Who is Webb Wilder?
March 2nd, 2006 • by Rich
Ok, this is going to be a little bit of a different sort of blog entry. I was actually inspired to do it by Dave’s bit on Bachmann Turner Overdrive elsewhere on this site . I figured I’d blog about one of my own musical favorites, one who should get more attention than he does.
So, who is Webb Wilder? Is he a person? A character? Well, to hear him tell it, he’s the Last of the Full Grown Men, and he’s got one foot in Country and one in Rock and Roll (and since they’re both approximately 13A’s, he’s covering a lot of ground). But really, what Webb represents for me is individuality. That’s nice in this world of cookie cutter Wal-Marts and Home Depots and any other mass chain store you care to mention. This prefab world is nowhere more represented than in the music world, which you can all to easily see in the latest bombshell pop tart or ‘bad boy’ rock star. They all tend to blend in, don’t they? It’s rare to find an artist who stands out. Not intentionally; they just stand out because that’s who they are. Welcome, then, to the World of Wilder.
I was introduced to Webb Wilder back in the summer of 1991, he was opening for .38 Special at the Tradewinds up in North Jersey. I immediately went out and bought the album they were supporting, Doo Dad, and it consistently earned a spot in my tape deck. Friends of mine in a cover band played ‘Tough it out’ off of that album, probably the closest Webb’s come to a traditional ‘hit’. I never heard anything else though..until through the magic of the internet I found out he had material before and after. I just had to have it all, and I’ve been a Webbophile since. Living in New Jersey makes it hard to see Webb live as he usually can be found gigging down south, but I finally got a chance to see him again in late 2004 in Delaware.
Webb’s music has been called many things; swampadelic is probably my favorite. When it comes down to it though, Webb just rocks, and rolls. You hear country, rockabilly, British Invasion, rock and roll, and more all mixed up into a wonderful feel-good gumbo. Webb hails from Hattiesburg, Mississippi though he now is based in Nashville by way of Austin, TX. He has produced six studio albums and one compliation disc, but Webb is more than a musician; he is an ‘electrifying artist’: part musician, part Vaudevillian, part film actor. His film credits range from The Thing Called Love with River Pheonix and Sandra Bullock to an appearance in Martina McBride’s video ‘When God-fearing women get the blues‘, to his own independently produced Corn Flicks (featuring Horror Hayride and Webb Wilder, Private Eye). Onstage, his banter and dry personality set him apart. Webb is cool. He’s the guy that could look cool walking down the street while trying to scrape dog doo off of his shoes.
I can even bring in a Mopar connection, in “How Long can she last (Going that fast)” off of 1986′s It Came From Nashville:
“Her Daddy bought her a baby
blue Duster when she turned seventeen
Her daddy was a fool to trust her
that was one little mean machine…”
Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it should be to pick up on all of Webb’s music. Webb doesn’t fit into any of the premade molds, and so it’s hard for unimaginative major record company folk to ‘flat out get it’. This has pretty much consigned Webb to a never ending ‘economy with dignity’ tour, although a happy side effect is that he ‘knows every thrift shop and plate lunch joint in town’ as he puts it.
Right now, you can buy Webb’s debut album It Came From Nashville (with bonus tracks and enhanced liner notes), his 2005 studio effort About Time, and the collection Scattered Smothered and Covered. The latter includes tracks from It Came From Nashville, the 1995 covers disc Town and Country, and 1996′s Acres of Suede; both of which are out of print. All three are available from webbwilder.com (with sound samples, artist and album info, message board, and more), as well as from Amazon and the like. Webb’s other two albums, 1989′s Hybrid Vigor and 1991′s DooDad, are still out of print and moldering away in record company vaults. They are, however, fairly easily available via eBay and the like.
This year will see the release of a live DVD/CD package. Maybe the remaining out of print records will come back to the Loving Public soon. We live in hope. That’s a phrase Webb uses fairly often, and I find it quite uplifting.
I will close with Webb Wilder’s credo, and the hope that at least a couple Allparians will also become Wilderians:
Work Hard
Rock Hard
Eat Hard
Sleep Hard
Grow Big
Wear Glasses if you need ‘em
Not a bad credo at all, as credos go, eh?
So… who is Webb Wilder? Is he a person or a character?
The answer is yes.
Pick up on it.
Webb is the greatest. His music is unique-check out the http://www.webwilder.com site, and don’t miss a chance to see him play live. He mostly gigs around the South, Tennessee-Georgia-Virginia, but also visits the Chicago and St. Louis areas pretty regularly. Webb also has at least one other Mopar reference in his songs. On Doo Dad he covers the old Joe Williams blues tune “Baby Please Don’t Go” and tells a story in the middle about meeting Joe once, and Joe is “…behind the wheel of a Plymouth Fury III”! Just what a bluesman would drive.
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I would like to know what was the name of Webb’s first band. I think the name that had something to do with the railroad. I would also like to know if NS Railroad’s CEO Wic Morman was in that band. Thank you. John Crawford