The King, and Swing

The first time Wanda Jackson saw Elvis, he was wearing a yellow sport coat and driving a pink Cadillac, she told a recent crowd at Downey’s Dixie Belle. “You couldn’t help but notice he was different.”

He noticed her too. The onetime Rockabilly Queen briefly toured with and dated Presley, and the stories she tells about the King are the real thing--much like the unpretentious Belle, a 51-year-old establishment where you’ll reliably find a pan-fried pork chop breakfast, bargain drinks and some of the most authentic rockabilly, blues and jump swing sounds around.

Jackson, the first great female rockabilly singer in the salad days of rock ‘n’ roll, is 61. But, dolled up in a satiny white pantsuit and big hair, she got the multi-generational crowd swinging with her whoops, hollers and earnest rendition of Elvis’ trademark “Hound Dog.”

The singer was accompanied by Santa Barbara’s Cadillac Angels, who kicked off the night in wild style: guitarist Tony Balbinot played a chromatic riff while standing on Micky Rae’s fringe-trimmed bass, which Rae, lying on her back, handily cradled between her bent legs.

The Belle, which opened in 1948, always has been a restaurant and cocktail lounge with music--although the music was, at times, merely a piano bar. These days, the dance floor is flush with the small stage area, and 10 couples fit comfortably. Owners Deborah Merhoff and Steve Bundrys book artists such as James Intveld, the Paladins, Deke Dickerson and others from around the country.

With its blood-red, velvety wallpaper, red tablecloths, fancy sconces and cottage-cheese ceilings--also painted red and specked with glitter--the atmosphere recalls an old bordello. A poster of “Gone With the Wind” hangs beside faux oils of silk-draped women.

At the same time, the Belle remains a no-pretense neighborhood bar with well-worn stools and rugged vinyl booths in the dining area. In the converted banquet hall, there is one pool and four shuffleboard tables. Signs remind visitors, including Tuesday night shuffleboard leaguers, of a particular state law: “No Gambling Allowed.”

The clientele is a mix of older, working-class locals in baseball caps and cowboy hats and not-so-local twentysomethings who’ll drive anywhere to dance to anything they can swing to. Looking like Betty Page and Jerry Lee Lewis, dancers showed up the other night in jet-black bangs and slicked-back pompadours with spiked sideburns, clearly ready to dance.

By midnight, the floor was full of jitterbugging beauties, inspired by Jackson, swiveling, sweating and leaping. At least one couple, dressed to the nines in vintage, was content to listen, however. They just came to see the real thing.

BE THERE

Dixie Belle, 9559 Imperial Highway, Downey. Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-2 a.m.; closes earlier Sun.-Thurs. 21 and older. Cover varies. (562) 803-4943.