WEBB PIERCE

WEBB PIERCE

WEBB PIERCE 855371356x237no2

Né le 8 Août 1926 à Monroe en Louisiane, Webb se consacre à la guitare et encore adolescent travaille pour la radio KMBL de sa ville natale.

En 1948, Horace Logan démarre les show du Louisiana Hayride à Shreveport. Webb qui rêve de se produire dans ce show radiodiffusé s’installe dans cette ville et trouve un emploi chez Sears Roebuck, une célèbre chaîne de magasins qui contribua à la propagation de la guitare, grâce à son catalogue d’instruments bon marché en vente par correspondance depuis 1908.

En attendant d’avoir sa guitare avec son nom gravé sur le manche, Webb se produit localement et finit par réaliser une partie de ses ambitions, devenant un régulier du Louisiana Hayride, dès le début des années cinquante. Il enregistre alors pour le label Four Star les indispensables « Groovie Boogie Woogie Boy » (4 Star 1447), « Georgia Rag » (1479) et « High Geared Daddi », « English Sweetheart » (1413) et remarqué par Decca met en boîte plusieurs titres country dont un Blue Yodel de Jimmie Rodgers, « California Blues » (du 7 mars 1951) qui sort sur le single Decca 46322 avec un hillbilly-boogie en B side, « You square the love right out of me ». Mais c’est en 1952 que Webb connaît le succès avec « Wondering » et « That heart belongs to me ».

En 1955, il s’installe à Nashville, passe à l’Opry et s’impose définitivement avec « In the Jailhouse Now » (Decca 29391), un titre Honky-Tonk qu’il enregistrera une seconde fois en janvier 1960. « Love, love, love » en 1955 (disponible sur le rare 25cm allemand paru en 1957 « Hillbilly Jamboree » Brunswick 86052 précèdera le fameux « Teenage Boogie » enregistré le 16 mai 1956 (single US Decca 30045 et LP UK MCFM 2697 « Rare Rockabilly »). Ce rockabilly composé par Webb Pierce deviendra légendaire parmi les rockers et sera d’ailleurs repris par les Matchbox en 1976. Une version différente de ce classique (enregistré le 16 mai 1956) ne sera publiée qu’en 1984 sur l’invraisemblable album Charly CR 30235 « I ain’t never ». Ce disque offre plusieurs exemples des tentatives réussies du Country Singer Pierce dans le domaine du Rock’n’roll, à commencer par « I ain’t never », une ballade Rock imprégnée de Rhythm and Blues enregistrée en 1959 ainsi qu’une reprise en 1957 du « Bye Bye Love » des Everly Brothers. L’album qui présenté un riche aperçu de la période 1951 à 1960 propose des titres moins connus mais tout aussi attrayants tels « I’m walking the dog » (1953), « Sneakin’ all around » (1954), ainsi que les superbes « Honky tonk songs » (1957), un hit écrit par Mel Tillis et « Why baby why » un duo mémorable avec Red Sovine en 1955;

Devenu riche, Webb Pierce, célèbre pour sa piscine en forme de guitare, a survécu aux années 60, inscrivant régulièrement de petits hits dans les Charts Country, enregistrant chez Decca jusqu’en 1975, date de son passage sur le Label Plantation fondé par Shelby Singleton.
Légendaire respecté (le pianiste Floyd Cramer avait fait partie de son orchestre au des début des fifties), Webb Pierce apparaît avec le recul comme l’un des meilleurs représentants du Hillbilly post Williamsien.

Webb Pierce meurt d’un cancer le 24 Février 1991.

He was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 5th, 2001. On June 11th of that same year, producer, Gail Davies, organized a tribute album to the legendary Webb Pierce entitled "Caught In The Webb." Released by Audium Records on January 8, 2002, this album features 25 of Country Music's greatest performers including George Jones, BR549, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, The Jordanaires, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Crystal Gayle and many others. Proceeds from this album will go to benefit two very worthy charities, The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation and The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. For more information about the Webb Pierce tribute, click here.

WEBB PIERCE Barre-10

Webb Pierce's Story

One of the greatest stars of country music’s honky-tonk heyday, the 1950s, Webb Pierce had thirteen singles top the Billboard charts in those years—more than any of his illustrious contemporaries. His loud, nasal, high-pitched, and sometimes slightly off-key delivery on hit after hit marked him as one of the music's most distinctive singers in an era of great individualists. A successful investor and wealthy man for much of his life, Pierce knew how to spend money to heighten his image, and he is perhaps as well remembered today for his silver-dollar studded autos and guitar-shaped swimming pools as for his great music.

Born Webb Michael (or Mike) Pierce in West Monroe, Louisiana, five years earlier than his publicists generally claimed, he grew up with the music of Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry, western swing bands of Texas and Oklahoma, and the Cajun bands of his native state. He first sang professionally on KMLB in Monroe, but after a brief army stint in the early days of World War II, he moved to Shreveport in 1944 and found early morning work on KTBS there. For six years he worked for Shreveport’s Sears, Roebuck store in the men's furnishings department, the whole time striving for a break in his singing career. Finally he moved to Shreveport’s 50,000-watt giant, KWKH, and its Saturday night auditorium broadcast, the Louisiana Hayride.

Building a band around himself with such future legends as Floyd Cramer (piano), Tillman Franks (manager and bass), Jimmy Day (steel guitar), Tex Grimsley (fiddle), Teddy and Doyle Wilburn and Faron Young (extra vocalists), Webb Pierce was soon the hottest act on that big show. With Hayride producer Horace Logan, Pierce launched a record label, Pacemaker, which featured several Hayride acts in addition to Pierce himself, who was by then also recording for California’s Four Star Records. In late 1951, Pierce moved up to Decca and the next year scored his first big hit on that label with a version of the 1937 Cajun favorite, “Wondering,” which inspired his nickname and band name, the Wondering Boy(s).

Pierce followed “Wondering” with two more #1s, “That Heart Belongs to Me” and Billy Wallace's honky-tonk anthem “Back Street Affair,” and on the strength of these joined the Grand Ole Opry in mid-1952. “It's Been So Long” and “There Stands The Glass” (the latter banned in some radio markets), his best hits of 1953, established him as the field's biggest star in the wake of Hank Williams’s death, and through 1955, huge hits for Pierce came with regularity: “Slowly” (on which Bud Isaacs’s pioneering pedal steel work won countless converts to that instrument), “Even Tho,” “More and More,” “In the Jailhouse Now,” “I Don't Care,” “Love, Love, Love,” “Why, Baby, Why.” Small wonder that by mid-decade Pierce’s concert fee had risen near $1,250 per show, and advance orders for his new singles often reached 200,000 copies.

Pierce closely allied himself with Grand Ole Opry manager Jim Denny. They launched Cedarwood Music in 1953 and later jointly invested earnings from this and other ventures into the purchase of radio stations. But when Denny was fired in September 1956, for these and other outside interests conflicting with his Opry role, Pierce soon left, too. He was confident that he had outgrown the limits of Grand Ole Opry exposure and eager to do full-scale, full-paid concerts on Saturday nights instead of working the Opry for union scale wages. Already he had spent most of a year featured on ABC-TV’s Ozark Jubilee out of Springfield, Missouri, and soon he would find plenty of TV work and even film roles for producer Albert Gannaway in addition to his busy touring schedule. Though the rock & roll tide of 1956–1959 slowed his record success somewhat, Pierce drew upon the growing stable of talented Cedarwood songwriters (Danny Dill, Wayne Walker, Marijohn Wilkin, and especially Mel Tillis) for good songs to record, and from the late 1950s came the memorable “I’m Tired,” “Honky Tonk Song,” and “Tupelo County Jail” (all three by Tillis, with whom Pierce even recorded a 1963 duet, “How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody But Me”).
After “Honky Tonk Song” in 1957, Top Ten records were fairly common until 1964—indeed, in 1959 “I Ain’t Never” hit #2 country and became his only Top Forty pop hit—but Pierce had no more #1s even though his singles regularly charted until 1972. Shortly thereafter, he left his twenty-plus year association with Decca/MCA, and recorded in the mid-1970s for Shelby Singleton’s Plantation Records, including a lament you’d expect from such a wealthy man, “The Good Lord Giveth (And Uncle Sam Taketh Away)” which charted poorly, and two unlikely and eminently forgettable duets with stage and film star Carol Channing (“Got You on My Mind” b/w “Love Brought Us Together”), which did not chart at all. By then, Webb Pierce was better known for his Curtiswood Lane home and its guitar-shaped swimming pool—a regular stop on bus tours of Nashville--than for new hit records, but soon peace-loving neighbors went to court and took even that away from him.

Pierce’s star fared better in the 1980s. In 1982 Willie Nelson asked Pierce to sing with him on a remake of “In the Jailhouse Now.” It was Pierce’s ninety-sixth and last charted record, although young traditionalist Ricky Skaggs revived two of Pierce’s hits in that decade: “I Don't Care” (1982) and “I'm Tired” (1987).

Pierce died of pancreatic cancer just as the Persian Gulf War was ending (February 24, 1991). Posthumous reissues have somewhat revived his reputation, and even those irritated by his at times abrasive personality share a widespread recognition of his commercial achievements and superstardom. A 2002 tribute album, Caught in the Webb (Audium), featured a broad range of artists including Pam Tillis, Willie Nelson, Rosie Flores, Charley Pride, Guy Clark, and the Del McCoury Band, among others. - Ronnie Pugh
- Adapted from the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum’s Encyclopedia of Country Music, published by Oxford University Press.

DISCOGRAPHIE
78 t. & singles

09/1949	78 t. 4 STAR 1357 (US)	.	Heebie Jeebis Blues / Sweetheart I Love You So
12/1949	SP 4 STAR 45-1401 (US)	.	Million Years From Now / I Heard Her Call My Name In Prayer
02/1950	SP 4 STAR 45-1413 (US)	.	English Sweetheart / High Geared Daddy
03/1950	SP 4 STAR 45-1447 (US)	.	Groovie Boogie Woogie Boy / New Panhandle Rag
07/1950	SP 4 STAR 45-1479 (US)	.	Georgia Rag / I Saw Your Face In The Moon
09/1950	SP 4 STAR 45-1517 (US)	.	Hawaiian Echoes / I've Loved You Forever It Seems
10/1950	SP PACEMAKER 1003 (US)	.	Drifting Texas Sand / You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me
1950	SP PACEMAKER 1004 (US)	.	I Need You Like A Hole In The Head (Shot JACKSON / ?
12/1950	SP PACEMAKER 1006 (US)	.	I'm Sittin' On Top Of The World (with Buddy ATTAWAY) / Freight Train Blues (with Buddy ATTAWAY)
1951	SP PACEMAKER 1011 (US)	.	California Blues / Hayride Boogie
1951	SP PACEMAKER 1012 (US)	.	Have You Ever Had The Feeling / I Got Religion On A Saturday Night
1951	SP PACEMAKER 1015 (US)	.	In The Jailhouse Now / Last Waltz

06/1951	SP DECCA 9-46322 (US)	.	Drifting Texas Sand / If Crying Would Make You Care
08/1951	SP DECCA 9-46332 (US)	.	California Blues / You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me
10/1951	SP DECCA 9-46364 (US)	.	Wondering / New Silver Bells
12/1951	SP DECCA 9-46385 (US)	.	I'm Gonna See My Baby / You Know I'm Still In Love With You
04/1952	SP 4 STAR 45-1600 (US)	.	Darkest Hour / ?
04/1952	SP 4 STAR 45-1601 (US)	.	Heebie Jeebis / High Geared Baby
05/1952	SP DECCA 9-28091 (US)	.	That Heart Belongs To Me / So Used To Loving You
08/1952	SP DECCA 9-28369 (US)	.	Back Street Affair / I'll Always Take Care Of You
08/1952	SP 4 STAR 45-1610 (US)	.	I Saw Your Face In The Moon / Hawaiian Echoes
10/1952	SP 4 STAR 45-1616 (US)	.	Lucky Lee / Georgia Rag
10/1952	SP DECCA 9-28431 (US)	.	Bow Thy Head / Country Church
1952	SP 4 STAR X-69 (US)	.	Sweetheart You Know I Love You So / English Sweetheart
01/1953	SP DECCA 9-28534 (US)	.	I'll Go On Alone / That's Me Without You
03/1953	SP 4 STAR 45-1629 (US)	.	Jilted Love / I'm Happy You Hurt Me
03/1953	SP DECCA 9-28594 (US)	.	I Haven't Got The Heart / Last Waltz
06/1953	SP DECCA 9-28725 (US)	.	It's Been So Long / Don't Throw Your Life Away
09/1953	SP DECCA 9-28834 (US)	.	I'm Walking The Dog / There Stands The Glass

1953	EP DECCA ED-2144 (US)		Wondering / Don't Throw Your Life Away / There Stands The Glass / That's Me Without You
1953	EP DECCA ED-2145 (US)		That Heart Belongs To Me / Slowly / It's Been So Long / Back Street Affair
01/1954	SP DECCA 9-28991 (US)	.	Slowly / You Just Can't Be True
04/1954	SP DECCA 9-29068 (US)	.	My New Love Affair (with Red SOVINE) / + Red SOVINE
05/1954	SP DECCA 9-29107 (US)	.	Sparkling Brown Eyes / Even Tho
06/1954	SP DECCA 9-29155 (US)	.	Mother Calling My Name In Prayer / Buggle Call From Heaven
08/1954	SP DECCA 9-29252 (US)	.	More And More / You're Not Mine Anymore
11/1954	SP DECCA 9-29336 (US)	.	Waltz You Saved For Me (with Teddy WILBURN) (ROB & BOB) / One Day Later (with Teddy WILBURN) (ROB & BOB)
12/1954	SP DECCA 9-29391 (US)	.	In The Jailhouse Now / I'm Gonna Fall Out Of Love With You
03/1955	SP DECCA 9-29480 (US)	.	I Don't Care / Your Good For Nothing Heart
08/1955	SP DECCA 9-29662 (US)	.	Love Love Love / If You Were Me
11/1955	SP DECCA 9-29739 (US)	.	Why Baby Why (with Red SOVINE) / Sixteen Tons (with Red SOVINE)
12/1955	SP DECCA 9-29755 (US)	.	Why Baby Why (with Red SOVINE) / + Red SOVINE
1955	EP DECCA ED-2241 (US)		In The Jailhouse Now / More And More / Your Good For Nothing Heart / Even Tho

1955	EP DECCA ED-2242 (US)		You're Not Mine Anymore / I Haven't Got The Heart / Sparkling Brown Eyes / You Just Can't Be True
1955	EP DECCA ED-2243 (US)		New Silver Bells / I'm Walking The Dog / I'll Go On Alone / I Don't Care
01/1956	SP DECCA 9-29805 (US)	.	Cause I Love You / Yes I Know Why
03/1956	SP DECCA 9-29876 (US)	.	Little Rosa (with Red SOVINE) / + Red SOVINE
06/1956	SP DECCA 9-29974 (US)	.	Any Old Time / We'll Find A Way
09/1956	SP DECCA 9-30045 (US)	.	Teenage Boogie / I'm Really Glad You Hurt Me
12/1956	SP DECCA 9-30155 (US)	.	It's My Way / Tired Of Living
1956	EP DECCA ED-2355 (US)		Bugle Call From Heaven / Bow Thy Head / Country Church / Mother Call My Name In Prayer
1956	EP DECCA ED-2364 (US)		Yes I Know Why / If You Were Me / Love Love Love / + 1
02/1957	SP DECCA 9-30183 (US)	.	Oh So Many Years (with Kitty WELLS) / Can You Find It In Your Heart (with Kitty WELLS)
03/1957	SP DECCA 9-30255 (US)	.	Honky Tonk Song / Someday
05/1957	SP DECCA 9-30321 (US)	.	Bye Bye Love / Missing You
08/1957	SP DECCA 9-30419 (US)	.	Holiday For Love / Don't Do It Darling That Heart Belongs To Me
11/1957	SP DECCA 9-30489 (US)	.	One Week Later (with Kitty WELLS) / When I'm With You (with Kitty WELLS)
01/1958	SP DECCA 9-30539 (US)	.	The New Raunchy (Shady WALL) / I'll Get By Somehow (Shady WALL)
01/1958	SP DECCA 9-30550 (US)	.	New Panhandle Rag / How Long
04/1958	SP DECCA 9-30623 (US)	.	Cryin' Over You / You'll Come Back
08/1958	SP DECCA 9-30711 (US)	.	Tupelo County Jail / Falling Back To You
12/1958	SP DECCA 9-30789 (US)	.	I'm Letting You Go / Sittin' Alone

1958	EP DECCA ED-2581 (US)		Just Imagination / New Love Affair / I Care No More / I Love You Dear
03/1959	SP DECCA 9-30858 (US)	.	Thousand Miles Ago / What Goes On In Your Heart
06/1959	SP DECCA 9-30923 (US)	.	I Ain't Never / Shanghied
11/1959	SP DECCA 9-31021 (US)	.	No Love Have I / Whirlpool Of Love
1959	EP DECCA ED-2653 (US)		After The Boy Gets The Girl / I Owe It To My Heart / My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You / Life To Go
1959	EP DECCA ED-2666 (US)		WEBB PIERCE & KITTY WELLS - Oh So Many Years / One Week Later / When I'm With You / Can You Find It In Your Heart
1959	EP DECCA ED-2668 (US)		I Ain't Never / Shanghied / Thousand Miles Ago / What Goes On In Your Heart
03/1960	SP DECCA 9-31058 (US)	.	Is It Wrong (For Loving You) / (Doin' The) Lover's Leap
06/1960	SP KING 45-5366 (US)	.	It's All Between The Lines / New Panhandle Rag
07/1960	SP DECCA 9-31118 (US)	.	Drifitng Texas Sand (1960 version) / All I Need Is You
10/1960	SP DECCA 9-31165 (US)	.	Fallen Angel / Truck Driver's Blues
12/1960	SP KING 45-5429 (US)	.	Jilted Love / Georgia Rag
01/1961	SP DECCA 9-31197 (US)	.	Let Forgiveness In / There's More Pretty Girls Than One
04/1961	SP DECCA 31249 (US)	.	Sweet Lips / Last Night
09/1961	SP DECCA 31298 (US)	.	Walking The Streets / How Do You Talk To A Baby
1961	EP DECCA ED-2694 (US)		Is It Wrong / Lover's Leap + 2
01/1962	SP DECCA 31347 (US)	.	All My Love / You Are My Life
04/1962	SP DECCA 31380 (US)	.	Take Time / Crazy Wild Desire
05/1962	EP DECCA ED-2715 (US)		All My Love / You Are My Life / Sweet Lips / How Do You Talk To A Baby

08/1962	SP DECCA 31421 (US)	.	Cow Town / Sooner Or Later
08/1962	EP BRUNSWICK 10219 (US)		Crazy Wild Desire / Take Time / + Roy DRUSKY
12/1962	SP DECCA 31445 (US)	.	How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody But Me (with Mel TILLIS) / + Mel TILLIS
1962	EP DECCA ED-2734 (US)		Crazy Wild Desire / + 3
01/1963	SP DECCA 31451 (US)	.	Sawmill / If I Could Come Back
05/1963	SP DECCA 31488 (US)	.	Sands Of Gold / Nobody's Darling (But Mine)
09/1963	SP DECCA 31544 (US)	.	Those Wonderful Years / If The Back Door Could Talk
1963	EP DECCA ED-2748 (US)		Fallen Angel / + 3
1963	EP DECCA ED-2751 (US)		Cow Town / Sooner Or Later / If I Could Come Back / Sawmill
01/1964	SP DECCA 31582 (US)	.	Waiting A Like Time / Love Come To Me
05/1964	SP DECCA 31617 (US)	.	Memory No 1 / French Riviers
08/1964	SP DECCA 31663 (US)	.	Finally (with Kitty WELLS) / He Made You For Me (with Kitty WELLS)
11/1964	SP DECCA 31704 (US)	.	Broken Engagement / That's Where My Money Goes
02/1965	SP DECCA 31737 (US)	.	Loving You Than Losing You / Let Me Live A Little
07/1965	SP DECCA 31816 (US)	.	Who Do I Think Am I / Hobo And The Rose
11/1965	SP DECCA 31867 (US)	.	Christmas At Home / Sweet Memories
1965	EP DECCA ED-2785 (US)		Nobody's Darlin' But Mine / True Love Never Dies / Memory Number One / + 1
1965	EP DECCA ED-2786 (US)		Softly And Tenderly / + 3
1965	EP DECCA ED-2799 (US)		Loving You Then Losing You / + 3

03/1966	SP DECCA 31924 (US)	.	You Ain't No Better Than Me / Champ
06/1966	SP DECCA 31982 (US)	.	Love's Something I Can't Understand / Loner
10/1966	SP DECCA 32033 (US)	.	Where 'd Ya Stay Last Night / She Is Twenty One
02/1967	SP DECCA 32098 (US)	.	That Same Old Street / Goodbye City Goodbye Girl
07/1967	SP DECCA 32167 (US)	.	Fool Fool Fool / Bottles And Babies
01/1968	SP DECCA 32246 (US)	.	Luzianna / Somebody Please Kiss My Sweet Thing
06/1968	SP DECCA 32339 (US)	.	In Another World / Stranger In A Strange Strange City
10/1968	SP DECCA 32388 (US)	.	Saturday Night / I Tried Everything To Please
01/1969	SP DECCA 32438 (US)	.	No Tears Tonight / If I Had Last Night To Live Over
06/1969	SP DECCA 32508 (US)	.	This Thing / Does My Memory Ever Cross Your Mind
10/1969	SP DECCA 32577 (US)	.	Love Ain't Gonna Be No Better / Other Side Of You
02/1970	SP DECCA 32641 (US)	.	Merry-Go-Round World / Fool's Night Out
06/1970	SP DECCA 32694 (US)	.	Too Long / Man Who Want Me To Be
11/1970	SP DECCA 32762 (US)	.	Way We Were Back Then / Showing His Dollar
02/1971	SP DECCA 32787 (US)	.	Tell Him That You Love Him / Heartaches Are For Lovers Not For Friends
07/1971	SP DECCA 32855 (US)	.	I Miss The Little Things / Someone Stepped In (And Stole me Blind)
09/1971	SP DECCA 32884 (US)	.	I Owe It To My Heart (with Nancy DEE) / Above Suspicion (with Nancy DEE)
01/1972	SP DECCA 32924 (US)	.	Wonderful Wonderful Wonderful / Hey Good Lookin'
06/1972	SP DECCA 32973 (US)	.	I'm Gonna Be A Swinger / Someday
09/1972	SP DECCA 33015 (US)	.	There Stands The Glass (1972 version) / Valentino Of The Hobos
12/1972	SP DECCA 33044 (US)	.	Let The Children Pick The Flowers / You're Letting Me Go
03/1973	SP MCA 40048 (US)	.	Foreign Girl (with Debbie PIERCE) / What The People Say (with Debbie PIERCE)
09/1973	SP MCA 40128 (US)	.	When You're Living In Hell / Lo-Lenna
1973	SP MCA 60075 (US)	.	I'm Walking The Dog / There Stands The Glass
01/1974	SP MCA 40181 (US)	.	You'd Better Treat Her Right / I'd Be Number One
1974	SP MCA 60114 (US)	.	Back Street Affair / In The Jailhouse Now
05/1974	SP MCA 40255 (US)	.	Take The Time It Takes / Honey (Open That Door)
09/1974	SP MCA 40310 (US)	.	I'm Ashamed To Be Here / I Know I Know I Know
10/1975	SP PLANTATION PL-131 (US)	.	Good Lord Giveth And Uncle Sam Taketh Away / Send My Love To Me
02/1976	SP PLANTATION PL-136 (US)	.	I've Got Leaning On My Mind / Shame Shame Shame
06/1976	SP PLANTATION PL-141 (US)	.	That's Me Without You / Appleton
11/1976	SP PLANTATION PL-145 (US)	.	Family Christmas Tree / Christmas Time's A Comin'
12/1976	SP PLANTATION PL-149 (US)	.	Got You On My Mind / Love Brought Us Together
04/1977	SP CHANNING PL-154 (US)	.	Rhinestone Cowboy Church / Sparkling Brown Eyes
1979	SP CHANNING PL-189 (US)	.	I'm Coming Home Again (with Debbie PIERCE) / On My Way Out (with Debbie PIERCE)
1980	SP CHANNING PL-191 (US)	.	Reality Of Life (with Debbie PIERCE) / My Memory Remembers (with Debbie PIERCE)
1981	SP CHANNING PL-196 (US)	.	Happy Birthday Jesus (with Debbie PIERCE) / ?

Albums

1955	LP 10" DECCA DL 8129 (US)	WEBB PIERCE - In The Jailhouse Now / More And More / Even Tho / Your Good For Nothing Heart / You're Not Mine Anymore / I Haven't Got The Heart / Sparkling Brown Eyes / You Just Can't Be True / New Silver Bells / I'm Walking The Dog / I'll Go On Alone / I Don't Care
1956	LP 10" DECCA DL 8295 (US)	THE WONDERING BOY - Wondering / There Stands The Glass / That's Me Without You / Don't Throw Your Life Away / Love Love Love / If You Were Me / Back Street Affair / It's Been So Long / Slowly / That Heart Belongs To Me / Yes I Know Why / I'm Gonna Fall Out Of Love With You
1956	LP 12" DECCA ? (US)	COUNTRY CHURCH
1957	LP 10" DECCA DL 8728 (US)	JUST IMAGINATION - New Love Affair / I Care No More / Don't Be The One / I Know It Was You / I Love You Dear / Who Wouldn't Love You / Just Imagination / Call Me Your Sweetheart / I Found A True Love / I'm Only Wishin' / Too Late To Worry Now / I'll Get By Somehow
1959	LP 12" DECCA DL 78889 (US)	BOUND FOR THE KINGDOM - New Love Affair / I Care No More / Don't Be The One / I Know It Was You / I Love You Dear / Who Wouldn't Love You / Just Imagination / Call Me Your Sweetheart / I Found A True Love / I'm Only Wishin' / Too Late To Worry Now / I'll Get By Somehow
1959	LP 12" DECCA DL 78899 (US)	WEBB ! - After The Boy Gets The Girl / I Owe It To My Heart / My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You / Life To Go / Sittin' Alone / You Make Me Live Again / Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / Violet And A Rose / Tupelo County Jail / Crazy Arms / Falling Back To You / I Won't Be Cryin' Anymore
1959	LP 12" DECCA ? (US)	KITTY WELLS AND WEBB PIERCE - (with Kitty WELLS)
1959	LP 12" DECCA ? (US)	I AIN'T NEVER
1959	LP 12" KING 648 (US)	THE ONE AND ONLY - New Panhandle Rag / Jilted Love / Heebie Jeebie Blues / Jinx In Love / High Geared Daddy / I'm Happy That You Hurt Me / Georgia Rag / It's All Between The Lines / Lucy Lee / Sweetheart You Know I Love You So / English Sweetheart / Darkest Hour
1960	LP 12" DECCA DL 74015 (US)	WEBB WITH A BEAT - I Ain't Never / It's My Way / Gotta Travel On / I've Got My Fingers Crossed / I'll Never Have To Be Alone / Whirlpool Of Love / No Love Have I / Is It Wrong / I'm Tired / Poison Love / Public Enemy No 1 / In The Jailhouse Now
1960	LP 12" DECCA DL 74079 (US)	WALKING THE STREETS - Walking The Streets / Pathway Of Teardops / With You It's The Monkey / Lover's Leap / All I Need Is You / Drinkin' My Blues Away / Let Me Be The First To Know / You Make Love To Everyone / I Think Of You / Drifting Texas Sand / All Night Along / Down Panama Way
1961	LP 12" DECCA DL 74110 (US)	WEBB PIERCE'S GOLDEN FAVORITES - Honky Tonk Song / Missing You / Bye Bye Love / Someday / Why Baby Why / How Long / I'm Tired / All I Need Is You / New Panhandle Rag / Any Old Time / Shanghied / Thousand Miles Ago
1961	LP 12" DECCA DL 74144 (US)	FALLEN ANGEL - Fallen Angel / Rose And A Thorn / Let Forgiveness In / So Used To Loving You / There's More Pretty Girls Than One / Forgive Me / Truck Driver's Blues / Is My Ring On Your Finger / My Rough And Rowdy Ways / Walk On The Wild Side Of Life / No One But Me / Drifting Texas Sand
1961	LP 12" DECCA ? (US)	IS IT WRONG ?
1962	LP 12" DECCA DL 74218 (US)	HIDEAWAY HEART - Hideaway Heart / That's My Heart's Desire / Cowtown / Strong Chains Of Love / Broken Engagement / First To Have A Second Chance / Pictures On The Wall / How Do You Talk To A Baby / Tennessee Waltz / Tender Years / I'm Walking Behind You / Honey

1962	LP 12" DECCA DL 74294 (US)	CROSS COUNTRY - Heartaches By The Number / You Are My Life / Waterloo / Cry Cry Darling / Free Of The Blues / I'm Letting You Go / Take Time / Someday You'll Call My Name / Alla My Love / Crazy Wild Desire / I'm Fallin' In Love With You / I Close My Eyes
1962	LP 12" DECCA ? (US)	CRAZY WILD DESIRE
1962	LP 12" DESIGN DLP-604 (mono) / SDLP-604 (stereo) (US)	COUNTRY & WESTERN STARS : WYNN STEWART & WEBB PIERCE - Jilted Love / Heebie Jeebie Blues / Jinx In Love / High Geared Daddy / I've Loved You Forever It Seems / + Wynn STEWART
1963	LP 12" DECCA DL 74358 (US)	I'VE GOT A NEW HEARTACHE - Oh Lonesome Me / Sooner Or Later / Little Bitty Tear / What Good Will It Do / One More Time / If I Could Come Back / Walk On By / Are You Sincere / I Can't Stop Loving You / I've Got A New Heartache / If I Lost Your Love / Georgia Town Blues
1963	LP 12" DECCA DL 74384 (US)	BOW THY HEAD - Standing On The Promises / God Will, What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul / Far Away / What Would You Do / Just As I Am / Wait A Little Longer Please Jesus / Softly And Tenderly / We Are Drifting / Bow Thy Head / Pastor's Absent On Vacation / Almost Persuaded
1964	2 LP 12" DECCA DXS-7181 (US)	THE WEBB PIERCE STORY - In The Jailhouse Now / Wondering / I'm Walking The Dog / Slowly, More And More / There Stands The Glass / Honky Tonk Song / Back Street Affair / Love Love Love / Missing You / If You Were Me / I'm Gonna Fall Out Of Love With You / I Ain't Never / Is It Wrong / I'm Tired, Walking The Streets / No Love Have I / That Heart Belongs To Me / Tupelo County Jail / You're Not Mine Anymore / Alla My Love / That's Me Without You / I Don't Care / It's My Way
1964	LP 12" DECCA DL 74486 (US)	SANDS OF GOLD - Please Help Me I'm Falling / Sands Of Gold / Blue Mood / Don't Let Me Cross Over / Roses Are Red / My Love For You / Detroit City / Those Wonderful Years / Nobody's Darlin' But Mine / If The Back Door Could Talk / True Love Never Dies / Smile Of A Clown
1965	LP 12" HILLTOP JM 6002 (US)	JUST WEBB PIERCE ! - English Sweetheart / Sweetheart You Know I Love You So / Darkest Hour Is Just Before The Dawn / It's All Between The Lines / Georgia Rag / Hawaiian Echoes / I Saw Your Face In The Moon / Lucy Lee / Jilted Love / Heebie Jeebie Blues / High Geared Daddy / I've Loved You Forever It Seems
1965	LP 12" DECCA DL 74604 (US)	MEMORY #1 - That's Where My Money Goes / Leavin' On Your Mind / Wasting A Lifetime / Invisible Tears / French Riviera / Love Come To Me / Broken Engagment / Here I Am Drunk Again / Without You By My Side / I'm Gonna Hang One On Tonight / As Long As I'll Forgive / Memory #1
1965	LP 12" DECCA DL 74659 (US)	COUNTRY MUSIC TIME - Night Train To Memphis / I Don't Love You Anymore / Lonesome 7-7203 / I'm Gonna Change Everything / I Still Miss Someone / Try Me One More Time / Loving You Then Losing You / Rainbow At Midnight / It Took The Heart Out Of Me / Let Me Live A Little / Too Long / I Thank My Lucky Stars

1966	LP 12" VOCALION VL 73766 (US)	WEBB PIERCE - I'm Gonna See My Baby / So Used To Loving You / If Crying Would Make You Care / I Haven't Got The Heart / California Blues (Blue Yodel No 4) / Buggle Call From Heaven / Last Waltz / You Know I'm Still In Love With You / That Heart Belongs To Me / Sneakin' All Around
1966	LP 12" VOCALION VL 73766 (US)	COUNTRY SONGS - New Love Affair / Don't Be The One / I Know / Just Imagination / I Love You Dear / Call Me Your Sweetheart / I Found A True Love / I'm Only Wishin' / Too Late To Worry Now / I'll Get By Somehow
1966	LP 12" DECCA DL 74739 (US)	SWEET MEMORIES - Wolverton Mountain / Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On / Who Do I Think I Am / Life's Gone And Slipped Away / Welcome To My World / Ready / Love's Gonna Live Here / Here Comes My Baby Back Again / Hobo And The Rose / Champ / Fool Fool Fool / Sweet Memories
1966	LP 12" DECCA DL 74782 (US)	WEBB'S CHOICE - You Ain't No Better Than Me / Danny Boy / San Antonio Rose / If It's Not Too Late To Ask / Ring Around The Roses / When Passion Calls / Cotton Fields / Fallen Star / Time Changes Everything / Taste Of Heaven / Bottle Is Just Fooling You / Don't Think I'm Not Thankful
1967	LP 12" DECCA DL 74844 (US)	WHERE 'D YA STAY LAST NIGHT - Where'd Ya Stay Last Night / I Overlooked An Orchid / Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way / Make The World Go Away / You Mean Ol' Moon / That Same Old Street / White Sport Coat / She's 21 / Singing The Blues / I'm Living In Two Worlds / Your Cheatin' Heart / Wild Side Of Life
1968	LP 12" DECCA DL 74964 (US)	FOOL, FOOL, FOOL - Fool, Fool, Fool / Gonna Find Me A Bluebird / Release Me / I'm Gonna Change My Ways / In Another World / Bottles And Babies / There Goes My Everything / I Can't Help It / Almost Persuaded / Stranger In A Strange Strange City / All The Time
1968	LP 12" DECCA DL 74999 (US)	GREATEST HITS - In The Jailhouse Now / Slowly / I Ain't Never / Wondering / There Stands The Glass / If The Back Door Could Talk / Tupelo County Jail / I Don't Care / Alla My Love / Don't Do It Darlin' / Missing You
1969	LP 12" DECCA DL 75071 (US)	SATURDAY NIGHT - Saturday Night / Cold Cold Heart / I Love You A Thousand Ways / Candy Kisses / Somebody Please Kiss My Sweet Thing / My Bucket's Got A Hole In It / Goodbye City Goodbye Girl / I Love You Because / Columbus Stockade Blues / Great Speckled Bird / Luzianna
1969	LP 12" DECCA DL 75132 (US)	WEBB PIERCE SINGS THAT THING - This Thing / Does My Memory Ever Cross Your Mind / No Tears Tonight / If I Had Last Night To Live Over / I Get So Mad At Me / I Go On Loving You / You're The Reason / Scattered Roses / Lo-Lenna / I Caused You To Give Your Love Away / There's No Need To Try
1970	LP 12" VOCALION VL 73911 (US)	COUNTRY FAVORITES - Hideaway Heart / Strong Chains Of Love / Poison Love / I'm Walking Behind You / Gotta Travel On / Walking The Streets / Tennessee Waltz / Whirlpool Of Love / How Do You Talk To A Baby / Honey

1970	LP 12" DECCA DL 75168 (US)	LOVE AIN'T NEVER GONNA BE NO BETTER - Love Ain't Gonna Never Be No Better / Other Side Of You / Faded Love / Send My Love To Me / You Were My Inspiration / Remembering / Everyday Will Be Sunday After While / Maiden's Prayer / Living In The Shadow Of His Memory / There'll Come A Time / Earth Has No Sorrow
1970	LP 12" DECCA DL 75210 (US)	MERRY-GO-ROUND WORLD - Merry Go Round World / Dream Your Heartaches Away / Drunk And Drunker Every Day / Too Long / Fool's Night Out / Big Big Love / His Name Is Wonderful / Another Month Another Week Another Day / Miss You / When The Grass Grows Over Me / Come On Home And Sing The Blues To Daddy
1970	LP 12" DECCA VL 73911 (US)	COUNTRY FAVORITES
1971	LP 12" DECCA DL 75280 (US)	ROAD SHOW - Tell Him That You Love Him / Heartaches For Lovers Not For Friends / Little Rosa / Man You Want Me To Be / I Know Something Good About You / Showing His Dollar / Beyond The Sunset / Way We Were Back Then / Have I Waited Too Long / I Tried Everything To Please
1973	LP 12" DECCA DL 75393 (US)	I'M GONNA BE A SWINGER - I'm Gonna Be A Swinger / Someday / When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again / Take These Chains From My Heart / Daddy's Not Dead / Whiskey Is The Devil / On The Banks Of The Old Ponchartrain / Am I Losing You / You're Letting Me Go / Wonderful Wonderful Wonderful / I Miss The Little Things
1973	LP 12" CORAL CB 20025 (US)	WITHOUT YOU - That's Me Without You / Don't Throw Your Life Away / Love Love Love / If You Were Me / Back Street Affair / It's Been So Long / Your Good For Nothing Heart / You Just Can't Be True / New Silver Bells / I Love You Dear
1975	LP 12" HILLTOP JS-6168 (US)	FALLEN ANGEL - Fallen Angel / Lover's Leap / Drinkin' My Blues Away / Pathway Of Teardrops / I Think Of You / Walking The Streets / Let Me Be The First To Know / Truck Driver's Blues / With You It's The Monkey
1976	LP 12" PLANTATION ? (US)	GOLDEN HITS, VOLUME I
1976	LP 12" PLANTATION PLP-26 (US)	GOLDEN HITS, VOLUME II
1977	LP 12" PLANTATION ? (US)	CAROL CHANNING / WEBB PIERCE - C & W
1979	LP 12" SKYLITE SLP 6210 (US)	FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
1982	LP 12" COLUMBIA FC 38095 (US)	IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW - (with Willie NELSON) - There Stands The Glass / Wondering / In The Jailhouse Now / You're Not Mine Anymore / Heenie Jeebie Blues / Slowly / I Don't Care / Back Street Affair / Let Me Be The First To Know / More And More
07/1984	LP 12" CHARLY CR 30235 (UK)	I AIN'T NEVER - Teenage Boogie / I Ain't Never / Sittin' Alone / Bye Bye Love / In The Jailhouse Now / Honky Tonk Song / After The Boy Gets The Girl / New Panhandle Rag / California Blues / You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me / I'm Walkin' The Dog / More And More / I'm Gonna See My Baby Tonight / Sparkling Brown Eyes / Sneakin' All Around / Why Baby Why

1990

4 CD BEAR FAMILY BCD 15522 (D)

WONDERING BOY 1951-58 :

CD 1 : Drifting Texas Sand / If Crying Would Make You Care / California Blues (Blue Yodel, No. 4) / You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me / New Silver Bells / Wondering / You Know I'm Still In Love With You / I'm Gonna See My Baby / That Heart Belongs To Me / I Just Can't Be True / So Used To Loving You / I Haven't Got The Heart / Slowly / The Last Waltz / Bow The Head / Country Church / I Haven't Got The Heart / Slowly / The Last Waltz / Bow The Head / Country Church / I Haven't Got The Heart / I'll Always Take Care Of You / Back Street Affair / I'm Only Wishin' / I'll Go On Alone / That's Me Without You / Broken Engagement / We'll Find A Way / It's Been So Long / Don't Throw Your Life Away / Too Late To Worry Now / There Stands The Glass

CD 2 : There's A Better Home / Mother Call My Name In Prayer / I'm Walking The Dog / You Just Can't Be True / Slowly / Broken Engagement / Slowly / Even Tho' / Sparkling Brown Eyes (with the WILBURN BROTHERS.) / Bugle Call From Heaven / Thank You, Dear Lord / Kneel At The Cross / Leaning On The Everlasting Arms / You're Not Mine Anymore / I'm Gonna Fall Out Of Love With You / Your Good For Nothing Heart / Just Imagination/I Love Your Dear / More And More/I Found Someone That's True / The Waltz You Saved For Me (with Teddy WILBURN) / One Day Later (with Teddy WILBURN) / In The Jailhouse Now / Sneakin' All Around / I Don't Care / Just How Long / Yes I Know Why / Little Rosa (with Red SOVINE)

CD 3 : Call Me Your Sweetheart / If You Were Me / Love, Love, Love / Why Baby Why (with Red SOVINE) / Yes I Know Why / I Found A True Love / `Cause I Love You / Little Rosa (with Red SOVINE) / Let Forgiveness In / Any Old Time / You Make Love To Everyone / We'll Find A Way / Teenage Boogie / I'm Really Glad You Hurt Me / Teenage Boogie / Oh, So Many Years (with Kitty WELLS) / One Week Later (with Kitty WELLS) / When I'm With You (with Kitty WELLS) / Can I Find It In Your Heart (with Kitty WELLS) / Crying Over You / I'm Tired / It's My Way / Someday / Honky Tonk Song / I Care No More- Don't Be The One / Bye Bye Love / Missing You / Let Forgiveness In / Who Wouldn't Love You

CD 4 : New Panhandle Rag / I Know It Was You / Don't Do It Darling / Holiday For Love / How Long / The New Raunchy / I'll Get By Somehow / English Sweetheart / Down Panama Way / Foreign Love / You'll Come Back / A New Love Affair / Falling Back To You / Sittin' Alone / I'm Letting You Go / Tupelo County Jail / Waiting A Lifetime / True Love Never Dies / I Think Of You / I Won't Be Crying Anymore / I Owe It To My Heart / The Violet And The Rose / After The Boy Gets The Girl / You Make Me Live Again / Crazy Arms / Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / Life To Go / My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You

04/2008

CD BEAR FAMILY BCD 16790 (D)

HIGH GEARED DADDY - High Geared Daddy / New Panhandle Rag / Heebie Jeebie Blues / Georgia Rag / Freight Train Blues / Hayride Boogie / Have You Ever Had The Feeling / Drifting Texas Sand / You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me / I'm Gonna See My Baby / I Just Can't Be True / California Blues / In The Jailhouse Now / Sneakin' All Around / Love, Love, Love / Why Baby Why (with Red SOVINE) / Any Old Time / Teen Age Boogie / I'm Tired / Honky Tonk Song / Bye Bye Love / Who Wouldn't Love You / New Panhandle Rag / Holiday For Love / The New Raunchy / English Sweetheart / You'll Come Back / Tupelo County Jail / After The Boy Gets The Girl / Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / I Ain't Never / Teenage Boogie

Source : http://www.rocky-52.net/loisirs_a.htm

http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/webbsite/webbintro.html

IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW WEBB PIERCE Speaker

SOMEDAY WEBB PIERCE Speaker

THERE STANDS THE GLASS WEBB PIERCE Speaker

WHY BABY WHY WEBB PIERCE Speaker

(with Red SOVINE)

There Stands the Glass

Carl Smith, Marty Robbins & Webb Pierce - Why Baby Why

In the Jailhouse Now

Walkin the Dog

Invité

mille fois pour cette belle bio et pour les vidéos j'adore webb pierce est le hillbilly en général,magnifique trés bon boulot...

gros gros kiss a toi

Invité

Birdie !!! Bravo 2

Extra la piscine en forme de "Guitare", j'veux la même !! :lol!:

De rien, depuis le temps que je n'avais pas fais une Bio !! 123

Yes la piscine, elle est cool ! ouais

Il existe aussi un superbe Lp,le Krazy Kat Records 7456,se sont les enregistrement de 1950 a 1951,sur la FACE A tu te trouve avec des chansons comme “California Blues” (Decca 1001),”Steeling The Mood” (Decca 1009) de Gleen Miller ect…..

A la fin de la FACE B de se formidable Lp ont se trouve avec deux titres non moín bon,”You Scared The Love Right Out Of Me “ (Decca 1003) et “Hayride Boogie” (Decca 1011) etc…..

Eddie/Cesc

*La version du "I Ain´t Never" de 1962 des Jordanaires est superbe,au moin pour moi.

Merci Eddie pour cette précision, c'est cool !

Webb Pierce on CD

Webb Pierce "The Wondering Boy: Webb Pierce 1951-1958" (Bear Family, 1990)
A big, fat, honkin' four-CD box set representing the holy grail of Webb's work that's actually in print. The LP-sized package includes 113 tracks and a lavish booklet with great liner notes by Webb-ologist Otto Kitsinger, as well as a complete discography of Webb's Decca sessions, giving info on side musicians, writers, producers, etc. Plus, there's over an album's worth of this material which had never been released before! ... So why do I so seldom actually listen to these discs? Well, slowly I find myself coming to the conclusion that Bear Family might do better off if they made single CD "economy" versions of some of their fabuloso box sets... The multi-disc boxes are great fetish items, but somewhat pricey and a bit daunting to delve into once you actually shell out the cash and drag one home. Don't get me wrong, though -- this collection is ace bunny killer. Not a bad track on it. Worth every pfennig. And the second that Bear Family puts out a follow-up collection of stuff from the late-'50s and early-'60s, I'll be standing in line to pick up my copy.

Webb Pierce "The Unavailable Sides: Webb Pierce 1950-1951" (Krazy Kat, 1991)
Highly recommended!! A super-spiffy set of early recordings Webb made before he signed to Decca Records. Slightly rawer, boisterously fun hillbilly music from his days on the Louisiana Hayride radio show. A must-have for any serious Webb fan, and a perfect compliment to any of the best-ofs listed here... this is material not available on those albums, and it's quite good.

Webb Pierce "The One And Only Webb Pierce" (King/Starday, 1988)
More early 'Fifties recordings, made before he signed to Decca Records. This disc is instantly recognizable from its garish green cover. But even with the echo-y fake stereo remastering, this is killer material. A little rawer and rowdier than his major label work, and hella fun. Anyone who felt burned by the thin, echo-y sound quality of the old LP versions will be heartened to hear that the mix on this CD copy is much better, and closer to the original mono mixes.

Webb Pierce "The King of The Honky Tonk" (Country Music Foundation, 1994)
Want a new label to worship? Try the Country Music Foundation in Nashville... Either on their own or in conjunction with various major labels, the CMF has done fabulous missionary work to bring the greatest classic country music back into print. They definitely picked up the slack for MCA when they compiled this incredible Webb Pierce disc: you couldn't ask for a better single CD introduction. A couple of my favorite weepers are absent, but all of the hits are here, and they sound awesome. HIGHLY recommended. A must-have. Very good. Yes. Yum.

Webb Pierce "The Wondering Boy: The King of 50's Country" (Edsel, 2000)
This UK collection is also pretty tasty... The reissue pros at Edsel have a great track record, and they certainly don't fail us here... Comparable to the American best-ofs listed here.

Webb Pierce "Sands Of Gold"/"Sweet Memories" (Mobile Fidelity)
You sometimes see this one around, a curious little twofer reissue of a pair of albums from the early '60s. This is material from the start of Webb's downhill slouch, remastered for the audiophile crowd. Schmaltzy and formulaic, but still groovy. See below for reviews of the albums.
Webb Pierce "Honky-Tonk Hero: Collector's Edition" (Fuel/Varese Sarabande, 2003)
In 1973, after two decades as one of Decca Record's top country hitmakers, Pierce was unceremoniously dumped by the label (which had reorganized as MCA, and had also dropped other old-timers such as Ernest Tubb, who were deemed too old-fashioned to make it in the countrypolitan era.) Webb then signed up with the independent Plantation label, owned by producer Shelby Singleton. This CD collects over a dozen tracks chery-picked from Webb's two Golden Hits LPs, from 1976 and '77, albums that were filled with peppy stereo remakes of honkytonk hits Pierce originally recorded in the '50s and early '60s. Many country fans reflexively dismiss these re-recordings as inferior to the originals, but they definitely have their charms, and show that Webb still had remarkable vitality, and an ability to work with modern studio backings. Certainly, for Webb fans, it's a treat to have some of these songs out on CD at last, even if it's a little deceptive of the folks at Fuel to note the Top Ten chart positions of the original recordings next to the track listings on the back: despite a strong push by Plantation, Pierce's '70s recordings never approached anything close to the hitmaking heights of his glory days. Still, it's nice stuff! Speaking of hits, an added bonus on this disc is the inclusion of Webb's last significant chart entry, "The Good Lord Giveth (And Uncle Sam Taketh Away)," a vibrant, fuzzed-out, poppy shuffle that, inexplicably, the folks at Plantation never included on a proper album. All in all, this disc is a nice find... it might not be Pierce in his true prime, but Webb's still kickin' some hillbilly butt!

Webb Pierce & Willie Nelson "Back Street Affair" (Columbia, 1982)
The grand finale of Webb's musical career, this album is one in a series of affectionate these-are-my-idols duet albums that Willie Nelson made in the early 1980s. An unintentional classic of country homoeroticism, things get pretty campy pretty fast, as Webb and Willie swap sweet-nothing romantic verses on Webb's old weepers. All snickering aside, though, this is also a very solid country album, a noble end to Webb Pierce's recorded legacy... in fact, it's one of my favorite Webb records! Many thanks to Willie for making this record happen... it's a goodie! (NOTE: This CD reissue also includes Nelson's duet album with Hank Snow... more bang for your buck!)

Webb Pierce "Honky Tonk Song: 22 Country Hits" (1998)
A Belgian import that apparently includes most of the fab 1957 album, Just Imagination, as well as a slew of other big hits from the '50s. Nothing to complain about here, although if you have the other best-ofs, this may be superfluous.

Webb Pierce "The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Webb Pierce" (MCA, 2001)
The stinginess of MCA's reissue department never ceases to amaze me. Certainly there's nothing wrong with the music on here -- it's all great stuff -- but could it really be that much more expensive for them to put 14 or even 16 tracks on one of these things, as opposed to a measly ten??? Hey, if you have never heard Webb before, and this is the only disc of his you can find, by all means go out and get it. It may change your life. But if you have other options, they've got to be more worthwhile; as it is, the most interesting thing about this CD is the concise, informative liner notes by Bear Family head Rich Kienzle. Otherwise -- get real, fellas: ten tracks just ain't enough material to motivate people in this, the golden age of reissues.

WEBB PIERCE Webbdorkus

Tribute Albums

Various Artists "CAUGHT IN THE WEBB: A TRIBUTE TO THE LEGENDARY WEBB PIERCE" (Audium, 2002)
Many thanks to Gail Davies for organizing this all-star tribute to my personal honkytonk hero, Webb Pierce. The level of talent assembled for this project is staggering, ranging from grizzled old-timers such as George Jones and Charley Pride to contemporary Top 40 stars Trent Summar, Dwight Yoakam and Pam Tillis. The twangcore crowd and '70s mavericks also get in their licks: Emmylou Harris delivers a plaintive reading of "Wondering," while Rosie Flores and Robbie Fulks cheerfully plow their way through a pair of Pierce's rock-era hits. It's difficult for anyone to match the charm and immediacy of Webb's original recordings, but high marks go to Dale Watson for his explosive version of "In The Jailhouse Now" and to Guy Clark, who hits the goofy mood of "Honk Tonk Song" right on the head. Willie Nelson is also in on the fun, which is appropriate since his 1982 duets LP was the last album Pierce recorded. Here, Nelson takes his time with a bittersweet, appropriately mournful version of "That's Me Without Out You," one of Pierce's weepiest and best ballads. With an all-star cast like this, and such great material to work from, this disc should open a few new ears to the Webb Pierce legend. Check this out, and be sure to pick up one of the great Webb reissues out there as well.

WEBB PIERCE Webbdorkus

Webb On Video

Webb Pierce/Chet Atkins "Country Music Classics" (Shanachie, 1991)
Charming mid-'50s TV performances by these two country giants. Webb grows increasingly comfortable on camera as time goes by -- he starts out in '54 looking stiff as a board; within a couple of years he's learned how to smile and even sway a bit while he twinkles at the camera. Chet Atkins has a slightly sinister appearance -- as though perhaps he'd made a pact with the devil to be able to play the guitar like that. Their performances are taken from an Opry-related show that was hokey as could be, and pretty adorable... filmed in 33mm, with vivid, garish techni-colors that was perfect for Webb's nudie suits and the gingham outfits of all the gals.

"Buffalo Guns"
I haven't seen this, but I believe it's a B&W cowboy oater, featuring Webb, along with Marty Robbins and Carl Smith. The film is available on VHS... somewhere...

Various Artists "Road to Nashville" (Rhino)
A hokey B-movie made in 1967 that captures a whole slew of Nashville old-timers in their heyday. I also haven't seen this flick yet, but I hear Webb's appearances are pretty cute. This is stuff from the mid-1960s; Connie Smith, Lefty Frizzell and other big-name artists also appear.

Links

Hey! Webb finally made it into The Country Music Hall Of Fame! Rumor had it that for several decades, certain powerful forces in Music City had blocked Pierce's entry into the hallowed ranks of honorees; that situation has at last been corrected in the year 2001 -- a decade after Webb passed away, and nearly fifty years after his first big hit. Rest easy, big fella.

SOURCE : http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/webbsite/webbdisco.html