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Produced by Gail Davies for Little Chickadee Productions,
Caught In The Webb pays tribute
to a personal favourite artiste of mine, Webb Pierce, one of
the most flamboyant singers of his day and innovator of the
honk-tonk sound. Webb Pierce developed a style that was so readily
identifiable that he was ones described as "a wailing whiskey-voiced
tenor that rang out every drop of emotion".
Born in West Monroe, Louisiana in 1921, Pierce learned to
play guitar and at the age of 15 years had his own radio show
on KMLB, Monroe. In the early 50's Webb landed a spot on the
Louisiana Hayride and took on several talented sidemen of the
likes of Faron Young, Goldie Hill, Floyd Cramer and Jimmy Day.
His growing popularity drew the interest of Decca Records in
1951 and in 1952 'Wandering'
his third release for Decca hit the Top spot on the charts.
This was the start of Webb Pierce's phenomenal climb to success,
which in two decades saw major country hits in every year, 24
consecutive number-one songs, 7 songs simultaneously making
the Top-12 list in 1954, over 40 million records sold, being
voted seven times top country singer and starring in 4 movies.
Webb Pierce scored his last Top-10 hit in 1967 with 'Fool,
Fool, Fool' which is superbly taken on here by Gail Davies
herself.
In 1978 Webb underwent heart surgery, in 1990 he was diagnosed
with cancer and after undergoing several operations Web Pierce
finally died on 24th October 1991 at his home in Nashville.
Webb was nominated for membership of the Country Music Hall
Of Fame in August 1990 and though expected to be elected, it
was not until October 2001 that Web Pierce was inducted into
the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville.
Caught In The Web brings 21 tracks with the cream of country
music artistes taking part in this project of which the sales
proceeds will benefit the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation and
The Country Music Hall Of Fame Museum.
Dale Watson opens with Pierce's #1 hit from 1955 'In
Jailhouse Now', which Webb Pierce also charted as a duet
with Willie Nelson in 1982. Mandy Barnett continues with a heartfelt
version of the 1954 #1 'Slowly',
while Charlie Pride extends his own inimitable elegance to 'I'm
Tired'. We find Rosie Flores telling us 'I
Ain't Never', while George Jones declares 'Yes
I Know Why', I want to cry, it's over you!
Dwight Yoakam's unique vocals are equally matched by Gail
Davies' own distinctive harmonies for 'If
You Were Me (And I Were You)'. Emmylou Harris effectively
covers 'Wandering' and Alison Moorer
can be heard with Webb's self-penned 'Back
Street Affair' (which was answered by Kitty Wells in
1953 with 'Paying for That Back Street Affair'). Crystal Gayle
offers 'More And More', while The
Del McCoury Band include a bluegrass version of 'I'm
Walking The Dog'. His friend and band mate Mickey Raphael
on harmonica joins Willie Nelson for 'That's
Me Without You' and Billy Walker is here with 'I
Don't Care'. Lionel Cartwright delights with another
Pierce's #1 hit 'That Heart Belongs To
Me' and Guy Clark has the place rockin' all night with
the 'Honky Tonk Song', but my own
all time favourite from Webb Pierce, sees BR549 present a thrilling
version of 'There Stands The Glass'.
In all, 23 vocalists join a host of talented musicians who
are all Caught In The Web. Just
a few include, masters of the art Hoot Hester and Kenny Sears
creating the sensational twin fiddle sound. Johnny Cox, Mike
Daly, Stu Basore and Weldon Myrick can be found on pedal steel.
On a variety of guitars we find Kenny Vaughn, Pat Bergeson,
Mark Webb, Harold Bradley and Gail's son Chris Scruggs and of
course her husband Rob Price on bass. Caught
In The Webb is a remarkable tribute to one of the best
loved artistes in country music and with Gail Davies touring
the UK over February and March, you have no excuse to get your
own copy of an album that I'm confident will be one of the best
releases of 2002.
available in record shops in the UK via Proper
Distribution
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