Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce,circa 1957
Background information
Birth name	Michael Webb Pierce
Born	(1921-08-08)August 8, 1921 West Monroe, Louisiana, United States
Died	February 24, 1991(1991-02-24) (aged 69) Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Country honky-tonk Western swing country gospel hillbilly
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	1936–1982
Labels	4 Star Decca MCA Plantation

Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991)^[1] was an Americancountry music vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number-one hits than any other country and western performer during the decade.

His biggest hit was thehonky-tonk-rooted "In the Jailhouse Now", which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one. Pierce also charted number one for several weeks each with his recordings of "Slowly" (1954), "Love, Love, Love" (1955), "I Don't Care" (1955), "There Stands the Glass" (1953), "More and More" (1954), "I Ain't Never" (1959), and his first number one, "Wondering", which stayed at the top spot for four of its 27 weeks' charting in 1952.

For many, Pierce, with his flamboyantNudie suits and twin silver dollar-lined convertibles, became the most recognizable face of country music of the era and its excesses.^[2] Pierce was a one-time member of theGrand Ole Opry and was posthumously inducted into theCountry Music Hall of Fame. Atribute album in his honor (produced by singer-songwriterGail Davies) was released in 2001 entitledCaught in the Webb – A Tribute to Country Legend Webb Pierce.

Pierce was born inWest Monroe, Louisiana, United States.^[1] As a boy, he was infatuated withGene Autry films and his mother's hillbilly records, particularly those ofJimmie Rodgers andWestern swing andCajun groups.^[2] 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, onKMLB-AM inMonroe.^[1]

He enlisted in the US Army Air Forces, and in 1942 he married Betty Jane Lewis.^[1] After he was discharged, the couple moved toShreveport, Louisiana, where Pierce worked in the men's department of aSears Roebuck store.^[1] In 1947, the couple appeared onKTBS-AM's morning show as "Webb Pierce with Betty Jane, the Singing Sweetheart".^[1] 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."^[1]

In 1949, California-based4 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.^[2] However, success only came for Pierce, and in the summer of 1950, the couple divorced.^[1]

He moved toKWKH-AM and joinedLouisiana Hayride during its first year,^[3] 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.^[4]

Pierce assembled and performed with a band of local Shreveport musicians, including pianistFloyd Cramer, guitarist-vocalistFaron Young, bassistTillman Franks, and vocalistsTeddy and Doyle Wilburn. He also founded a record label, Pacemaker, and Ark-La-Tex Music, a publishing company, with Horace Logan, the director of theHayride. On Pacemaker, Pierce made several records between 1950 and 1951 designed to attract radio play around Louisiana.^[2]

In 1951, Pierce got out of his 4 Star contract and was quickly signed byDecca Records.^[1] His second single, "Wondering", became his breakthrough hit, climbing to number one early in 1952.^[1] Pierce moved toNashville, Tennessee, where he met and married his second wife, Audrey Greisham.^[2] In June 1952, he had his second number-one single with "That Heart Belongs to Me".^[2]

In September 1952, theGrand Ole Opry needed to fill the vacancy left by the firing ofHank Williams, and Pierce was invited to join the cast.^[1] 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),^[5] 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 withKitty Wells.^[1] His 1954 recording of "Slowly" was one of the first country songs to include apedal steel guitar.^[3] He made regular appearances on ABC-TV'sOzark Jubilee, including as a guest host once a month during 1956. In 1958, he recorded arockabilly record, "The New Raunchy"/"I'll Get by Somehow" forDecca 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.^[6]

Pierce continued charting until 1982, with a total of 96 hits, and he toured extensively and appeared in the filmsBuffalo Gun,Music City USA,Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar, andThe Road to Nashville^[1]

As his music faded from the spotlight, Pierce became known for his excessive lifestyle. He had North Hollywood tailorNudie Cohen, who had made flamboyant suits for Pierce, line twoconvertibles with silver dollars.^[1] He built a $30,000 guitar-shaped swimming pool at his Nashville home,^[when?] which became a popular paid tourist attraction – nearly 3,000 people visited it each week – causing his neighbors, led by singerRay Stevens, to file suit and prevail against Pierce to end the tours.^[2]

He remained with Decca and its successor, MCA, well into the 1970s, but by 1977, he was recording forPlantation Records.^[1] Though he had occasional minor hits, charting in a 1982 duet withWillie Nelson, a remake of "In the Jailhouse Now",^[1] he spent his final years tending to his businesses, and his legend became clouded due to his reputation as a hard drinker.^{[3][dubious –discuss]} 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 pancreatic cancer, dying on February 24, 1991,^[1] and was buried in theWoodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville.^{[citation needed]}

Pierce has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 1600 Vine Street. He was inducted, posthumously, into theCountry Music Hall of Fame in October 2001 and into theLouisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Caught in the Webb–a Tribute to the Legendary Webb Pierce was released on Audium Records in 2001. Produced and arranged by singer-songwriterGail Davies, this album features Willie Nelson,Crystal Gayle,George Jones,Emmylou Harris,the Del McCoury Band,Charley Pride,Allison Moorer,Dwight Yoakam,Pam Tillis,Dale Watson,the Jordanaires,Gail Davies, and others. Gail Davies herself first charted in 1978 with "No Love Have I", a number-26Billboard Country hit that Pierce had recorded (and taken to number four) in 1959. Proceeds from this album were to benefit the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation.

Footage of Pierce singing "There Stands the Glass" was featured in the 2005 documentaryNo Direction Home byMartin Scorsese about early influences onBob Dylan. Pierce's hit single "More and More" was played in the title credits of the 2006 horror filmThe Hills Have Eyes.

• Webb Pierce atFind a Grave
• Webb Pierce recordings at theDiscography of American Historical Recordings.

• 1921 births
• 1991 deaths
• American country singer-songwriters
• American country guitarists
• American male guitarists
• Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
• People from West Monroe, Louisiana
• Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana
• Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Tennessee
• Grand Ole Opry members
• Four Star Records artists
• Decca Records artists
• Apex Records artists
• 20th-century American singer-songwriters
• 20th-century American guitarists
• Singer-songwriters from Louisiana
• Guitarists from Louisiana
• Country musicians from Louisiana
• 20th-century American male musicians
• United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
• American male singer-songwriters
• Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee)

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