Webb Pierce

Webb Pierce's 1953 hit "There Stands the Glass"--a classic country drinkin' song with a sweet, tumbling-tumbleweed melody--was banned from many U.S. radio stations because of its subject matter, a fact that attests to the authenticity of the late honky tonker's music. A regular on the radio show LOUISIANA HAYRIDE as well as the GRAND OLE OPRY, Pierce had a dizzying number of charting hits, including two with Kitty Wells, and one ("Slowly") that became the first popular country song to feature a pedal steel guitar. His lavish lifestyle and rococo wardrobe helped create the cliche of the Nashville "rhinestone cowboy," but his gorgeous tenor and keen songwriting are what generations of country music fans remember about him the most.

• country
• honkytonk