear" and "In the Middle of a Heartache" reached lower-charting positions in Australia in 1962.[15]
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abBomar, Scott; Jackson, Wanda (2017). Every night is Saturday night : a country girl's journey to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
United States: BMG.
ISBN9781947026070.
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abcdefJackson, Wanda (August 1962). "Wonderful Wanda (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". Capitol Records. ST-1776.
