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Patsy Cline is who you listen to when you’ve had your heart ripped out of your chest. Patsy Cline is who you listen to when you’re madly in love. Patsy Cline is who you listen to when you’re at your highest of highs and lowest of lows. Patsy Cline is who you listen to when you just want to listen and feel.
Patsy Cline was one of the biggest country music stars of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, and her legacy remains. If she hadn’t of died at age 30 at the top of her career in 1963 in a plane crash she’d probably still be performing at the Grand Ole Opry. Everyone knows the song Crazy, a ballad written by Willie Nelson for Patsy Cline, even if you claim to “hate” country music. Her voice conveys both the joys and pains of love of love and life. Most famous for her love songs, the pathos and sheer emotional bravado of the distinctive twang of her powerful contralto voice made every song she sang extraordinary.
After being on Godfrey’s show she went on to record numerous hits like Crazy, I Fall to Pieces and others. She became one of the first female country stars to have cross-over appeal and her hits regularly appeared on both the Country and the Pop charts. Her appeal was so great, she became a regular cast member on the Grand Ole’ Opry and performed at such distinctive non-Country venues like Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. She toured with Johnny Cash and knew and was respected by all of the heavy hitters in Country in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s.
Her personal life had an obvious effect on her music. While she tended to record love songs, there was always a sense of longing and pathos in her voice. She had two marriages, the first to Gerald Cline whom she eventually divorced in 1957. Gerald didn’t want Patsy to pursue a career in country music and wanted her to become a stay at home wife. Cline pursued a career in music anyway. After her divorce from Gerald Cline, she married Charlie Dick, a slick man about town whom she called “the love of her life.” Their marriage could be abusive at times, but they stayed together until her death.
Besides having an amazing voice, Cline was also a, apologizes for the cliche, trailblazer. At the time women in country music were considered opening acts or “window dressing” for male singers. Cline changed this and was the first woman country star to be the own headline of her show and the first woman to receive equal billing with the other male stars she performed with. While cultivating her own presence in the country music world, she helped out other burgeoning stars like Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee, Jan Howard, Dottie West and others extending her influence and increasing the power of women in Nashville.
While I have yet to hear a Patsy Cline song that I don’t care for, here are the ten essential songs for anyone just getting introduced to her.
1. Walkin’ After Midnight – Cline performed this song on her debut on Godfrey’s show which lead to it being released as a single. The song differed from other country songs at the time in that it had more of a Blues influence than a strictly Honky-Tonk sound.
2. Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray – Cline illustrates the destruction of her relationship with the introduction of another woman as having the ashtray go from having two to three cigarettes. The comparison of a once loving relationship to something so banal and domestic as cigarettes in an ashtray is so simple, yet so poignant.
3. I Fall to Pieces – “You walk by and I fall to pieces…” Written by the song writing team of Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard, the song lyrics simply express the pain of unrequited love. You can almost feel your heart breaking just listening to the song.
4. Tennessee Waltz – This is a personal favorite of mine. A Country standard, this already beautiful, heartbreaking song is only improved with Cline’s voice.
5. Crazy – This is perhaps Cline’s most famous song. Written by Willie Nelson, Cline originally hated the song, but needed a hit to recoup money lost from not touring after a near-fatal car accident in 1961. The combination of Nelson’s words and Cline’s delivery encapsulate the feeling of loving someone you know you shouldn’t, but doing it anyway.
6. Leavin’ On Your Mind – This is the perfect impending break-up song.
7. Faded Love – A sentimental song about lost love, the song was recorded during the last recording session before Cline’s death.
8. Why Can’t He Be You – Another song about unrequited love. In this case, about a relationship where a man loves a woman who loves someone else. Listening to the song you feel like you’re experiencing the doomed relationship.
9. When I Get Through With You (You’ll Love Me Too) – One of her cross-over hits, this song is more Pop than Country.
10. Sweet Dreams (Of You) – Released after Cline’s death, Cline originally thought the song was going to be too Pop for her Country audiences.
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