Third Man-Nonesuch

The news of the White Stripes’ recent split certainly sent a collective teardrop trickling down the cheekbone of the music community much like the salty streaks that ran down Meg’s pretty, porcelain face at the end of the late Detroit duo’s classic documentary/concert film Under Great White Northern Lights. Still, Jack White is ever-active, as evidenced by this effort to bring rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson back into the national spotlight. White produced and played guitar on the 73-year-old’s first new studio endeavor since her 2006 tribute to one-time lover Elvis Presley, I Remember Elvis. But if you think this is some kind of nursing home charity case, you got another thing coming, sucker.

Boasting an album title that makes a nod to her 1961 classic There’s A Party Goin’ On, this fast and furious 11-track set proves that this old kitten still has the claws to tear your whippersnapping ass to shreds. Here, Wanda is flanked by a vicious backing group that includes, among others, My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on pedal steel, the Greenhornes/Raconteurs rhythm section of bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler, Patti Smith’s son Jackson on electric guitar and, naturally, Jack tearing into some of his nastiest solos this side of Icky Thump. Together, this ragtag collective provides the perfect vessel for Ms. Jackson’s still-cagey coo as she dives beehive first into the amp fuzz on a fun bunch of covers that range from old favorites from her party havin’ heyday like Johnny Kidd and the Pirates’ seminal 1960 surf rocker “Shakin’ All Over” and the R.A. Blackwell/John Marascalco barn burner “Rip It Up” (made famous in the late 50s by Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent and Wanda herself). The album also offers a wild spin on The Andrews Sisters’ Lord Invader-copping 1945 hit “Rum and Coca-Cola” as well shades of Jackson’s vintage country past like Harlan Howard’s “Busted” and Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel #6.” Modern-day fare is represented via jaunty runs through Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” and Bob Dylan’s “Thunder On The Mountain,” a song recorded upon the suggestion of Mr. Zimmerman himself.

This record is a fitting testament to the vitality and staying power of a fierce, feisty pioneer of sexual equality in the rock ‘n’ roll business that proves you are never too old to Party with the best of them. And baby, it doesn’t get any better than partying with the Queen herself.