Country singer Wanda Jackson first picked up rock and roll when she was barely out of high school and on tour with Elvis Presley, when the soon-to-be King of Rock and Roll convinced her to try the brand new style. And although she scored more than 30 country hits between 1954 and 1973 — as well as a number of Top 40 hits like rockabilly tune, "Let's Have a Party" — Elvis's advice to her has had lingering impact.

On April 4, Roseanne Cash inducted Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and on Wednesday, April 15, the so-called "First Lady of Rock 'n' Roll," now a seasoned 71, is returning to Sacramento to rock the house at Old Ironsides. The show begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15.

Jackson recently recorded "I Remember Elvis," a tribute album to the King, but it was another Elvis — Elvis Costello — who wrote a letter to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in support of Jackson's induction.

"She was standing up on stage with a guitar in her hands and making a sound that was as wild and raw as any rocker, man or woman, while other gals were still asking, 'How much is that doggy in the window?'" said Costello in a open letter supporting Jackson's entry into the Hall of Fame.

The Sacramento Press spoke with Jackson about her career, life and sunny California on the Monday before her show at Old Ironsides:

Your manager for the last 50 years has been Wendell Goodman, your husband. Have you also been married for five decades, and what is it like working with your husband?

Well not quite 50, but about three years after we were married, he began to take over the booking and managing job, and he has done it ever since. He also travels with me, so it's hard for him to keep up with everything, but he does a very good job at it.

I read that, along with your father, Elvis helped convince you to sing rockabilly. What did he say to convince you?

I was doing tours with him, several of them for a year and a half between 1955 and 1957, and we'd become very good friends. I could see the excitement that this music stirred up with all the hollering and screaming — girls rushing the stage and everything — so he suggested that I try to sing this new style. I didn't think I could because I had never done anything but just country. I considered myself a country singer. He said basically he was too, but he felt the songs differently.

He took me to his home in Memphis, and we spent an afternoon playing records, singing, just trying to show me the feel of what he did. It was like having private instructions with The King! He convinced me that I should at least try to sing this music because by now young people were the ones buying records. Always before, our marketing was directed to adults. So this was something brand new and it was turning the whole music industry upside down. I thought I would like to give it a try, so my producer gave me the okay to do it if I wanted to, so that's what I did.

Elvis Costello is another Elvis in your life, and he actually wrote a letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to help your induction process. What is your relationship with him like, and what is it like having a friend like him, who stands up for you?

It was shocking and caught me by surprise. I had gone to Hollywood to record a new in-studio album, and various artists were calling the record company saying they would love to be on the album with me if I wanted them. The album reads like a who's who of Rock and Roll. Then I found out that Elvis Costello was a big fan of mine. His drummer came into the rehearsal, and he knew that Elvis Costello would love to do a song with me. We corresponded by e-mail and he couldn't be there at that point, because he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame himself.

A little later — about a month — I flew back to California and he was there doing a television appearance and various promotional things, so that worked out good. He brought his band and came into the studio where I'd been recording and we cut this song together, "Cryin' Time." It was really fun and we had no problems singing together. Our phrasing was just alike, and it was [a] very good [experience]. He's such an excellent musician and singer, we just had no problems at all, so we enjoyed it.

Now we're still friends, and I've gone to see him in Tulsa. My husband and I drove from Oklahoma City to Tulsa to see him when he appeared and he brought me onstage and we did our song. I was very delighted that his audience was also very much aware of me and my music, so I got a very nice ovation. Now we correspond through e-mails.

Being that you grew up in California, how does it feel revisiting?

As a little girl, my folks lived in Los Angeles and Bakersfield. It was only about four years, and I started grade school in Los Angeles, and continued in grade school in Bakersfield, and then we moved back to their home, which was Oklahoma, and they chose Oklahoma City, and that's why I lived there, and my husband is from there. But I have always just have had a love for California. I think for anyone who enjoys pretty scenery, nice warm weather, friendly people and good food, there's nothing not to like about California.

Have you visited Sacramento, and if so what are your feelings about playing here?

I've been to Sacramento before, and I've played there. I'll be at Old Ironsides which is a neat place, and I've been there before.

Anything in particular you are looking forward to on the tour, and are you playing more country, gospel, rockabilly, or a combination?

Well I do a little bit of each one of those, but the main body of the concert is fifties rock, things that I recorded in the late fifties. Also I do a tribute to Elvis, because I have an album out called "I Remember Elvis," where I do the songs that he was doing in 1956-57. I also do a gospel song, and my country song "Right or Wrong" — the rockabilly crowd knows that song as well. I put in a yodel song to show them how I started, the type of music that I started off with in the beginning. I try to mix it up, but I keep it mostly rockabilly.

Is there something that I haven't asked you that  would like to let people know about your current tour, or anything else?

One thing I would mention you may or may not know about, is that I have a new documentary, currently being played on the Smithsonian Channel, which is on [various cable and satellite networks including] DirecTV. They are playing it at least once a week throughout this month and it will continue to play after that. It is a feature length film and it was done by two great television producers. It's a very nice film, and I'm very proud of it.

There's a lot of interviews like with Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, and some of my fans, and they travel throughout America and also to Scandinavia, so it's a well rounded documentary. I'd like people just to know about it, and hopefully they can find it playing in their area or on their television somewhere.

*photographs courtesy Wanda Jackson