#235 - Patsy Cline - The Ultimate Collection (2000)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
BACKGROUND – PATSY CLINE
Virginia Patterson Hensley was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1932. Her mom was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Her dad had been married before; and Patsy had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15) as a result. The lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, 2 more children were born. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was referred to as "Ginny". She temporarily lived with her mother's family in before relocating many times throughout the state, wherever her dad could find employment as a blacksmith. When the family had little money, she would find work. This included plucking and cutting chickens at a poultry factory. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding about the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave." Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.
At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957 she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." It was during this time she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play thepiano. With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing only grew further and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances began at WINC, when Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition.A DJ was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan. Cline's parents had marital conflicts during her childhood and by 1947 her father deserted the family. Cline had a strong relationship with her mother, with her mom being quoted in an interview saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Upon entering the ninth grade, Cline enrolled in high school, but had to drop out due to family financial issues. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.
3) Patsy Cline Career Arc: After Cline's radio performance, at age 15 she wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled overnight with her mother and some family with limited finances and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline's audition was well-received and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.,\By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. It also led to the signing of her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954. She had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single became her first major hit on both the country and pop charts. Cline's further singles with Four Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. After marrying in 1957 and giving birth in 1958, she moved to Nashville to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then moved to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" became her first to top the Billboard country chart. As the song became a hit, Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single release "Crazy" would also become a major hit.
On June 14, 1961, Cline and her brother were involved in an automobile accident. Cline and her brother went shopping to buy material for her mother to make clothing shortly after moving to Nashville. Upon driving home, their car was struck head-on by another vehicle. The impact threw her directly into the car windshield, causing extensive facial injuries. Among her injuries, Cline suffered a broken wrist, dislocated hip and a large cut across her forehead, barely missing her eyes. Friend Dottie West heard about the accident via the radio and rushed to the scene, helping to remove pieces of broken glass from Cline's hair When first responders arrived, Cline insisted the driver in the other vehicle be treated first. Two of the three passengers riding in the car that struck Cline died after arriving at the hospital. When she was brought to the hospital, her injuries were life-threatening and she was not expected to live. She underwent surgery and survived. According to her husband Charlie Dick, upon waking up she said to him, "Jesus was here, Charlie. Don't worry. He took my hand and told me, 'No, not now. I have other things for you to do.'" She spent a month recovering in the hospital.
During 1962 and 1963, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. In March 1963, Cline was killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas, back to Nashville. Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected, and influential performers of the 20th century. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts.
Cline's style has been largely associated with the Nashville Sound, a sub-genre of country music that linked traditional lyrics with orchestrated pop music styles. This new sound helped many of her singles to crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100 and gain a larger audience that did not always listen to country music. At first, she resisted the pop-sounding style, but was ultimately convinced to record in this new style.
After performing at a show in Kansas City in a benefit show for a radio DJ that died in a car accident, was unable to fly out the day after due to fog. When offered a car ride (8 hours) back to Nashville, she refused, saying " "Don't worry about me, When it's my time to go, it's my time." The next day she got on the flights back home, stopping to refuel in Arkansas and then in Dyersberg Tennessee. Despite offers from the air field manager for free rooms and meals to spend the night and not fly in high winds, the pilot decided to press on. When the wreckage was recovered, Cline's watch was found with the time stopped 13 minutes after take off.
In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows were released during this time, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. Her greatest hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. Also that year, the Guinness World Book of Records included Greatest Hits for being the longest album on any record chart by any female artist In 2011, Cline's childhood home was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour. In 1993, Cline was included on United States postal stamps as part of their "Legends" series. Cline was ranked at number 11 among VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll"
Among her earliest influences were pop singers of the 1940s and 1950s, including Kay Starr, Helen Morgan, Patti Page, and Kate Smith. Among her primary influences, Cline was a devotee to Kay Starr, A Chicago Tribune article remarked that "Her rich, powerful voice, obviously influenced by that of pop's Kay Starr, has continued and perhaps even grown in popularity over the decades." Cline was also attracted to country music radio programs, notably the Grand Ole Opry. Cline became "obsessed" with the program at a young age. Cline's mother Hilda once stated "I know she never wanted anything so badly as to be a star on the Grand Ole Opry..." Among performers from the program she admired was Patsy Montana and early rockabilly artist Charline Arthur.
Cline is considered a pioneer for women in country music. She has been cited as an inspiration by many performers in diverse styles of music. Cline's voice and delivery has been described with terms like "aggression" and "boisterous attitude" that gained her the respect of her male counterparts. She showed that women were more than capable of singing about such hard subjects as divorce and drinking as well as love and understanding. Cline helped prove that country music was not "macho" and that "strong women" could have a "strong voice". Cline has been a major influence on various music artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, k.d. lang, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, Kacey Musgraves, Cyndi Lauper, and Brandi Carlile. Dottie West (also a close friend of Cline's) spoke about her influence on her own career, "I think I was most influenced by Patsy Cline, she said things for people. There was so much feeling in there. In fact, she told me, 'Hoss, if you can't do it with feeling, don't'"
ALBUM BACKGROUND – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION
One of the most influential country musicians of all time, Patsy Cline's career took off in the early 1960s, with hit singles such as “I Fall to Pieces”, “Crazy” and “So Wrong”, among others. Cline’s life was cut short on March 5, 1963 at age 30, when the plane she boarded crashed on her way back to Nashville. Since then, she has been celebrated as as one of the most important American vocalists of the 20th century and one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Her voice has also been called "haunting", "powerful", and "emotional". Cline's emotional expression and delivery of lyrics helped influence various musical genres and artists. Today's Compilation encompasses her career in 32 tracks.