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.
Oh So Many Years
Webb Pierce Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No one has ever known,
No one has ever known but you alone.
I've kept it locked inside my heart
And smiled through all my tears,
My darling I have loved you,
Oh so many years.
I cried dear over you,
And prayed to God that things would turn out right.
But when the dawn of day appears
I brush away my tears,
My darling I have loved you,
Oh so many years.
I'll go on pretending that my life is all so gay,
And happy dear without you by my side,
When all the time my heart is longing
Just to have you near,
My darling I have loved you,
Oh so many years.
Maybe fate will lead us down a path
Where we will meet again,
And then we'll both be free to love anew.
Then one sweet kiss from your dear lips
Will banish all my fears,
My darling I have loved you,
Oh so many years.
The song Oh So Many Years by Webb Pierce is a ballad about deep longing and unrequited love. The lyrics reveal the singer's story of loving someone for many years without ever telling them about it. He has kept his love locked inside his heart and has gone through life pretending to be happy without this special person by his side. However, deep down, he is filled with sorrow and has cried many nights over this person, hoping that things would turn out right.
Despite the singer's attempts to forget about this person, he cannot help but think about them and long for their love. He dreams of the day they will be reunited and can finally be together. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer believing that they will meet again, and if fate allows it, they can start anew and finally love each other without fear.
The lyrics are simple yet powerful as they evoke feelings of longing, hope, and unrequited love. The emotional delivery of Webb Pierce's voice adds to the depth and intensity of the lyrics, making it a timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
All these many years I've loved you
For a long time now, I have been in love with you
No one has ever known,
I have kept my feelings for you a secret, unknown to others
No one has ever known but you alone.
Only you know about my feelings for you; it's just between us
I've kept it locked inside my heart
I have hidden my love for you deep in my heart
And smiled through all my tears,
Despite my pain, I put on a brave face and pretended everything was okay
My darling I have loved you,
My dearest, I have been in love with you
Oh so many years.
For such a long time
Each night within my lonely room
Every night alone in my room
I cried dear over you,
I wept for you
And prayed to God that things would turn out right.
I prayed that our situation would improve
But when the dawn of day appears
When morning comes
I brush away my tears,
I try to hide my sadness
My darling I have loved you,
My dearest, I have been in love with you
Oh so many years.
For such a long time
I'll go on pretending that my life is all so gay,
I will continue to pretend that my life is happy
And happy dear without you by my side,
That I am content without you beside me
When all the time my heart is longing
But in reality, I yearn for you
Just to have you near,
Just to be close to you
My darling I have loved you,
My dearest, I have been in love with you
Oh so many years.
For such a long time
Maybe fate will lead us down a path
Perhaps destiny will guide us in a certain direction
Where we will meet again,
And we will see each other once more
And then we'll both be free to love anew.
At that time, we will both be available to love again
Then one sweet kiss from your dear lips
If that happens, and I get a chance to kiss you
Will banish all my fears,
All my worries and anxieties will disappear
My darling I have loved you,
My dearest, I have been in love with you
Oh so many years.
For such a long time
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: FRANKIE BAILES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ruth Boykin
Songs don't get much more beautiful than this! Two of the very best! Thank you for having this!
Rowena Dunlop
Love the harmony, Kitty and Webb sang so well together!!
Aloise Mason
True Legends of country music and never forgotten..what beautiful voices and every performance is sensational..Such fantastic music and the band is great..Those guitars sound so perfect with the beautiful flowing of these legends singing..thank you
Robert Reimer
Great song by two country music legends.
Gordon Laboucane
Such great music!!!!!
Shirley Hall
This is so beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing.
dave bob
REAL Country and Western music, the way it used to was and the way it oughta be now! Thanks for posting it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
earl slot
a classic, wish we had more of it
Mizraim Flores
This song is beautiful, it touches my heart
Sonny Dave
Excellent real country. Carl Butler and Pearl also have a great version of the song.