Caught in the Webb - A Tribute to the Legendary Webb Pierce

"I've been blessed with so much. I guess it turned out the way I wanted it." Webb Pierce

"There should be an entrance exam for young country artists," Gail Davies says with a smile "They should at least know who Ray Price, Webb Pierce and Carl Smith are. Be familiar with Kitty Wells, Goldie Hill, Rose Maddox, Maddox Brothers... A little bit of history so they can appreciate who they are and what they are. If you think about it, you’d never get into a college to major in a subject you didn’t know 'diddley-squat' about."

If the major was Webb Pierce, Gail Davies would graduate at the head of the class. She knows her stats by heart. "96 charted records, 58 top tens, 13 number ones, 68 million albums sold"

It's not just the rote recitation of facts that makes Gail Davies a shoe-in for class valedictorian. Make no doubt about it, this is a woman knows exactly why she put the time and effort into making sure that Webb Pierce's musical legacy is passed on to the next generation. Caught in the Webb scheduled for release January 8th, 2002 on Audium Records is a musical history lesson. "I would like to make sure that the generation that is coming behind is going to know who Webb Pierce is. I don't want him to fall through the cracks. To turn on a whole new generation to his music. I'm hoping that people who love Dale Watson and Robbie Fulks will go out and buy it and go 'Wow!'."

The music of Webb Pierce has impacted the life of Gail Davies many times over the years. The connection began early. "When I was a kid my dad was on the Louisiana Hayride, back in the days when Webb Pierce and all those guys were around, down in Shreveport." she recalls. "My mom and he broke up when I was about five and I moved up to Washington state with her and my brother. My step-dad had found a Wurlitzer jukebox that he bought for my mother and filled it with country records, because that’s what she loved. They would have parties and the favorite record that they would play over and over again was Webb Pierce’s 'Wondering'. After that, they had every Webb Pierce album that he ever did. I grew up listening to his music and that had a major influence on my life."

While a young Gail Davies was sitting in her home in Washington listening to his music, Webb's career was taking sharp upswing. In 1952 he released 'Wondering', virtually unknown pre-war song that had been written and recorded in 1936 by fellow Louisianan, Joe Werner and the Riverside Ramblers. The song would spend four weeks at number one. 

Gail's first thought was that George Jones would be the ideal artist to sing 'Wondering' on the album. "I thought it would be perfect for him, but his favorite Webb Pierce song was 'Yes I Know Why' and of course George can do whatever George wants to do." she laughs. As a result of a chance meeting, ironically, at the opening of the Country Music Hall of Fame it's Emmylou Harris that you hear breathtakingly recapturing the enduring grace of 'Wondering'.

The success of 'Wondering' soon had Webb moving to Nashville where he replaced Hank Williams on the Grand Ol' Opry. 1953 brought an amazing string of 8 hit singles to the charts including 'Back Street Affair' and a 12 week stay at #1 with 'There Stands the Glass'  

In 1954 Webb's innovative recording of 'Slowly I'm Falling' made country music history as he introduced the pedal steel guitar. Although the pedals had been used in previous recordings, never before had they been such a focal point. 

"I was going to do Slowly, I'm Falling and then I thought 'No, it would be a great signature song', so I gave it to Mandy Barnett." Gail adds "I used to produce her on Liberty when she fourteen and I've kind of watched her grow up." As usual, Mandy effortlessly nails the song, wrapping her smoky, torch-tinged vocals around the ageless lyrics.

By the mid 50's, Webb was confronted with the beginning of rock and roll - always true to himself, he made adjustments but no compromises - choosing instead to demonstrate his versatility while remaining steadfastly country. His rebirth of Jimmie Rodger's In The Jailhouse Now merged his country hillbilly roots with the now flourishing rockabilly sound of the 1950s. Dale Watson pays a fitting honky-tonk tribute to Webb with the same song, backed by none other than newly inducted Hall of Famer's, The Jordanaires. The song is scheduled to be the album's first single release.

Despite unprecedented success in a career that spanned over 4 decades Webb Pierce, until this year, had gone notably unrecognized, unacknowledged and unappreciated. "I think he wasn’t appreciated by the executives in the industry, because he was one of the first artists to start his own record company and his own publishing company, and pretty much beat them at their own game." Gail shares.

"He was one of the first artists to sign writers to write specifically for him." she continues "He was a brilliant writer and he co-wrote quite a few songs. He was a brilliant businessman. He was very outspoken, said what he thought and people didn’t like that. In Nashville they want you to be ‘nice’ whether you mean it or not. Webb was the type of person that would tell you right to your face what he thought. People want to believe that artists are like God, saints, and that’s ridiculous. Some of the most vicious people I know in the business put on the best faces you ever saw in your life. So if Webb told it like it was, God bless him."

On October 4th, 2001, ten years after his death and fifty years after his first hit record, Webb Pierce was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

It wasn't just Webb Pierce's personality that was straight shooting. He also had an uncanny knack for keeping his music simple and straightforward, letting neither the lyrics nor the music overpower each other. That natural simplicity was something Gail strived for with Caught in the Webb. "Brilliant, raw, untuned, untamed and primitive but always honest and from the heart."

Working with 20 artists over a 2 day period on June 11 and 12th, Gail adamantly protected the honesty of Webb's legacy. 

"I said this was going to be a live to tape. You get two chances to do vocal tracks and and that's it. If you can nail it great, if you can't, don't come." she shares "Years ago I heard a story about Persian rugs and how when they're making them they always make a mistake at the very last because they believe that no human is perfect, and they leave one error in every Persian rug." 

"I don't want to hear music that's perfect. I want to hear music that's made by human beings. I want to hear the blood, the energy, and all the things that make it wonderful, that make it imperfect. The fact that people can go in and Pro Tool, fine tune and fix, cut and patch, I don't like it. It's not the way I want to do music."

The multiplicity of talent, ages (18 to 76) and styles was intentional. "We tried to have a lot of diversity on the record. We wanted a lot of different age groups, a lot of different genres, we wanted people who had been influenced from totally different directions by Webb Pierce and I think we've got that."

Also intentional was the inclusion of artists not heard from in awhile. "These are the people that I think are multi-talented and have definitely been ignored by this industry for this reason or that. I knew how talented Lionel Cartwright was and he came in and just nailed his song. Billy Walker, the same thing. Billy is a wonderful singer." Indeed both Cartwright and Walker's contributions are memorable.

Proceeds from the sale of the album will go to two noteworthy causes. The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation and the Country Music Hall of Fame. "I chose the Minnie Pearl Foundation because Webb died of cancer. We've lost a whole lot of people just this year to cancer in Nashville. It just seemed like the right thing to do" 

Gail is aware that the Hall of Fame donation will raise a few eyebrows. "A lot of people get angry for who's not in there, but they just house the plaques.' she asserts "They don't choose who gets in there. That's done by the CMA." Now that Webb's been rightfully recognized who does Gail think deserves to be next? "I think that we should all get on a campaign this year, to make sure Carl Smith is in there next year!" she says without hesitation.

Plans are underway by the Minnie Pearl Foundation for a benefit concert in late spring at the Ryman auditorium. There are plans to try and get as many of the artists there as possible, and there are hopes of negotiations to have CMT broadcast the event.

Thanks to Gail Davies, country music fans (those who have forgotten and those who never knew) can experience the golden era of honky tonk with the timelessness of Webb Pierce's music as it transcends generations and withstands the tests of time. 

Caught in the Webb pays a long overdue tribute to a country music legend with simple dignity, with country music written at a time when honky tonk reigned supreme, and with the finest of yesterday's classics given new breath by a new generation of country music legends and rebels.

Caught in the Webb - a little bit of Honky Tonk Heaven.

"Most girls grow up wanting to be Patsy Cline, I grew up wanting to be Webb Pierce." - Gail Davies

Track List

Dale Watson/Jordanaires: In The Jailhouse Now

Mandy Barnett: Slowly I'm Falling

Charley Pride: I'm Tired

Rosie Flores/Jordanaires: I Ain't Never

George Jones: Yes I Know Why

Dwight Yoakam: If You Were Me

Emmylou Harris: Wondering

Robbie Fulks/Joy Lynn White: Tupelo County Jail

Allison Moorer: Back Street Affair

Matt King: Even Tho'

Crystal Gayle: More and More

The Del Mcoury Band: I'm Walking The Dog

Lionel Cartwright: That Heart Belongs To Me

Guy Clark/Jordanaires: Honky Tonk Song

Gail Davies: Love, Love, Love

Willie Nelson: That's Me Without You

BR549: There Stands The Glass

Billy Walker/Carol Lee Singers: I Don't Care

Kevin Welch/Deborah Pierce: Why Baby Why

Trent Summar: It's Been So Long

Pam Tillis/Jordanaires: No Love Have I