Webb's Choice

AMG Review of Webb's Choice

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

Every album Webb Pierce made was "Webb's choice" in the sense that he had a reputation for picking great material and was permitted to exercise that talent, unlike many artists who were presented with songs or allowed to choose from a short list (or stack of demos). The fact that Webb's Choice calls attention to Pierce's involvement in the selection of material shows that it was unusual, but the album fails as a test of his predictive abilities since the single, "You Ain't No Better Than Me," missed the Top 40. Nevertheless, that song is a good if typical example of Pierce's '60s single A-sides, and there actually are a few surprises lurking in the track list. "Danny Boy" is an uncharacteristic song for Pierce, as is the raditional folk tune "Cotton Fields." Pierce was never associated with Western swing, and yet two songs from that field, "San Antonio Rose" and "Time Changes Everything," are assimilated into Pierce's snappy country style. Most of the songs come from Pierce's usual gang: Wayne P. Walker, Max Powell, and Merle Kilgore (but nothing by Mel Tillis this time around). The questionable theme notwithstanding, Webb's Choice is a fine album on which Pierce stretches just a little bit.