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THE WEBB PIERCE AND JIMMY LEE FAUTHEREE CONNECTIONS

Here I come with a song originally titled “Hayride Boogie” recorded by Webb Pierce for the first in 1950, then again in 1956 still by Webb under the more nationally hep title of “Teenage Boogie” and, in 2003, by Jimmy Lee Fautheree under his original title. It’s funny to know than Jimmy Lee Fautheree played lead guitar on Webb’s “Teenage Boogie” and they shared together the Louisiana Hayride stage as soon as 1951. Then Webb had just started to record for “Decca”, Jimmy was on “Capitol” and future looked bright for both of them. Both rubbed shoulders with Hank Williams, Faron Young, Red Sovine, Slim Whitman or Elvis Presley. Webb will became fast one of the most popular “Honky Tonk” singer and, Jimmy with Country Johnny Mathis, will bring to “Chess” them first country hit in 1954 with “If You Don’t, Somebody Else Will”. After a couple of years, Webb will be clothed with rhinestones Nudie’s gears, driving a silver dollar customized car and swimming in a guitar shaped pool … Jimmy will, after recording for “Decca”, “D” or “Republic”, move to New Mexico taking a job as asbestos worker. Both were strangely forgotten by Country Music establishment for years but not by the Boppin’ Hillbilly and Honky Tonk music lovers worldwide. There’s for sure a lot of competition on Music Row but not many can claim to have cut a Teenage classic song who survived until now. “Teenage Boogie” is still a hardwood floor packer worldwide and will stay like a Rockabilly classic who can match with Carl Perkins “Blue Suede Shoes” or The Burnette Brothers “Rock Billy Boogie”. So let’s enjoy, if you’ve got the time, the connections between the Louisiana born Webb Pierce and Arkansas native cat Jimmy Lee Fautheree.

Webb Michael (or Mike) Pierce, one of five childrens, was born in West Monroe (Louisiana) on August 8, 1921 a short time before his Daddy passed away. His mother Florine remarried and by the late 30’s, Webb had his own 15 minutes show on KMLB radio in Monroe. In June 1942, while serving in Army and, stationed in Louisiana, he married Betty Jane Lewis. After Webb discharge in late 1944, they moved from West Monroe to Shreveport (Louisiana) where Webb worked in Sears Roebuck’s menswear department. Here, he learnt the business fundamental and became manager of the Men’s Furnishings department.
Webb formed his first band in1946 and with his wife spotted an early morning show on Shreveport’s KTBS, singing gospel. KTBS studios were on the same building than KWKH, a 50,000 watt radio station, who will start those Louisiana Hayride stage shows on Saturday nite on April 3, 1948.

Then Webb Pierce and his wife lived in a garage apartment behind the home of Tillman Franks brother, Ray .Webb used to play two shows a day with Harmie Smith, on KWKH. Harmie needed a bass player and, with Webb, he auditioned Tillman in February 1946. Tillman joined Harmie and Webb leaved a while later.

Tillman Franks started to work with Webb, as Peach Seed Jones, on March 1947. In August 1949, Webb was signed by “4- Star” records and started to records with local musicians like Tillman Franks (bs), Buddy Attaway (gtr) and Harold “Shot” Jackson (st gtr). His first recording titled “Heebie Jeebie Blues” was followed by “High Geared Daddy” and “New Panhandle Rag”, the later being a re-working of Leon McAuliffe’s instrumental hit.”Groovy Boogie Woogie Boy” issued on 4-Star 1447 show an early collaboration with Red Sovine. Webb will have a total of 9 records on 4-Star, one being issued under the name of Betty Jane and her Boyfriends. Three of those first songs “I Saw Your Face In The Moon”, “Hawaiian Echoes” and “Lucy Lee” will be covered in 1985 by Rockabilly pioneer Ray Campi on his CD “Tennessee and Texas”. Not a small tribute to Webb! From those sessions, “I Saw Your Face On The Moon”, even if credited to Webb, is an old song cut by Cliff Bruner in the late 30’s.Many of those songs were reissued in LP’s first in 1959 on King 648 “One and Only” and, in 1964, on Hilltop JM-6002 “Just Webb Pierce”.

After Webb had made a complaint about the Hayride at the Musicians Union, Henry Clay, Hayride manager, wouldn’t let him on the show. Webb faced obstacles to join the Louisiana Hayride so, in November 1949, Tillman Franks and Webb had to ask Buddy Attaway, a regular, to miss a show pretending to be sick. To thanks Buddy Attaway for his help, Webb bought him a new western shirt. In April 1950, SlimWhitman and Webb joined the Louisiana Hayride cast as regular members. Webb will soon invite Horace Logan to join him on two business ventures, Pacemaker Records and Ark-La-Tex Publishing. Later Horace will call Webb, who got sharp eyes for new talents like Billy Walker or Faron Young, “The Hayride’s unofficial chief talent scout”. Webb also helped a lot Red Sovine, who will records for “Decca”, and Red will name one of his childrens Michael Webb. Always looking for new opportunities, Webb even auditioned some performers while on tour like Jerry Engler who will record later for “Brunswick”.

In July 2, 1950, Webb received top billing for KWKH “Big 4th celebration & Radio Jamboree” on Caddo Lake (LA). Sadly, by summer 1950, Webb will divorce from his first wife. From September to December 1950, still under contract with Bill McCall’s Four Star label, Webb recorded an uncredited duet with Buddy Attaway for “Pacemaker” titled “Freight Train Blues” (1006). The B-side sung by Buddy Attaway is “I’m Sitting on Top Of The World”, and even if credited to Webb Pierce, that’s an old song, first recorded by The Mississippi Sheiks in 1930. Webb changed slightly the words but nothing enough to give him credit. For that label were also cut a first version of “Hayride Boogie” (1101), “California Blues” (1101), “You Scared the Love Right Out Of Me” (1003) and “Drifting Texas Sand” (1003) issued under Tillman Franks name. Two other songs, “I’m Watching the Stars” and “I Need You Like A Hole In The Head”, were issued under Shot Jackson’s name on Pacemaker 1004. On all those recordings done on KWKH, by night, Webb is backed by Tillman Franks (bs), Buddy Attaway (gtr), Tex Grimsley (fdl) and Shot Jackson (st gtr). Webb will have a total of 6 records issued on “Pacemaker” and another one by Tex Grimsley carry “Shuffle on Down”(1005), a Webb Pierce’s song. Few years later, it was Webb who will record Tex’s compositions like “It’s Been So long” or “I’m Walking the Dog”, first issued on Pacemaker 1001.

From the same sessions came a first version of “In The Jailhouse” (1015) and a great up-tempo song “I Got Religion On A Saturday Night” (1012) who carries strong resemblances with Ted Daffan’s “I’ve Got Five Dollars and it’s Saturday Nite”. That same song will be covered later by Faron Young for “Capitol”. On all those songs, Buddy Attaway play great guitar licks in Jerry Byrd style and we can’t only regret his passing at 45 years old on 27th May 1968. His work on “Hayride Boogie” will be duplicate on the version recorded in 1956 for “Decca” under the title of “Teenage Boogie”.

In 1951, Webb asked Tillman Franks to be his manager for a 5 years stunt and “Decca” records signed him the same year. His first session in Nashville was set on March 07, 1951. With the same band minus Tillman Franks but with Teddy & Doyle Wilburn and Tommy Jackson, Webb recorded new versions of three songs already cut for “Pacemaker”. Among them a great version of Jimmie Rodgers “California Blues” and “You Scared the Love Right out of Me”, co-written with Tillman Franks. From July 1951 to mid 1952, Webb will be emcee for the KWKH “Jamboree” everyday from 8.15 to 8.45.

For a while, in 1951, 17 years old Jimmy Lee Fautheree, Louisiana Hayride member since February 1951, was fronting Webb’s band before leaving and relocating on North Carolina where Jim Bulleit had plans to start a big Saturday Night Jamboree at Spruce Pine. All that failed after a 6 months ride.

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From then, Webb’s band “The Southern Melody Boys” featured Jimmy Day (st gtr), Floyd Cramer (pno), Jimmy Burrage (dms), Tillman Franks (bs) and Faron Young (vcl/front man). He also used from to time Sonny Trammel on steel gtr. Faron Young was bringing to Tillman’s attention through Wayne Walker around mid 1951. Soon Webb Pierce makes him record for “Pacemaker” and the masters of “Hi-Tone Poppa” and “Hot Rod Shotgun Boogie n° 2” were leased to Philadelphia’s “Gotham” records label after Webb had set a deal with them on 12 November 1951. Both sides were issued under Tillman Franks name for promotional purpose but Faron is mentioned as vocalist on the label and Webb Pierce had song writer credit. Faron’s other sides from that session “You’re Just Imagination”(written by Country Johnny Mathis)/”Have I Waited Too Long” (Gotham 415) and “I’m A Free Man Now”/”I Hear The Jukebox Playin’” (Gotham 424) were issued under his own name. Webb and Faron will also share composer credit on few songs like “The Good Lord Must Have Sent You” or “Baby Darling”. Faron will join Ken Nelson’s on “Capitol” records in February 1952.Claude King, another Shreveport’s singer, who record also for “Gotham” and will write “That Heart Belong To Me”, later recorded by Webb in 1952 (Decca 28091), and credited to him.

Webb’s second session, in August 13, 1951, will give birth to “Wondering” (Decca 46364) that propelled him to number 1 in charts by January 1952. On that song are on guitar, Grady Martin and Hank Garland. Webb received strong support from DJ’s like Paul Kallinger, Biff Collie, T. Tommy Cutrer or Nelson King (WCKY – Cincinnati). To win the support of Randy Blake (WJJD – Chicago), Tillman gave him half of one of his song titled “I Haven’t Got A Heart”. “Wondering”, an old Cajun song cut in 1935 by Joe Werner, will stay for 27 weeks in the chart and will lead to a first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on April 19, 1952. On January 26, 1952, Webb Pierce and his Southern Valley Boys, still including Faron Young, played a March of Dimes fundraiser for the Shreveport Police. Jerry Kennedy who guested that day remembers performing on the back of a flatbed truck at four different locations in Shreveport that Saturday.

However it was On Valentine’s Day 1952, Tommy Hill joined Webb’s band playin’ fiddle. Tillman Franks had promise him a contract with “Decca” if he agreed to leave San Antonio (Tx) to move in Shreveport and join Webb’s band. One of the songs Tommy brings with him was “Slowly” who was cut several times in 1952 and 1953 before they got the right cut. Tommy will work for 4 months with Webb before he decided to have his own band with his sister Goldie Hill. Still in 1952, “That Heart Belongs to Me”, will do great and, on summer 1952, Webb left the Louisiana Hayride for the Grand Ole Opry after being divorced from Betty and parted ways with Tillman Franks.

From there, Webb took Hubert Long as manager and with Jim Denny, then Opry’s Artists Service Bureau manager, started a new business and founded “Cedarwood” publishing in 1953. Later Carl Smith will join them and that publishing company will soon be one of the biggest in Nashville. The Opry will fire Jim Denny in September 1956 partly because Roy Acuff did not appreciate the logic to having his bookings set by a man who was his publishing rival. Denny’s departure split Music City in two and Jim will create a booking agency taking under his wing many of the artists he had signed for the Opry. The same will happen, few months later, to Jack Stapp who had set Tree Publishing.

In 1952, and again in 1953, Webb will be nominated by the Farm and Ranch Magazine the number one folk singer. “Back Street Affair”, “I’m Walking the Dog” and “There Stand the Glass” (that one being banned by some radio stations for promoting drinking) will be Top songs in 1953 and Webb was nominated “N° 1 singer” by American Juke Box Operators. “Back Street Affair”, a Honky Tonk anthem written and recorded by Billy Wallace, was bringing to Webb’s ears by Hank Williams. Hank used to play that song on stage but who couldn’t have it recorded because Acuff-Rose did not have the publishing right on it. Webb took a big risk recording a such “cheating” song on July 9, 1952 but won the challenge.

Webb wed his second wife Audrey Grisham and they will have an adopted daughter named Debbie in 1954.By then, Webb touring band was composed by Doyle Wilburn (gtr), Jack Kay (fdl), Ike Inman (bs) and Jimmy Low (gtr).Late 1953, Webb cut the classics “Slowly” and “Even Tho”, with Bud Isaac on pedal steel guitar, and the song went number for 17 weeks. The same year, and in 1955 to, Webb was voted n° 1 in Country Song Roundup “Hillbilly Popularity Pool”.

Webb doesn’t lose his Shreveport connections and helped Merle Kilgore to secure a deal with “Imperial” records. Merle will record for that label “More and More” who will became a hit for Webb later. He took Doyle Wilburn Brothers in his band in May 1953 and Teddy Wilburn will join in January 1954. In December 1954, they backed him on another Jimmie Rodgers song titled “In The Jailhouse Now” before goin to work for Faron Young in late 1954. From then The Wilburn Brothers will be Country Deputies until they left and were replaced by Jimmy Lee and Lynn Fautheree, early 1956.

On August 1st, 1955, Webb Pierce will headline a show in Tupelo (Ms) with Elvis Presley, Wanda Jackson, Red Sovine and Tupelo’s own Gene Simmons. Next day the show will move to Muscle Schoals (Al) minus Gene Simmons but with Johnny Cash. Over 2800 customers attended that show were Elvis sung Maybellene. Next day the show was on Little Rock (Ar) before moving to Candem (Ar). On August 5, 1955 the show was at Memphis Overton Shell Park and drawn over 4.000 fans, and several were turned away, despite the bad weather.
Red Sovine, another Hayrider, will duet with Webb on October 1955 for a cover of George Jones’s “Why Baby Why” who goes number 1. On the first 22 sides released on “Decca”, 18 hit the charts and 13 went to n°1. With so many hits came in 1955 his first LP titled “Webb Pierce” (Decca DL 8129) who offered “In The Jailhouse Now”, “More and More”, “Sparkling Brown Eyes” and “I’m Walking The Dog” (from Tex Grimsley). In 1956, his second LP titled “The Wondering Boy” (Decca DL 5536) will offer the all time songs “There Stand the Glass”, “Back Street Affair” and “Slowly”. Those songs will find them way in England on Brunswick label. By then, Webb’s concert fees had risen near $ 1.250 per show and advance order for his new single often reached 200.000 copies.

Webb will make his return on the Louisiana Hayride on Sept 9, 1955 and offered Jimmy Lee and Lynn Fautheree a contract with “Decca”, in exchange for a few of his favourite things, copyrights. So on them future recordings they gave song writer credit to Webb on “Sweet Singing Daddy”, and half of them on “Another Man’s Names”, “Here Comes My Baby”, “Imagination” and “What’cha Doin’ To Me”. 5 singles, 5 sides credited to Webb.
Mighty good business that will help to pay his guitar shaped swimming pool. Webb had not only eye on song writing but also on radio stations and will become owner of WJAT, WBRO and WSNT in Georgia. When late 1955, Tillman Franks asked Webb to help him to secure a record deal for Johnny Horton, Webb helped to work out the deal with “Columbia” records. In return Tillman sold to Webb three of his best songs for $ 400 and agreed to publish songs through Cedarwood and Golden West. That move for “Columbia” will bring to Johnny Horton his first hit and will change his life. In January 1956, the young Buddy Holly will sign his first publishing contract with “Cedarwood” and will have a contract with “Decca” records.

On July 25, 1956, doin’ a split session in Nashville with Jimmy and Johnny (in fact Lynn Fautheree), Webb recorded an updated version of “Hayride Boogie” under the title of “Teenage Boogie”. On that version, never issued in the USA, Jimmy Lee Fautheree plays the sharp lead guitar part and probably does the chorus with his brother Lynn. Regular studio musicians Buddy Harman on drums and Lightin’ Chance on bass complete the line-up. That version was issued only by Brunswick 45-05630 and Decca 45-BM 31172 in England, in December 1956, and seemed lost forever. Hopefully, Bear Family had just bring us that jewel in them new serie “Gonna Shake this Shack Tonight”.

The end of that session was dedicated to Jimmy and Johnny who cut the all-time classic “Sweet Love on My Mind”. They will have them version issued on “Decca” after the Burnette Brothers got them own on “Coral”. However that song is an original from Wayne Walker and was written in Jimmy’s kitchen in Nashville. The song was given to Webb Pierce’s “Cedarwood” publishing by Wayne Walker and came between the hands of the Burnette’s before Jimmy could cut it by himself. According to Jimmy, Wayne was convinced the song would be a “Rock’n’Roll hit”. Paul Cohen at “Decca” apparently agreed and quickly set up a recording Jimmy and Lynn at the end of that Webb Pierce session. Both recordings are great and show the slight difference you could have between hot Hillbilly Bop and wild Rockabilly. If we don’t have any video of the Burnette’s doin’ that song, you can see Jimmy and Johnny (in fact Lynn, his brother) live performance in a 1956 Opry’s footage. In that show hosted by Ernest Tubb, the two brothers made a fabulous job and you can enjoy Lynn’s moves borrowed to Elvis and Jimmy Lee’s picking. Both wore cool white suits with red shirt and bring in that country show the wildness of youth. No fancy country shirt or fiddle here. No less than guitar legend James Burton has cited Jimmy’s enormous influence on his own development as player.

If we trust the session files on 12 August 1956, Webb was back on studio with Hank Garland, Buddy Harman and The Jordanaires to cut another version of “Teenage Boogie” who will be issued on Decca 30045. On aural evidence, we are many to think that recording could be another take from the July 25, 1956 maybe misfiled by “Decca”. The guitar part sound so much like Jimmy Lee Fautheree’s Telecaster once again. That song will reach the Top Ten allowing Webb Pierce to acknowledge rock without embracing it at all. “Teenage Boogie” will stay like a rockin’ classic song being covered by several rock’n’roll bands worldwide in the 70’s. In 2003, Jimmy Lee Fautheree will rework the song, on his original format and title “Hayride Boogie”, with Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonic for his only LP. That record will stay like a highlight in the my life and, if issued on a bigger label, could have made it great with songs like “Big Mama Blues”, “I Can’t Live That Fast Anymore” or “Merle’s Boogie”. There are two songs than Jimmy & Johnny used to perform live in the 50’s, and even recorded, but were never released. “I’m Gonna Cry When I Call Your Name” and “You’re Not Play Love” are presented here as they might have done them back in the old days.
Sadly, Jimmy Lee died after a short battle against cancer on June 29, 2004 and Country Johnny Mathis depend on nursing care since years. Lynn Fautheree and Wayne Walker are dead but the legacy goes on.

The Opry policy, like the Louisiana Hayride one, required cast members to be present most Saturday to play for almost nothing in change of the exposure given. Webb quit over that policy in 1955, returned in 1956 but moved for good in 1957. By then he was regular on ABC’s televised “Ozark Jubilee” hosted in Springfield (Missouri) by label mate Red Foley. Late 56, Webb picked some songs from a Florida singer named Mel Tillis. Among those were “I’m Tired”, “Honky Tonk Song”, “Tupelo County Jail” and “Holiday for Love” who carries resemblances with Mel’s own “Teenage Weeding”. That same song will be recorded by Jimmy Lee as Johnny Angel for “VIN” and by Faron Young for “Capitol” as “Rosalie”. In late 1956, when Jim Denny left WSM radio, he set his headquarters on 146 Seventh Ave. North in Nashville and worked with Webb, Carl Smith, Goldie Hill, Red Sovine, Ray Price, Wayne Walker, Gordon Terry, Moon Mullican or Ronnie Self. In 1958, Webb was stating: «That Rock and Roll music is fine, if you’re that type of singer. Me, I’m straight Country”. I don’t know if Webb was straight Country but we find him as co-author of “Everybody Tryin’ To Be My Baby” (The York Brothers) in July 57, “Bo-Bo Ska Diddle Dadde” (Wayne Walker) in October 57 and “Bop A Lena” (Ronnie Self) in December 1957. All those songs are great and classics Rockabilly waxing. Of course, “Everybody Tryin’ to Be My Baby” was not from Webb’s pen but was an old song recorded in 1938 by Roy Newman and his boys. In the 50’s, that song could have been around a lot having lost his roots so every performer who remembers part of it reworked more or less the lyrics keeping the title song. That song was also recorded on “Decca” by Jimmy & Johnny (never issued) and by Carl Perkins for “Sun”.

In September 1957, Tillman was named Artist Service Bureau Manager for the Louisiana Hayride and he bring back Webb for one show on Oct 5, 1957 with Tommy Trent. Tommy Trent, who recorded the great “Paper Boy Boogie” for Coral, was a veteran Hayride performer who knew Webb from his Shreveport’s days. He died in 2003 after a very successful career in Arkansas.

Still trying to catch with the sound of the time, Webb will cut a cover of “Bye Bye Love” in April 1957 and a cover of “Raunchy” in December 1957. More will follow in 1958 with “Tupelo County Jail” and, in 1959, with “I Ain’t Never”. That will lead him to goes more and more in “pop” sound far from his primitive “Honky Tonk” roots and original sound. Nevertheless, he was still “The King of Country Music” remember Roc LaRue (a great Rockabilly performer) , with his dazzling Nudie’s suits with sequins and embroideries, as far as at New-York’s “Wagon Wheel Lounge”. He was driving a Cadillac which had silver dollars inlaid all the inside, pistol for door handles and a steers long horn on the front. Quite a long way from his Sears Roebuck’s early days … Throughout his long career, Webb charted 96 singles and had 40 Top Ten songs in the 50’s. It is estimated that his records sales to date are over 65 million copies. Webb died of cancer on February 24, 1991 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of fame on October 5th, 2001.

It’s been not so long ….

Dominique “Imperial” ANGLARES
www.bartemon.net and www.rockabillyhall.com
houstonring@orange.fr

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IL EST "TOO MUCH" IMPERIAL.....
un vrai plaisir de lire ses articles. thank.

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