Webb Pierce

For many, Pierce, with his flamboyant Nudie suits and twin silver dollar-lined convertibles, became the most recognizable face of country music of the era and its excesses. Pierce was a one-time member of the Grand Ole Opry and was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. A tribute album in his honor (produced by singer-songwriter Gail Davies) was released in 2001 entitled Caught in the Webb – A Tribute to Country Legend Webb Pierce.

• Name — Webb Pierce • Birth Name — Michael Webb Pierce • Born — 8 August 1921 • Birthplace — West Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. • Died — 24 February 1991 • Place of death — Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. • Instrument — * Vocals • guitar • Genre — * Country • honky-tonk • Western swing • country gospel • hillbilly • Occupation — Singer-songwriter • Years Active — 1936–1991 • Label — * 4 Star • Decca • MCA • Plantation

Pierce was born in West Monroe, Louisiana. As a child, he was infatuated with Gene Autry films and his mother's hillbilly records, particularly those of Jimmie Rodgers and Western swing and Cajun groups. He began to play guitar before he was a teenager and at 15 was given his own weekly 15-minute show, Songs by Webb Pierce, on KMLB-AM in Monroe. He enlisted in the US Army Air Forces, and in 1942, he married Betty Jane Lewis. After he was discharged, the couple moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where Pierce worked in the men's department of a Sears & Roebuck store. In 1947, the couple appeared on KTBS-AM's morning show as "Webb Pierce with Betty Jane, the Singing Sweetheart". Pierce also performed at local engagements, developing his unique style that was once described as "a wailing whiskey-voiced tenor that rang out every drop of emotion."

In 1949, California-based 4 Star Records signed the Webbs under separate contracts, with his wife signed for duets with her husband under the name Betty Jane and Her Boyfriends. However, success only came for Pierce, and in the summer of 1950, the couple divorced. He moved to KWKH-AM and joined Louisiana Hayride during its first year, and devised a plan to achieve instant "stardom". Before the show, he bought tickets for several young girls in line and asked them to sit in the first row, and after each of his songs, to scream and beg for more. It worked; their enthusiasm spread throughout the audience. Pierce assembled and performed with a band of local Shreveport musicians, including pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist-vocalist Faron Young, bassist Tillman Franks, and vocalists Teddy and Doyle Wilburn. He also founded a record label, Pacemaker, and Ark-La-Tex Music, a publishing company, with Horace Logan, the director of the Hayride. On Pacemaker, Pierce made several records between 1950 and 1951 designed to attract radio play around Louisiana.

• Illustration — Pierce in 1955 In 1951, Pierce got out of his 4 Star contract and was quickly signed by Decca Records. His second single, "Wondering", became his breakthrough hit, climbing to number one early in 1952. Pierce moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he met and married his second wife, Audrey Grisham. In June 1952, he had his second number-one single with "That Heart Belongs to Me". In September 1952, the Grand Ole Opry needed to fill the vacancy left by the firing of Hank Williams, and Pierce was invited to join the cast. After Williams' death, he became the most popular singer in country music; for the next four years, every single he released hit the top 10, with 10 reaching number one, including "There Stands the Glass" (1953), "Slowly" (1954), "More and More" (1954) (a million seller), and "In the Jailhouse Now" (1955). His singles spent 113 weeks at number one during the 1950s, when he charted 48 singles. Thirty-nine reached the top 10, 26 reached the top four, and 13 hit number one. His other hits included "Back Street Affair", "Why Baby Why", "Oh, So Many Years", and "Finally"; the latter two were duets with Kitty Wells. His 1954 recording of "Slowly" was the first successful single to include a pedal steel guitar. He made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, including as a guest host once a month during 1956. In 1958, he recorded a rockabilly record, "The New Raunchy"/"I'll Get by Somehow" for Decca under the name Shady Wall. On February 19, 1957, Pierce resigned from the Opry after he refused to pay commissions on bookings and for associated talent. Pierce continued charting until 1982, with a total of 96 hits, and he toured extensively and appeared in the films Buffalo Gun, Music City USA, Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar, and The Road to Nashville

As his music faded from the spotlight, Pierce became known for his excessive lifestyle. He had North Hollywood tailor Nudie Cohen, who had made flamboyant suits for Pierce, line two convertibles with silver dollars. He built a $30,000 guitar-shaped swimming pool at his Nashville home, which became a popular paid tourist attraction – nearly 3,000 people visited it each week – causing his neighbors, led by singer Ray Stevens, to file suit and prevail against Pierce to end the tours. • Illustration — Webb Pierce (East Coast Tour with Jerry Galloway) backstage at the Cedarwood Log Cabin – Southern New Jersey, probably fall 1974 He remained with Decca and its successor, MCA, well into the 1970s, but by 1977, he was recording for Plantation Records. Though he had occasional minor hits, charting in a 1982 duet with Willie Nelson, a remake of "In the Jailhouse Now", he spent his final years tending to his businesses, and his legend became clouded due to his reputation as a hard drinker. Webb and his daughter Debbie recorded the ballad "On My Way Out" as the Pierces, and she was a member of the country group Chantilly in the early 1980s. Pierce waged a long battle with heart failure and pancreatic cancer, dying on February 24, 1991, and was buried in the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville.

• Year — Album — US Country — Label — Cat No — EAN / UPC — Notes • 1955 — Webb Pierce — Decca • 1956 — The Wondering Boy • 1957 — Just Imagination • 1959 — Bound for the Kingdom • Webb! • 1960 — Webb with a Beat • Walking the Streets • 1961 — Webb Pierce's Golden Favorites • Fallen Angel • 1962 — Hideaway Heart • 1963 — Cross Country — 20 • I've Got a New Heartache • Bow Thy Head • 1964 — The Webb Pierce Story — 13 • Sands of Gold • 1965 — Memory No. 1 — 6 • Country Music Time • 1966 — Sweet Memories • Webb's Choice — 29 • 1967 — Where'd Ya Stay Last Night — 43 • 1968 — Fool Fool Fool • Saturday Night • 1969 — Webb Pierce Sings This Thing — 32 • 1970 — Love Ain't Never Gonna Be No Better — 42 • Merry Go Round World • 1971 — Road Show • 1972 — I'm Gonna Be a Swinger • 1979 — Faith, Hope and Love — Skylite • 1982 — In the Jailhouse Now (w/ Willie Nelson) — Columbia • 1990 — The Wondering Boy 1951–1958 — Bear Family Records — BCD15522 — 4000127155221 — 4-CD boxed set • 1994 — The Unavailable Sides 1950–1951 — Krazy Kat — KKCD16 — 0008637601621

• Year — Single — Chart Positions • US Country — US CB Country — US CB — US — CAN Country • 1951 — "Wondering" — 1 • 1952 — "That Heart Belongs to Me" — 1 • "Back Street Affair" — 1 • 1953 — "I'll Go On Alone" — 4 • "That's Me Without You" — 4 • "The Last Waltz" — 4 • "I Haven't Got the Heart" — 5 • "It's Been So Long" — 1 • "Don't Throw Your Life Away" — 9 • "There Stands the Glass" — 1 • "I'm Walking the Dog" — 3 • 1954 — "Slowly" — 1 • "Even Tho" — 1 • "Sparkling Brown Eyes" (w/ The Wilburn Brothers) — 4 • "More and More" — 1 — 22 • "You're Not Mine Anymore" — 4 • 1955 — "In the Jailhouse Now" — 1 • "I'm Gonna Fall Out of Love with You" — 10 • "I Don't Care" — 1 • "Your Good for Nothing Heart" — flip • "Love, Love, Love" — 1 • "If You Were Me" — 7 • 1956 — "Why Baby Why" (w/ Red Sovine) — 1 • "Yes I Know Why" — 2 • "'Cause I Love You" — 3 • "Little Rosa" (w/ Red Sovine) — 5 • "Any Old Time" — 7 • "We'll Find a Way" • "Teenage Boogie" — 10 • "I'm Really Glad You Hurt Me" — flip • 1957 — "I'm Tired" — 3 • "It's My Way" — flip • "Honky Tonk Song" — 1 • "Oh So Many Years" (w/ Kitty Wells) — 8 • "Someday" — 12 • "Bye Bye Love" — 7 — 73 • "Missing You" — 7 • "Holiday for Love" — 3 — 18 • "Don't Do It Darlin'" — 12 • 1958 — "One Week Later" (w/ Kitty Wells) — 12 • "Cryin' Over You" — 3 — 7 • "You'll Come Back" — 10 — 33 • "Falling Back to You" — 10 — 10 • "Tupelo County Jail" — 7 — 6 • 1959 — "I'm Letting You Go" — 22 — 31 • "Sittin' Alone" — 34 • "A Thousand Miles Ago" — 6 — 3 • "What Goes On In Your Heart" — 49 • "I Ain't Never" — 2 — 1 — 25 — 24 • "Shanghied" — 17 • 1960 — "No Love Have I" — 4 — 4 — 60 — 54 • "(Doin' the) Lovers Leap" — 17 — 9 — tag — 93 • "Is It Wrong (For Loving You)" — 11 — 15 — 117 — 69 • "Drifting Texas Sand" — 11 — 9 — 108 • "All I Need Is You" — 29 • "Fallen Angel" — 4 — 3 — 99 • 1961 — "Let Forgiveness In" — 5 — 5 • "There's More Pretty Girls Than One" — 44 — 118 • "Sweet Lips" — 3 — 2 • "Last Night" — 32 • "Walking the Streets" — 5 — 3 • "How Do You Talk to a Baby" — 7 — 6 • 1962 — "Alla My Love" — 5 — 3 • "You Are My Life" — 15 • "Crazy Wild Desire" — 8 — 3 • "Take Time" — 7 — 6 • "Cow Town" — 5 — 3 • "Sooner or Later" — 19 — 11 • 1963 — "How Come Your Dog Don't Bite Nobody But Me" (w/ Mel Tillis) — 25 — 12 • "Sawmill" — 15 — 5 • "If I Could Come Back" — 21 — 5 • "Sands of Gold" — 7 — 4 — 117 — 118 • "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine" — 5 — 147 • "If the Back Door Could Talk" — 13 — 7 • "Those Wonderful Years" — 9 — 8 • 1964 — "Waiting a Lifetime" — 25 — 28 • "Memory No. 1" — 2 — 1 • "French Riviera" — 29 — 126 • "Finally" (w/ Kitty Wells) — 9 — 7 — 2 • "He Made You For Me" (w/ Kitty Wells) — 44 • 1965 — "That's Where My Money Goes" — 26 — 11 • "Broken Engagement" — 46 — 40 • "Loving You Then Losing You" — 22 — 32 • "Who Do I Think I Am" — 13 — 28 • "Hobo and the Rose" — 50 — 25 • "Sweet Memories" — 13 • 1966 — "You Ain't No Better Than Me" — 46 — 55 • "Love's Something (I Can't Understand)" — 25 — 31 • "A Loner" — 60 • "Where'd Ya Stay Last Night" — 14 — 14 • 1967 — "Goodbye City, Goodbye Girl" — 39 — 40 • "Fool Fool Fool" — 6 — 3 — 5 • 1968 — "Luzianna" — 24 — 19 — 7 • "Stranger in a Strange, Strange City" — 26 — 31 • "In Another World" — 74 • "Saturday Night" — 22 — 25 — 25 • 1969 — "If I Had Last Night to Live Over" — 32 — 20 • "This Thing" — 14 — 17 — 17 • "Love Ain't Gonna Be No Better" — 38 — 52 • 1970 — "Merry-Go-Round World" — 71 — 65 • "The Man You Want Me to Be" — 56 — 36 • 1971 — "Showing His Dollar" — 73 • "Tell Him That You Love Him" — 31 — 21 • "Someone Stepped In (And Stole Me Blind)" — 73 — 62 • 1972 — "Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful" — 21 • "I'm Gonna Be a Swinger" — 54 — 65 • 1975 — "The Good Lord Giveth (And Uncle Sam Taketh Away)" — 57 — 32 • 1976 — "I've Got Leaving on My Mind" — 82 — 59 — 41 • 1982 — "In the Jailhouse Now" (w/ Willie Nelson) — 72 — 54

• Year — Single — Artist — US Country • 1985 — "One Big Family" — Heart of Nashville — 61