Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce ( born August 8, 1921 in West Monroe, Louisiana; † 24 February 1991) was an American country musician.
Life
Webb Pierce has appeared at the age of 15 years as a singer in a local radio station. After a three-year Army time in which he also married, he moved to Shreveport in 1944. Here he found a job as a shoe salesman at Sears, Roebuck. In the evening he appeared together with his wife in on the local club scene.
In the Shreveport -regional radio station KWKH had recently launched the country music show Louisiana Hayride in life. 1949 was Pierce, meanwhile divorced, the first opportunity to a gig. During these years he took on some records for the little Four Star label. He formed a band in which (which at that time completely unknown ) Floyd Cramer and Faron Young participated. Soon Pierce had become a major driving force of the Louisiana Hayride show. Together with their manager, he founded his own label for which he recorded some plates.
Career
In 1951 he moved to the Decca label. His first single, Wondering, reached number one on the country charts. He moved to Nashville and had a year later with That Heart Belongs To Me his next top hit. In the same year he first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. After another plate successes of the singer moved with the high, nasal voice on the first row of the Honky Tonk stars. After Hank Williams' death in 1953, he was for several years the top-selling artists of country music.
Together with the manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Jim Denny, he founded the music publishing Cedarwood Music and participated in radio stations. As a businessman, he was equally successful as a musician. In 1955 he left the Grand Ole Opry. The regular appearances had become a chore. Pierce was also reflected as an innovator a name. As the first major star, he continued in 1954 with his hit Slowly a pedal steel guitar, which it should be an unmistakable hallmark of country music soon. In 1955, he was with Why Baby Why, he sang in a duet with Red Sovine, again recorded a big hit. The song was the best-selling country song of the year.
The sales of his records subsided slowly. In 1956 he tried his hand with Teenage Boogie Rockabilly singer. The title that was recorded with Jimmy Lee Fautheree on guitar, is now regarded as classics of Rockabilly music and reached number 10 on the country charts. In the sixties, he moved from honky tonk to the Nashville sound. Although the front seats on the country charts could not be reached, Webb Pierce remained in business. In 1975 he left Decca and signed with the Plantation label. He had his last hit in 1982 with the duet sung with Willie Nelson In The Jailhouse Now. It was his sixty-ninth singles chart placement.
Country star
After Pierce was pushed into the sixties by younger musicians increasingly to the edge, he demonstrated to him his opinion deserves superstar status by an excessive lifestyle. Two studded with silver-dollar luxury car and a huge swimming pool in guitar shape were most striking attributes. Daily pilgrimage to the annoyance of his neighbors hundreds of fans to his estate, to take the trappings of stardom personally inspected.
Also in the country music scene met his ostentatious lifestyle is not anywhere in reciprocal love. The well-deserved inclusion in the Country Music Hall of Fame was denied him during his lifetime. After personal use of some stars, led by Gail Davies, he was awarded posthumously in 2001, this highest award of the country music.
Webb Pierce, one of the most successful country artist of all time and a major representative of the honky- tonk style, died in 1991 of cancer.