Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce (born August 8, 1921 in West Monroe , Louisiana , † February 24, 1991 ) was an American country musician .
Life
Beginnings
Webb Pierce was already performing as a singer on a local radio station at the age of 15. After three years in the army, during which he also married, he moved to Shreveport in 1944 . Here he found a job as a shoe salesman at Sears, Roebuck . In the evenings he and his wife performed in the local club scene.
In Shreveport, the national radio station KWKH had recently launched the Louisiana Hayride country music show . In 1949 Pierce, meanwhile divorced, was given the opportunity to perform for the first time. During these years he recorded several records for the small Four Star label. He founded a band in which (at the time completely unknown) Floyd Cramer and Faron Young played. Soon Pierce had become an important draft horse of the Louisiana Hayride Show. Together with their manager, he founded his own label, for which he also made several records.
Career
In 1951 he switched to the Decca label. His first single, Wondering , reached number one on the country charts. He moved to Nashville and a year later he had his next top hit with That Heart Belongs To Me . In the same year he appeared for the first time in the Grand Ole Opry . After further record successes, the singer with the high, nasal voice moved up to the front row of the honky tonk stars. After Hank Williams ' death in 1953, he became the top-selling country music artist for several years.
Together with the manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Jim Denny , he founded the music publisher Cedarwood Music and participated in radio stations. As a businessman he was just as successful as a musician. In 1955 he left the Grand Ole Opry. The regular appearances had become a chore. Pierce also made a name for himself as an innovator. As the first big star, he used a pedal steel guitar for his hit Slowly in 1954 , which would soon become an unmistakable trademark of country music. In 1955 he had another big hit with Why Baby Why , which he sang in a duet with Red Sovine . The song was the best-selling country song of the year.
The sales of his records slowly decreased. In 1956 he tried his hand at teenage boogie as a rockabilly singer. The track, which was recorded with Jimmy Lee Fautheree on guitar, is now considered a rockabilly classic and reached number 10 on the country charts. In the sixties he switched from the honky tonk to the Nashville sound . Although the top spots on the country charts could no longer be reached, Webb Pierce continued to stay in business. In 1975 he left DECCA and signed with the Plantation label. He had his last hit in 1982 with In The Jailhouse Now, sung in a duet with Willie Nelson . It was his sixty-ninth hit parade placement.
Country star
After Pierce was increasingly marginalized by younger musicians in the sixties, he demonstrated what he believed to be a superstar status through an excessive lifestyle. Two luxury cars filled with silver dollars and a huge swimming pool shaped like a guitar were the most striking attributes. To the annoyance of his neighbors, hundreds of fans made the pilgrimage to his property every day to personally inspect the insignia of stardom.
In the country scene, too, his ostentatious lifestyle did not meet with approval everywhere. The well-deserved induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame was denied to him during his lifetime. After the personal commitment of some stars, above all Gail Davies , he was posthumously awarded this highest award in country music in 2001.
Webb Pierce, one of the most successful country musicians of all time and an important representative of the honky tonk style, died in 1991 of cancer.
Discography (albums)
- 1954 - More and More
- 1955 - Webb Pierce
- 1956 - The Wondering Boy
- 1957 - Just Imagination
- 1958 - Sing For You
- 1959 - Bound For Kingdom
- 1959 - The One And Only Webb Pierce
- 1960 - Walking The Streets
- 1960 - Webb With A Beat!
- 1961 - Fallen Angle
- 1962 - Cross Country
- 1962 - Hideaway Heart
- 1963 - Bow They Head
- 1963 - I've Got A New Heart Ache
- 1964 - Sands Of Gold
- 1965 - Country Music Time
- 1965 - Memory Number One
- 1966 - Bugle Call From Heaven
- 1966 - Sweet Memories
- 1966 - Webb's Choice
- 1967 - Where'd Ya Stay Last Night?
- 1968 - Country Songs
- 1968 - Fool, Fool, Fool
- 1969 - Saturday Night
- 1969 - Webb Pierce Sings This Thing
- 1970 - Country Favorites
- 1970 Love Ain't Never Go Better
- 1970 - Merry-Go-Round World
- 1971 - Webb Pierce Road Show
- 1973 - I'm Gonna Be A Swinger
- 1977 - Faith, Hope And Love
- 1982 - In The Jailhouse Now
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pierce, Webb |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | West Monroe , Louisiana |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 24, 1991 |