The Wondering Boy (1951-1958) [Box set, Import]

Webb Pierce | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B0000282XP
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,944 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Honky-Tonk

Track Listings

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

See all 28 tracks on this disc

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

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Call Me Your Sweetheart

2. If You Were Me (And I Were You)

3. Love, Love, Love

4. Why Baby Why

5. Yes, I Know Why (I Want to Cry)

See all 30 tracks on this disc

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

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Review

For the devout, Germany's Bear Family offers a 4-CD boxed set of Pierce's primal honky tonk, a total of 113 songs by one of the seminal post-war country artists, including duets with Kitty Wells, Red Sovine, and the Wilburn Brothers. This is the best sound quality and presentation available of this influential music. --Mark A. Humphrey, All Music Guide

Product Description

For the devout, Germany's Bear Family offers a 4-CD boxed set of Pierce's primal honky tonk, a total of 113 songs by one of the seminal post-war country artists, including duets with Kitty Wells, Red Sovine, and the Wilburn Brothers. This is the best sound quality and presentation available of this influential music. ~ Mark A. Humphrey, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A huge country music star of the fifties, May 16, 2008

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wondering Boy (1951-1958) (Audio CD)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars expensive but worth it, March 4, 2008

By 

The Delite Rancher (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Wondering Boy (1951-1958) (Audio CD)

"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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bear Family Box Set That's Worth Buying!, January 12, 2008

By 

luckyoldsun (New York New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Wondering Boy (1951-1958) (Audio CD)

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.