Biography of Webb Pierce

A Louisiana native, Webb Pierce first found fame on Shreveport's KWKH, home of the Louisiana Hayride, where he quickly became a popular performer, recording two hits during this period, "Wondering" and "Back Street Affair," the latter prompting an answer song from Miss Kitty Wells, "Paying for That Back Street Affair." Quickly he moved on to the Opry, where (with his high and nasal tenor) he gained fame for singing honky-tonk songs that stayed sung. "Slowly," a 1954 hit, is the first to feature a pedal guitar (played by Buddy Isaacs). In 1955 he had three #1s, and a year later "Why Baby Why," a duet with Red Sovine, charted high. Though Pierce charted in 1982 in a duet with Willie Nelson that covered "In the Jailhouse Now" (by Jimmie Rodgers), changes in music taste left a lot of lean years after the heights he reached in the 50s. When he died in 1991, he left a legacy of authentic, well-done honky-tonk music, many of the songs having been written by Pierce himself. Though Pierce never quite managed to be what people expected -- the next Hank Williams -- he had enough success (32 hits from his debut record to 1960) to be fondly remembered by fans who like their music gritty and sparse in instrumentation. His "There Stands the Glass" of 1952 remains the beer-drinker's anthem. And he really did have a guitar-shaped swimming pool, with bridge, sound hole, and strings visible on the bottom. ~ David Vinopal