High Geared Daddy

Personnel: Webb Pierce (vocals, guitar); Don Winters, Lonnie Melvin Tillis, Red Sovine (vocals); Grady Martin, Hank Garland (guitar, electric guitar); Harold Bradley, James "Jimmie" Selph, Mel Tillis, Ray Edenton, Bill Phillips (guitar); Buddy Attaway (electric guitar); Don Helms, Billy Robinson , Sonny Burnette, Jimmy Day, Shot Jackson (steel guitar); Thomas Lee Jackson Jr., Jack Kay, Allen Dale Potter, Henry Newton "Tommy" Vaden, John Hill (fiddle); Elbert R. "Dutch" McMillan (saxophone); Owen Bradley (piano, organ); Floyd Cramer (piano); Buddy Harman (drums, wood block); Morris Palmer, Farris Coursey (drums).
Recording information: Bradley Film & Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (08/??/1949-05/15/1959); Castle Studio, Nashville, TN (08/??/1949-05/15/1959).
Illustrator: Sven T. Uhrmann.
Photographer: Sven T. Uhrmann.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Neal Matthews, Jr.; Hugh Jarrett; Hugh Gordon Stoker; Hoyt Hawkins.
Country archivist label Bear Family's GONNA SHAKE THIS SHACK TONIGHT series focuses on the rollicking, uptempo sides of honky-tonk giants. Their Webb Pierce entry, HIGH GEARED DADDY, features some of the most infectious, barroom-rocking tracks to come out of 1950s country music. Pierce enjoyed a wildly successful run during the decade, and a goodly number of his most famous tunes are here, like the saloon staple "Honky Tonk Song," the frayed lovers' knot of "Why Baby Why" (featuring Red Sovine), and of course Pierce's wages-of-sin signature song, "In the Jailhouse Now." This 32-track collection surrounds these milestones with lesser-known material that's just as sharp, making this a winning introduction to Pierce's timeless catalog.