Caught In The Webb: Tribute To Webb Pierce

by

Various Artists

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Gail Davies deserves credit and gratitude for this winning effort to revive the memory of a honkytonk pioneer. Webb Pierce's hardnosed business practices, which left him him few friends in Nashville, have had more to do with the neglect he's suffered since his death than the vibrant music he made in his prime. The latter, almost as much as Hank Williams's, helped define country, or at least the aching-heart barstool laments that today have almost vanished from the Nashville mainstream. Nobody here tries very hard to simulate Pierce's intense to over-the-top nasal yowl, and though nodding to Pierce's arrangements, the production never sounds less than modern in the best sense. With every artist clearly committed to the resurrection of Pierce's legacy, everything works, and not a false note sounds anywhere. Thus, each listener will have his or her favorite performance. To me the standouts are Emmylou Harris's "Wondering," Fulks and White's "Tupelo County Jail," and Willie Nelson's "That's Me Without You." Which is not to slight anybody or anything else. You don't have to know Pierce's originals to appreciate this fine recording. It's that rarity, a tribute album good enough to stand on its own.

I would really have liked to be able to say that this is a good album, but sadly it isn't. It has a lot of good ingredients, but they don't mix very well. The sound is murky, and almost every song sounds like it was recorded in a rush - and that applies to the choice of tempi as well. Allison Moorer's rendering of "Back street affair" is simply awful. Dwight Yoakam sounds like he is doing a parody of.....Dwight Yoakam, and about half of the other singers just try to mimick Webb Pierce's (unimitable) singing style. Most have chosen songs that do not fit their voices, and even George Jones has lost his "soul". There are few instrumental efforts that deserve any notice - even Weldon Myrick's steel playing sounds uninspired. And so on... OK, Mandy Barnett does fine, as does Willie Nelson, and it was nice hearing Crystal Gayle again, but my overall impression is that Webb Pierce's legacy deserves better.