His biggest hit was "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 flamboyant Nudie suits and twin silver dollar-lined convertibles, became the most recognizable face of country music of the era and its excesses. Pierce was a one-time member of the Grand Ole Opry and was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Born in West Monroe, Louisiana in 1921, as a boy Pierce was infatuated with Gene Autry films and his mother's hillbilly records, particularly those of Jimmie Rodgers and Western swing and Cajun groups. 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, on KMLB-AM in Monroe.
He enlisted in the US Army, and in 1942 he married Betty Jane Lewis. After he was discharged, the couple moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where Pierce worked in the men's department of a Sears Roebuck store. In 1947, the couple appeared on KTBS-AM's morning show as "Webb Pierce with Betty Jane, the Singing Sweetheart". Pierce also performed at local engagements, developing his unique style that was once described to be "a wailing whiskey-voiced tenor that wrang out every drop of emotion."
In 1949, California-based 4 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. However, success only came for Pierce, and in the summer of 1950, the couple divorced.
He moved to KWKH-AM and joined Louisiana Hayride during its first year 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.
Pierce assembled and performed with a band of local Shreveport musicians, including pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist-vocalist Faron Young, bassist Tillman Franks and vocalists Teddy and Doyle Wilburn. He also founded a record label, Pacemaker; and Ark-La-Tex Music, a publishing company, with Horace Logan, the director of the Hayride. On Pacemaker, Pierce made several records between 1950 and 1951 designed to attract radio play around Louisiana.
In 1951, Pierce got out of his 4 Star contract and was quickly signed by Decca Records. His second single, "Wondering", became his breakthrough hit, climbing to No. 1 early in 1952. Pierce moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he met and married his second wife, Audrey Greisham. In June 1952, he had his second No. 1 single with "That Heart Belongs to Me".
In September 1953, the Grand Ole Opry needed to fill the vacancy left by the firing of Hank Williams, and Pierce was invited to join the cast. After Williams' death, he became the most popular singer in country music; for the next four years, every single he released hit the top ten, with ten reaching No. 1, including "There Stands the Glass" (1953), "Slowly" (1954), "More and More" (1954), and "In the Jailhouse Now" (1955). His singles spent 113 weeks at No. 1 during the 1950s, when he charted 48 singles. Thirty-nine reached the top ten, 26 reached the top four and 13 hit No. 1.
Other hits included "Back Street Affair", "Why Baby Why", "Oh, So Many Years", and "Finally"; the latter two being duets with Kitty Wells. His 1954 recording of "Slowly" was one of the first country songs to include a pedal steel guitar.[2] He made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee including as a guest host once a month during 1956. In 1958, he recorded a rockabilly record, "The New Raunchy"/"I'll Get by Somehow" for Decca under the name Shady Wall. (Shady Wall (1922–1985) was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and a banker from West Monroe. It is not known if Pierce knew the political Wall or merely made up the name for the record and was unaware of the actual Shady Wall.)
On February 19, 1957, Pierce resigned from the Opry after he refused to pay commissions on bookings and for associated talent.
Pierce continued charting until 1982 with a total of 96 hits; and he toured extensively and appeared in the movies Buffalo Guns, Music City USA, Second Fiddle To A Steel Guitar, and Road To Nashville.
As his music faded from the spotlight, Pierce became known for his excessive lifestyle. He had North Hollywood tailor Nudie Cohen, who had made flamboyant suits for Pierce, line two convertibles with silver dollars. He built a $30,000 guitar-shaped swimming pool at his Nashville home which became a popular paid tourist attraction—nearly 3,000 people visited it each week—causing his neighbors, led by singer Ray Stevens, to file suit and prevail against Pierce to end the tours.
He remained with Decca and its successor, MCA, well into the 1970s, but by 1977 he was recording for Plantation Records. Even though he had occasional minor hits, charting in a 1982 duet with Willie Nelson, a remake of "In the Jailhouse Now," he spent his final years tending to his businesses, and his legend became clouded due to his reputation as a hard drinker. Webb and 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, which he lost on February 24, 1991, and was buried in the Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville.
Pierce has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1600 Vine Street. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 2001 and into the Louisiana 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-songwriter Gail Davies, this album features Willie Nelson, Crystal Gayle, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, The Del McCoury Band, Charlie Pride, Allison Moorer, Dwight Yoakam, Pam Tillis, The Jordanaires and other great artists. Proceeds go to benefit The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation. Ms. Davies herself first charted in 1978 with "No Love Have I," a No. 26 Billboard Country hit that Pierce had recorded (and taken to No. 4) in 1959.
Footage of Pierce singing "There Stands the Glass" was featured in the 2005 documentary No Direction Home by Martin Scorsese about early influences on Bob Dylan. Pierce's hit single "More and More" was played in the title credits of 2006 horror film, The Hills Have Eyes.
Love Love Love
Webb Pierce Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm beginnin' to think you don't love me at all
But you are still my, baby
I want the whole world to know
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me
Your love don't mean a thing
But I keep hopin' someday
If you'll see same things my way
You'll make the weddin' bells ring
Then I'll have you to keep me gay
We'll be alone both night and day
So tell everybody
I want the whole world to know
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
Life's just too short to fuss and fight
If you'll trust in me, well, I'll treat you right
So tell everybody
I want the whole world to know
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me
That I'm just a fool
Your love don't mean a thing
But I keep hopin' someday
If you'll see same things my way
You'll make the weddin' bells ring
Then I'll have you to keep me gay
We'll be alone both night and day
So tell everybody
I want the whole world to know
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
In Webb Pierce's song "Love Love Love," the singer expresses his love for someone who he thinks might not love him back. He reveals that sometimes he cries when this person doesn't call him and that he is beginning to think they don't love him at all. Despite this, he still professes his love for them and wants the whole world to know. The lyrics also reveal that the singer's friends are trying to tell him that he's a fool for believing that the person he loves loves him back. However, he remains hopeful that someday they will see things his way and marry him, and he will have them to keep him happy.
The lyrics in "Love Love Love" is a common theme in many romance songs where one person loves the other, and they're uncertain if their love is reciprocated. The singer highlights this insecurity by writing that he cries when his love interest doesn't call him, which shows his vulnerability. He's willing to risk being seen as a fool by confessing his love to someone who may not feel the same way. The fear of being hurt and rejected is evident as he's seeking validation by wanting the world to know how he feels.
In conclusion, the song "Love Love Love" is about unrequited love and one's struggle to deal with that fact. The singer is vulnerable and afraid of rejection but remains hopeful for a future where his love interest will see things his way.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes I cry when you don't call
There are moments when I feel really sad and even shed tears because I haven't heard from you in a while.
I'm beginnin' to think you don't love me at all
The lack of communication from you makes me wonder if you truly have feelings for me.
But you are still my, baby
Despite my doubts, I still consider you as my significant other.
I want the whole world to know
I am proud of my feelings for you, and I don't want to hide it from anyone.
I just love, love, love, love, love you, love you so
My affection for you is so strong that I need to repeat and emphasize it a lot.
Friends are tryin' to tell me
My friends are attempting to warn me and protect me from getting hurt.
That I'm just a fool
They believe that I am acting foolishly by remaining invested in a relationship that seems one-sided.
Your love don't mean a thing
They think that your actions show that you don't care about me at all.
But I keep hopin' someday
Despite their warnings, I still hold on to the hope that you'll change and start loving me back.
If you'll see same things my way
I hope that someday you'll understand my perspective and see things the way I see them.
You'll make the weddin' bells ring
I am so committed to you that I envision marrying you someday and sharing our love with the world even more.
Then I'll have you to keep me gay
If all my hopes come true, having you in my life will keep me happy and fulfilled.
We'll be alone both night and day
I look forward to spending every moment with you and enjoying our time together.
Life's just too short to fuss and fight
I realize that life is too short, and I don't want to spend it arguing or being unhappy.
If you'll trust in me, well, I'll treat you right
If you can believe in me and trust me, I promise to show you the love and respect you deserve.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: TED JARRETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@danielburns987
this song went to #1 on the country charts in 1955!!!
@webbjr37
The original of Webb's Big Hit from around 54 or so, Webb rerecorded it later and took out the word gay. The #1 hit maker of the 50s
@webbjr37
One of Webb's very best
@lamper2
Ted Jarret wrote "you can make it if you try" which every old guy here remembers by a rock band who is still touring NOW!
@INDYOSKARS
The Rolling Stones ! I didn´t know he wrote that one, a good one.
@crocks2871
Sometimes I cry when you don't call
I'm beginnin' to think you don't love me at all
But you are still my baby I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me that I'm just a fool your love don't mean a thing
But I keep hoping someday if you'll see same things my way
You'll make the weddin' bells ring
Then I'll have you to keep me gay we'll be alone both night and day
So tell everybody I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
( fiddle )
Life's just too short to fuss and fight
If you'll trust in me well I'll treat you right
So tell everybody I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me...
I just love love love love love you love you so
@crocks2871
Sometimes I cry when you don't call
I'm beginnin' to think you don't love me at all
But you are still my baby I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me that I'm just a fool your love don't mean a thing
But I keep hoping someday if you'll see same things my way
You'll make the weddin' bells ring
Then I'll have you to keep me gay we'll be alone both night and day
So tell everybody I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
Life's just too short to fuss and fight
If you'll trust in me well I'll treat you right
So tell everybody I want the whole world to know
I just love love love love love you love you so
Friends are tryin' to tell me...
I just love love love love love you love you so