Album Review: Wanda Jackson, Encore

Anyone operating under the (frankly preposterous) notion that Wanda Jackson has softened with age had best steer clear of Encore lest they be scandalized by the firecracker 83-year-old rockabilly/gospel/country belter’s latest blast of piss and vinegar, which befits someone who has inspired hellraisers like The Cramps and Joan Jett, who assists on several tracks here.  

Chief among them, the tightly coiled scorcher “You Drive Me Wild” which unapologetically lays Jackson’s panting sexuality bare against barroom-worthy piano and slithering bass. But Jackson also explores years quite removed from the heat of passion; tender album closer “That’s What Love Is," also featuring Jett, is presumably a journal entry torn from Jackson’s multi-decade (and seemingly happy) marriage and a clear-eyed summation of the little gestures that add up to mountains over time. 

Mostly though, Jackson explores the thematic (albeit rocking) middle ground via the strutting “Good Girl Down” featuring country stars Angaleena Presley and Candi Carpenter and corker “Two Shots” with Jett and Elle King. Straight-up country emerges via 60s-era stomper “It Keeps Right On A Hurtin,’” as solid an addition to the whiskey-and-tears playbook as any. 

If there’s a gripe here, and it’s minor, it’s that the Rockabilly Queen — pipes still so evidently intact — didn’t stretch to tackle a left field cover or two, say by Lucinda Williams or Billie Eilish or… I dunno, The Runaways, since Jett was, like, right there? Then again, Jackson claims to be easing into retirement, so maybe now isn’t the time to chart new but undoubtedly killer paths.

Encore was released August 20, 2021.
Listen to it here.