Cordell Jackson
Encyclopedia
Cordell Jackson was an American
guitarist thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll
music label. She was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi
, on July 15, 1923, and died in Memphis, Tennessee
, on October 14, 2004.
Jackson founded the Moon Records label in Memphis in 1956 after a few years of recording demos at Sam Phillips
' Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records Studio. Unable to break into the Sun Records
label's stable of male artists, she received the advice and assistance of RCA Records
' Chet Atkins
in forming this new label to release her music. She began releasing and promoting on the label singles she recorded in her home studio, serving as engineer, producer and arranger. The artists recorded included her and a small family of early rock and roll
, rockabilly
, and country music
performers she recruited from several Southern states.
Tav Falco's Panther Burns
and Alex Chilton
helped create new interest in her career in the 1980s when they began covering some of her Moon label's old singles such as "Dateless Night", a song she originally wrote in the 1950s for Florida artist Allen Page. Jackson then began playing occasional shows in the 1980s with her signature red Hagstrom
electric guitar as a solo artist in Memphis, Hoboken, New York, and Chicago nightclubs. She recorded new material on her label with Memphis musicians Colonel Robert Morris and Bob Holden, becoming known as a "rock-and-roll granny" solo guitar instrumentalist. She appeared in 1991 and 1992 on national talk shows like Late Night With David Letterman
and in a television commercial duelling with rockabilly artist Brian Setzer
on guitar.
In the late 1990s, Cordell co-wrote and played with the Rockabilly
icon, Colonel Robert Morris in Memphis. Colonel Robert also helped edit the book based on her life and career.
Her Moon Records label was the oldest continuously operating label in Memphis at the time of her death in 2004. The 50's Rock on the Moon of Memphis, Tennessee + an Oddity, a compilation album of the label's 1950s singles, was released on vinyl in the early 1980s and was later sold on compact disc until her death in 2004. The original 1950s vinyl singles compiled on that album have been displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio
. She also released video singles through her label in the 1990s, including "Football Widow" and filmmaker Dan Rose's production of "The Split." Her marketing of her own video singles, as opposed to marketing them in multiple-song video collections, is reputed to be another first in her innovative lifetime of doing things her own way, bucking the trends of standard industry practice.
Jackson's only solo full length album to date, Cordell Jackson — Live in Chicago was released on Bughouse Records in 1997. Information and memorabilia about Jackson is included in the Smithsonian Institution
's Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum in Memphis.
Johnny Tate: Bop With Me Baby / Keeping Your Memories/ Kind And Gentle '57/ Cleveland Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music label. She was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi
Pontotoc, Mississippi
Pontotoc is a city in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, United States. Pontotoc is west of the much larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,625 at the 2010 census...
, on July 15, 1923, and died in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, on October 14, 2004.
Jackson founded the Moon Records label in Memphis in 1956 after a few years of recording demos at Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
' Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records Studio. Unable to break into the Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
label's stable of male artists, she received the advice and assistance of RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
' Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
in forming this new label to release her music. She began releasing and promoting on the label singles she recorded in her home studio, serving as engineer, producer and arranger. The artists recorded included her and a small family of early rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
performers she recruited from several Southern states.
Tav Falco's Panther Burns
Tav Falco's Panther Burns
Tav Falco's Panther Burns, sometimes shortened to Panther Burns, is a rock band originally from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, led by Tav Falco...
and Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
helped create new interest in her career in the 1980s when they began covering some of her Moon label's old singles such as "Dateless Night", a song she originally wrote in the 1950s for Florida artist Allen Page. Jackson then began playing occasional shows in the 1980s with her signature red Hagstrom
Hagström
Hagström is a musical instrument manufacturer in Älvdalen, Dalecarlia, Sweden. Their original products were accordions that they initially imported from Germany and then Italy before opening their own facility in 1932. During the sixties, the company started making electric guitars and later...
electric guitar as a solo artist in Memphis, Hoboken, New York, and Chicago nightclubs. She recorded new material on her label with Memphis musicians Colonel Robert Morris and Bob Holden, becoming known as a "rock-and-roll granny" solo guitar instrumentalist. She appeared in 1991 and 1992 on national talk shows like Late Night With David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
and in a television commercial duelling with rockabilly artist Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
on guitar.
In the late 1990s, Cordell co-wrote and played with the Rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
icon, Colonel Robert Morris in Memphis. Colonel Robert also helped edit the book based on her life and career.
Her Moon Records label was the oldest continuously operating label in Memphis at the time of her death in 2004. The 50's Rock on the Moon of Memphis, Tennessee + an Oddity, a compilation album of the label's 1950s singles, was released on vinyl in the early 1980s and was later sold on compact disc until her death in 2004. The original 1950s vinyl singles compiled on that album have been displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. She also released video singles through her label in the 1990s, including "Football Widow" and filmmaker Dan Rose's production of "The Split." Her marketing of her own video singles, as opposed to marketing them in multiple-song video collections, is reputed to be another first in her innovative lifetime of doing things her own way, bucking the trends of standard industry practice.
Jackson's only solo full length album to date, Cordell Jackson — Live in Chicago was released on Bughouse Records in 1997. Information and memorabilia about Jackson is included in the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum in Memphis.
Trivia
- Appeared in a Bud Light commercial where she interrupts Brian SetzerBrian SetzerBrian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
during his rehearsal, to teach him a fast lesson on how to play rock-and-roll guitar. - Had a role as "Bathroom Lady" in the 1992 film The Gun in Betty Lou's HandbagThe Gun in Betty Lou's HandbagThe Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag is a 1992 American screwball comedy film written by Grace Cary Bickley and directed by Allan Moyle. The film stars Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Thal, Julianne Moore, William Forsythe, and Alfre Woodard...
.
Discography
- Various Artists — The 50's Rock On The Moon of Memphis, Tennessee + an Oddity. (Moon compilation LP, rereleased later on CD, United States, 1981)
- Various Artists — Moon Records of Memphis, Tennessee. (Moon compilation, EP)
- Cordell Jackson & her Guitar: "Football Widow"/"I'm at Home Again (In the Memories of My Mind. (Moon 7-inch single, 1983)
- Cordell Jackson: Knockin' Sixty. (Moon EP, 1980s)
- Cordell Jackson: The Split. (Moon EP, 1980s)
- Rock And Roll Christmas. (Jan/Star Club compilation, Sweden, 1989)
- Cordell Jackson With George Reinecke and the Mud Bugs: "Rockin' Rollin' Eyes"/"Memphis Drag". (Sympathy for the Record Industry 7-inch single, 1990)
- Various Artists — Moon Records: Rock On The Moon. (Redita compilation, The Netherlands)
- Cordell Jackson — Live in Chicago. (Bughouse full length CD, United States, 1997)
- Various Artists — Living in a State of Love. (Memphis Music Community, 1990s)
- Various Artists — Rockabilly Xmas. (Buffalo Bop compilation, Germany, 2000)
- Various Artists — Past, Present and Future. (Inside Sounds, 2003)
Song sample
Johnny Tate: Bop With Me Baby / Keeping Your Memories/ Kind And Gentle '57/ Cleveland Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame
External links
- Roctober interview
- [ Allmusic]
- Country GRRL page