Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Drifting Texas Sand
2. If Crying Would Make You Care
3. California Blues [Blue Yodel No. 4]
4. You Scared the Love Right Out of Me
5. New Silver Bells
6. Wondering
7. You Know I'm Still in Love With You
8. I'm Gonna See My Baby Tonight
9. That Heart Belongs to Me
10. I Just Can't Be True
11. So Used to Loving You
12. I Haven't Got the Heart
13. Slowly
14. Last Waltz
15. Bow Thy Head
16. Country Church
17. I Haven't Got the Heart
18. I'll Always Take Care of You
19. Back Street Affair
20. I'm Only Wishin'
21. I'll Go on Alone
22. That's Me Without You
23. Broken Engagement
24. We'll Find a Way
25. It's Been So Long
26. Don't Throw Your Life Away
27. Too Late to Worry Now
28. There Stands the Glass

Disc 2:

1. There's a Better Home
2. Mother Call My Name in Prayer
3. I'm Walking the Dog
4. You Just Can't Be True
5. Slowly
6. Broken Engagement
7. Slowly
8. Even Tho'
9. Sparkling Brown Eyes - Webb Pierce, The Wilburn Brothers
10. Bugle Call from Heaven
11. Thank You, Dear Lord
12. Kneel at the Cross
13. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
14. You're Not Mine Anymore
15. I'm Gonna Fall Out of Love With You
16. Your Good for Nothing Heart
17. Just Imagination
18. I Love You Dear
19. More and More
20. I Found Someone That's True (I'm Really Glad You Hurt Me)
21. Waltz You Saved for Me - Webb Pierce,
22. One Day Later - Webb Pierce,
23. In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves
24. Sneakin' All Around
25. I Don't Care
26. Just How Long
27. Yes, I Know Why (I Want to Cry)
28. Little Rosa - Webb Pierce, Red Sovine

Disc 3:

1. Call Me Your Sweetheart
2. If You Were Me (And I Were You)
3. Love, Love, Love
4. Why Baby Why - Webb Pierce, Red Sovine
5. Yes, I Know Why (I Want to Cry)
6. I Found a True Love
7. 'Cause I Love You
8. Little Rosa - Webb Pierce, Red Sovine
9. Let Forgiveness In
10. Any Old Time
11. You Make Love to Everyone
12. We'll Find a Way
13. Teenage Boogie
14. I'm Really Glad You Hurt Me (I Found Someone That's True)
15. Teenage Boogie
16. Oh, So Many Years - Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells
17. One Week Later - Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells
18. When I'm With You - Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells
19. Can You Find It in Your Heart - Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells
20. Cryin' over You
21. I'm Tired
22. It's My Way - Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells
23. Someday
24. Honky Tonk Song
25. I Care No More
26. Don't Be the One
27. Bye Bye Love
28. Missing You
29. Let Forgiveness In
30. Who Wouldn't Love You?

Disc 4:

1. New Panhandle Rag
2. I Know It Was You
3. Don't Do It Darlin'
4. Holiday for Love
5. How Long
6. New Raunchy
7. I'll Get by Somehow
8. English Sweetheart
9. Down Panama Way
10. Foreign Love
11. You'll Come Back
12. New Love Affair
13. Falling Back to You
14. Sittin' Alone
15. I'm Letting You Go
16. Tupelo County Jail
17. Waiting a Lifetime
18. True Love Never Dies
19. I Think of You
20. I Won't Be Crying Anymore
21. I Owe It to My Heart
22. Violet and the Rose
23. After the Boy Gets the Girl
24. You Make Me Live Again
25. Crazy Arms
26. Pick Me Up on Your Way Down
27. Life to Go
28. My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167080 in Music
• Released on: 1990-09-15
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import
• Dimensions: 1.95 pounds

Customer Reviews

A huge country music star of the fifties
I bought this box within a year or two of its original release in the nineties and I got just what I expected. At one time, Bear Family had a tendency to include an excessive number of alternate takes, but while they've included a few here, there aren't enough to put anybody off. Four different versions of one of Webb's biggest hits (Slowly) may seem excessive, but they do illustrate the perfectionist in Webb. He was quite content to leave a song in the vaults if he wasn't satisfied with the recording, then return to it at a later date and try doing it in a slightly different way.

This set contains everything that Webb recorded for Decca from signing with them in 1951 up to the end of 1958. During that period, he had a long string of country hits, forty altogether including thirteen number ones (Wondering, That heart belongs to me, Back street affair, It's been so long, There stands the glass, Slowly, In the jailhouse now, More and more, Even tho, I don't care, Love love love, Why baby why (with Red Sovine), Honky tonk song) and many other big country hits including I haven't got the heart, I'll go on alone, That's me without you, I'm walking the dog, Sparkling brown eyes (with Teddy Wilburn), You're not mine anymore, If you we me and I were you, Yes I know why I want to cry, 'Cause I love you, Any old time, Cryin' over you, Oh so many years (with Kitty Wells), Bye bye love (a cover of the Everly Brothers classic), Missing you (a cover of a Red Sovine song that is now more generally associated with Jim Reeves) and Holiday for love.

Webb never had any further number ones after 1958 though he was a regular in the country top ten until 1964 and continued to chart regularly until 1972, his last top ten hit being in 1967 with Fool fool fool. By far the most important song that Webb recorded after 1958, I ain't never, spent many weeks at number two in 1959 and became Webb's only American top forty pop hit.

Webb's distinctive voice, a high nasal tenor, won't appeal to everybody but he was extremely popular in the fifties, especially in the pre-rock'n'roll years, as his long string of hits indicates. Webb also introduced the steel guitar to country music. The steel guitar became an important feature of country music throught the sixties and seventies, after which a lot of people in the business wanted it consigned to history. Personally, I love the sound of the steel guitar but I can understand why the instrument does not have universal appeal.

With his overwhelming popularity in his heyday and all his hit records, a lot of people wonder why Webb and his music are largely forgotten today. I believe that part of the reason is that his songs have been so rarely covered by other artists. Yes, Ricky Skaggs had a number one country hit with a Webb Pierce song (I don't care) and I could list other covers including an entire tribute album (Caught in the Webb),not forgetting the album that Willie Nelson recorded with Webb, but when you look at how many covers exist of songs that are associated with Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizzell and others, Webb Pierce's legacy hasn't been preserved nearly as well.

At least Bear Family, in releasing this boxed set, recognize Webb's importance. Sadly, they haven't released a second volume that would commence in 1959. As all the other compilations of Webb's Decca music focus (understandably) mainly on the hits contained in this box, it's difficult to get excited about buying any of them just to get the tracks from 1959 and beyond. If sales of this box have discouraged Bear Family from releasing a scond volume, perhaps they could be persuaded to release a compilation containing the best of Webb's music from 1959 to 1972. In the meantime, I'm content with this excellent set of Webb's music from his most successful years.

A Bear Family Box Set That's Worth Buying!
Bear Family are lunatics who never heard of editing. Most of their box sets have so many discs--something like 12 in the Lefty Frizzell box and a similar number for Ray Price. They have about five Hank Snow boxes with God knows how many discs. They're ridiulously expensive and repetitive.

But for some reason, they did Webb Pierce right! Four discs, all of them excellent, and a reasonable price. The booklet is so-so, but you get all the great '50s singles and other recordings and only a few duplicates. Pierce is not as well known now as some of his contemporaries. Country songs now still name check "Hank and Lefty" and never mention Webb. But his shrill voice is instantly recognizable and he had more hits than anyone else in the '50s. This box gives a complete picture of the man in his heyday.

expensive but worth it
"The Wondering Boy" is a fantastic collection of music by Webb Pierce. As with many of Pierce's contemporaries, his golden age was the 50's. Many collections make the mistake of releasing career retrospectives. For his generation, the 1960's and 1970's slammed the door on the vintage era of country. The end of the 50's witnessed weak song writing and the introduction of cheesy symphony orchestras and female background singers. Watch "Greatest Hits" to appreciate Webb Piece during that dark age between the 50's and the vintage revival that would eventually bring about performers like Wayne Hancock. The earliest material off "The Wondering Boy" stands as the strongest. 'Drifting Texas Sand' and 'California Blues (Blue Yodel, No.4)' are highlights. 'If Crying Would Make You Care' is one of those songs that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand-up. This collection has most of Pierce's singles like 'Why Baby Why,' 'There Stands the Glass,' 'In the Jailhouse Now' and 'So Many Years.' This four disc set contains most of Pierce's singles and other strong material from his golden era. Thus "The Wondering Boy" is the only release any Webb Pierce fan will ever really need. As pricey as anything by the Bear Family, "The Wondering Boy" stands as a complete Webb Pierce experience.