Every Night Is Saturday Night by Wanda Jackson

Author:Wanda Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BMG Books
Published: 2017-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

With my band, Bobby Poe and the Poe Kats, and other musicians.

BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE

When I got back from Tokyo in April of 1959, I did a three-week run of shows at the Showboat in Las Vegas with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Not only did they play their own sets, but they also served as my backing band when I did my part of the show. Bob even stayed out on stage with his fiddle and trademark cigar. I was really excited to have the chance to play with Bob and his legendary band. After all, this was the group I was so impressed with as a child when Mother and Daddy took me to those dances in Los Angeles. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Bob’s band played a big role in planting the seed in my mind that I wanted to be a girl singer one day.

As exciting as the idea of performing with The Texas Playboys might have been, the reality was not exactly ideal. Those guys were an amazing Western swing band, but they couldn’t get the feel for “Fujiyama Mama” or “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad” to save their lives. It was awful. I wish I could sugarcoat it or put a positive spin on it because I wanted it to be amazing. But it was just absolutely terrible. That was the moment I decided it was time to do something about my stage show.

During those first few years of touring, I played with pickup bands wherever I performed. Sometimes, if I was on a package show, there was a house band that performed with us at the various tour stops. Other times, the regular band at a nightclub where I was playing might step in to back me up. In some instances, the show’s booker might put together a group of players from the local musicians’ union. I met and worked with some great players in those years, but you never knew what you were getting until you arrived at the venue.

I remember one time I arrived at a club for a rehearsal with the house band before that night’s show. When we pulled up the guys were out having a cigarette in the parking lot. They told me they were all set up, had tuned their instruments, and were ready to go when I was. I was impressed by their professionalism and decided I liked these boys immediately. We started swapping stories like musicians do and, for some reason, I wound up saying, “I’ll tell you one instrument I just can’t stand, and that is a dang accordion!” Everybody laughed and we went on talking for a few minutes.

Finally, the leader of the group said, “Well, let’s head on in and get started.”

“That sounds great,” I said, “but I didn’t even get you boys’ names and what instruments you play yet.”

They went around the circle, and the last fellow said, “My name’s Chet and I’m the accordion player.

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