Command blocks cannot place signs with JSON text

In 1.8 you could place signs like this: /setblock ~ ~1 ~ wall_sign 0 replace {Text1:"

{text:'Words',color:'red'}

"} The sign would say Words on the top line in red letters.

Now in the snapshot, the same command says this:

{text:'Words',color:'red'}

in black letters. I spent a long time switching ' with " and using \ in front of some quotes, but it never worked.