Welcome to the Club (2001) TV Documentary

Narrated by Rosanne Cash. Their stage antics were sassy, bordering on aggressive. Their vocal styles featured distinctly unladylike growls, hiccups and moans. Their lyrics spoke of parties and hot rods, flirtations and teen angst. To say that women such as Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin and Lorrie Collins were ahead of their time is a gross understatement. Uniquely American artists, yet loved by enclaves of dedicated fans the world over, these were the women of rockabilly music, rock and rolls country cousin. For a few brief moments, they burst onto a predominantly male scene with an unprecedented musical message of female assertiveness. They not only bucked the staid notion of what was appropriate to sing as a country star, but they also rejected the models of post-war femininity that were being marketed in the wider culture, models of suburban wedded bliss and a return to traditional motherhood. Some of these women were part of a natural evolution in country music, others were the product of calculating music producers looking for a Rockabilly Queen to Elvis Presleys King. Although their day in the sun was short-lived, many of these women perform today and speak with pride of a time when were genuine trailblazers, personifying an exuberance, sexuality and defiance that was burgeoning in the music of 1950s America. Welcome to the Club - The Women of Rockabilly is their story.

Welcome to the Club (2001) TV Documentary
Cast: Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin, Lorrie Collins, Rosanne Cash

Winning Hand, The (1985) (TV)

Based upon the MONUMENT RECORDS hit album of the same name.

With a tuxedo wearing Johnny Cash hosting the four greats, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Brenda Lee. Too good for words, how this isn't available commercially is a thought. Mr. Cash is the host but he also performs, singing a beautiful Kris Kristofferson song that I don't recognize, something about Mehatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ. An excellent production with very little acknowledgement.

The Winning Hand (1985) (TV)

Host: Johnny Cash