Let's Have a Party in Prague

Wanda Jackson was among the first women to have commercial success in both country music and Rockabilly (later known as rock and roll) music. Her singles included "Let's Have a Party", "In the Middle of a Heartache" and "The Box It Came In". She focused more on gospel music in the 1970s and recorded a series of albums for several spiritual labels.[2] By the 1980s, her popularity had waned and she recalled feeling past her prime in her 2017 autobiography. However, in 1984, Jackson learned of Rockabilly's revival in Europe and recorded her first rock album in several decades the same year.[3][4] Among the European rock projects she collaborated on was with Czech performer Karel Zich.[1]

Known as the "Iron Curtain Elvis", Zich's Rockabilly records found success in several eastern European countries.[5] Jackson recalled in a 2005 interview first meeting Zich at a Czech airport and began recording an album shortly after.[6] Let's Have a Party in Prague was recorded at the Supraphon studio in Prague, a capital of the Czech Republic. Sessions were held in May 1987 alongside producer Stanislav Chmelík who recorded 13 tracks with the pair. All of the songs were duets between both artists, including a re-working of Jackson's "Mean Mean Man", "Let's Have a Party" and "Right or Wrong". Zich contributed five self-composed songs to the project. Also included was a cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter's "Jackson".[1]

Let's Have a Party in Prague was released in 1988 on the Supraphon label, exclusively for the Czech market in Europe. It was originally issued as a vinyl LP, with seven songs on "Side A" and six songs on "Side B". It was also distributed with the same identification number as a compact disc.[1] In addition, the disc was issued as a cassette, with songs on both sides of the tape.[7] The album was Jackson's thirty second studio recording and Zich's tenth.[1] Jackson's and Zich's "My Party" was spawned as the album's only single, which also occurred in 1988. The single was issued as a seven-inch vinyl record, containing the duo's cover "Jackson" on the B-side.[8] A year following the album's original release, it sold an estimated 220,000 copies in Czechoslovakia. In 1990, the album certified gold in sales in the nation.[5]

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Let's Have a Party in Prague.[1]

Musical and technical personnel

• Vlastimila Brčáková – Translator
• Michal Bukovič – Supervisor (editor)
• Stanislav Chmelík – Arranger, producer
• Wanda Jackson – Lead vocals
• Milan Kincl – Design
• Vít Popp – Recording Supervisor
• Josef Spěváček – Sleeve Notes
• Karel Zich – Lead vocals