Patsy Cline
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Background information
Birth name Virginia Patterson Hensley
Born September 8, 1932(1932-09-08)
Origin Winchester, Virginia
Died March 5, 1963 (aged 30)
Genre(s) Country, Traditional Pop, Nashville Sound,
Honky Tonk,Rockabilly
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, Piano
Years active 1950's - 1963
Label(s) Four Star Records (1955-1960)
Decca Records (1960-1963)
Associated
acts Kitty Wells, Jean Shepard, Jimmy Dean, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Skeeter Davis, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Jan Howard, Dottie West
Website Patsified.com; A Patsy Cline Site
Members
Country Music Hall of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Former members
Grand Ole Opry (1960 - 1963)
Patsy Cline (b. Virginia Patterson Hensley September 8, 1932 - March 5, 1963) was an American country music singer, who enjoyed pop music cross-over success during the era of the Nashville Sound in the early 1960s. Since her death at the age of 30 in a 1963 plane crash at the height of her career, she has been considered one of the most influential, successful, revered and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century. Her life and career has been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays.
Cline was best known for her rich tone and emotionally expressive voice, which, along with her role as a mover and shaker in the Country Music industry, has been cited and praised as an inspiration by many vocalists of various music genres. Since her death she has sold millions of albums over the past 50 years and won countless posthumous awards, which has given her an iconic fan status, similar to that of country music legends Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. In 2001, she was voted by artists and members of the Country Music industry as #1 of 40 Greatest Women of Country Music of all time and in 1999 she was voted #11 of The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll of all time by members and artists of the rock industry. According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque: "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity." Among those hits: "Walkin' After Midnight", "I Fall to Pieces", "She's Got You", "Crazy", and "Sweet Dreams".
Early years & rise to fame
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932, in Gore, Virginia, she was the daughter of Sam and Hilda Patterson Hensley, a blacksmith and a seamstress; Hilda was only 16. Patsy was the eldest of three children, which included a brother, Sam, and a sister, Sylvia Mae. The three children, despite their given names, were called "Ginny," "John," and "Sis," respectively.
Some say that Patsy had an unhappy childhood and grew up a poor girl "on the wrong side of the tracks", but except for the fact that her father deserted the family in 1947, when she was fifteen, the Hensley home was quite happy.[1] The family moved often, living in many different places around Virginia, before settling into Winchester. Cline often proclaimed as a child that she would one day be famous, and looked up to stars such as Judy Garland and Shirley Temple. A serious illness as a child caused a throat infection which, according to Cline, resulted in her gift of "a voice that boomed like Kate Smith's." Cline credited everyone from Kay Starr to Hank Williams for influencing her and was very well rounded in her musical tastes. As a child, she often sang in church with her mother. Cline was also a by-ear pianist and sang with perfect pitch.
Cline began performing in area variety/talent shows early on. She once went to the local radio station (WINC) in Winchester and ask DJ Jimmy McCoy if he would let her sing on his radio show. He did and this was a great opportunity for Patsy, as Jimmy's radio show was a great showcase for local talent. As she grew older, she began to play in popular nightclubs. To support her family after her father abandoned them, she dropped out of high school and worked various jobs, soda jerking and waitressing by day. At night, Cline could be found singing at local nightclubs, wearing her infamous fringed western stage outfits designed by herself and made by her mother, Hilda.
During this period in her early 20s, Cline met two men who would be responsible for making her name a household word. The first was contractor Gerald Cline, whom she married in 1953 and would divorce in 1957. The second was Bill Peer, her new manager. It was Peer who gave her the name "Patsy", short from her middle name and her mother's maiden name "Patterson."
Cline began making numerous appearances on local radio, and she attracted a large following in the Virginia/Maryland area?-especially when Jimmy Dean learned of her. She became a regular on Connie B. Gay's "Town and Country" television show, broadcast out of Washington, D.C, which also featured Dean, himself an established young country star. She also began making appearances on the world renowned Grand Ole Opry.
In 1955, Cline was signed to Four Star Records. However, her contract only allowed her to record compositions by Four Star writers; Cline disliked this, and later expressed regret over signing with the label. Her first record for Four Star was "A Church, A Courtroom & Then Good-Bye." The song attracted little attention, although it did lead to several appearances on The Grand Ole Opry. Between 1955 and 1957, Cline recorded Honky Tonk material, with songs like "Fingerprints," "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down," and "A Stranger In My Arms." She also experimented with Rockabilly. However, none of these songs gained any notable success for Cline. According to Owen Bradley, her Decca Records producer, the Four Star compositions only seemed to hint at the potential that lurked inside of Cline. Bradley thought her voice was best suited for singing pop music. However, the Four Star producers insisted that Cline would record only country songs, as her contract also stated. During her contract with Four Star, Cline recorded 51 songs.
1957: Success of "Walkin' After Midnight"
The year 1957 was a year of great change in Cline's life as she found national stardom and married the man whom she called the love of her life, Charlie Dick. While looking for material for her first album "Patsy Cline" a song appeared titled "Walkin' After Midnight," written by Don Hecht and Alan Block. Cline initially did not like the song because it was, according to her "just a little old Pop song." However, the song's songwriters and record label insisted Cline should record it. She then auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout's program in New York City, and luckily got accepted to sing on the show.
Initially, Cline was supposed to sing the song "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)," however, show producers insisted Cline instead sing "Walkin' After Midnight." That night, she won the program and was invited to return to the show. The song was so well-liked by the audience that she decided to release "Walkin' After Midnight" as a single. The song was released in early 1957, and before long it was a hit on both the Country and Pop charts, reaching #2 on the Country charts and #12 on the Pop charts. Cline became one of the first country singers to have a crossover pop hit. She couldn't follow up "Walkin' After Midnight" with another hit, however, in part because of the deal that limited her to songs from one publishing company.[2] After the birth of their daughter Julie in 1958, she and Charlie moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1959, Cline met Randy Hughes, who became her manager. With Randy's promotion and a new contract with Decca Records - Nashville, Cline's stardom would begin its ascent to the top.
1960: The year of her comeback
When her Four Star contract expired in 1960, Cline signed with Decca Records-Nashville, under the direction of legendary producer Owen Bradley. He was not only responsible for much of the success behind Cline's recording career, but also for those of Brenda Lee and Loretta Lynn. Under Bradley's direction, Cline enjoyed country and pop music success both because of her versatile vocal ability and because of Bradley's arrangements and incorporation of instruments ?- such as strings ?- not typically used on country records. Bradley found that Cline's voice was best-suited for Country Pop-crossover songs, and helped smooth Cline's voice into silky, torchy Pop-singing glory. Cline never liked the fact that she sang Pop material. This new, more sophisticated instrumental style became known as "The Nashville Sound," founded by Bradley and RCA's Chet Atkins, who produced Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, and Eddy Arnold.
Cline's first Decca release was in 1961, was the Country Pop ballad "I Fall to Pieces," written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. It went on to become Cline's first #1 hit on the Country charts and peaked at #12 on the Pop charts. The song cemented Cline's status as a household name and proved that female Country singers could enjoy just as much crossover success as male counterparts such as Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold.
That same year, she was elected as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the realization of a lifelong dream. Cline was one of the Opry's greatest stars and, reportedly, she is the only Opry star in history to date to receive membership merely as a result of asking.
Believing that there was "room enough for everybody" and perhaps due to her own self confidence, Cline befriended and encouraged several women starting out in Country Music, including Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell (with whom Cline once toured), Jan Howard and Brenda Lee, all of whom cite her as an influence in their careers. Both Lynn and West claimed that Cline always gave of herself to her friends, often buying them groceries when they didn't have money, new furniture and even money to pay the rent to enable them to stay in Nashville and continue their quest for stardom. Cline's friend, Honky Tonk pianist and Opry star Del Wood, stated in the 1980 Ellis Nassour biography Patsy Cline: "Even when she didn't have it, she'd spend it and not always on herself. She'd give anyone the skirt off her backside if they needed it."
Cline also became friends with Roger Miller, Hank Cochran, Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Harlan Howard and Carl Perkins; a group of male artists and songwriters whom she enjoyed joining at Tootsies Orchid Lounge next door to the Grand Ole Opry. Singer George Riddle remembered on the 1986 documentary The Real Patsy Cline: "It wasn't unusual for her to sit down and have a beer and tell a joke. She'd never be offended at the guys jokes because most of the time she'd tell a joke better than you! Patsy was full of life as I remember." She was known for calling her friends "Hoss," a term of endearment, and referring to herself as "The Cline." Though Cline never met Elvis Presley, she was a huge fan of his music and often kept up with him through the Jordanaires, who backed her and Elvis' vocals. She referred to him as "The Big Hoss."
Near-fatal car accident
While Cline would continue to thrive successfully in 1961, she also gave birth to a son, Randy. However, on June 14, 1961, Patsy and her brother Sam were involved in a head-on car collision, the second and most serious of two during her lifetime. The impact of the accident threw Patsy through the windshield, nearly killing her. Upon her arrival at the scene, singer Dottie West picked glass from Patsy's hair, while Patsy insisted that the other car's driver be treated first. (Coincidentally, West would be involved in a serious car accident in 1991 and would not survive). Patsy later stated that she saw the female driver of the other car die before her eyes at the hospital. Suffering from a jagged cut across her forehead that required stitches, a broken wrist, and a dislocated hip, she spent a month in the hospital. While in the hospital, Cline, according to the Nassour biography Patsy Cline and to friend Billy Walker, rededicated her life to Christianity. She received thousands of cards and flowers sent by fans.
When she left the hospital, her forehead was still visibly scarred. For the remainder of her career, she wore wigs and careful makeup to hide the scars, and headbands to relieve pressure on her forehead. She returned to the road on crutches, determined to be a survivor with a new appreciation for life.
Years later in the 1990s, a series of recordings from her first concert since the accident was released. These archives, recorded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were found in the attic of one of Cline's former residences by the current owners and given to the family. The album, released in 1995, is titled "Patsy Cline: Live At the Cimmarron Ballroom."
The height of her career: 1960-1961
After the success of "I Fall to Pieces," Cline needed a follow-up, particularly because her near-fatal car accident had required that she spend a month in the hospital, which meant lost time from touring and promotions. The famous follow-up to her hit was written by Willie Nelson and called "Crazy," which Cline originally hated. Her first recording session recording "Crazy" turned out to be a disaster, and Cline claimed that the song was too difficult to sing. She tried to record "Crazy" like the demo recording of it (which was sung by its songwriter), but had a tough time recording it, since it had a man singing it, instead of a woman. The entire day in the studio at Decca was a head-on fight between Cline and Owen Bradley. However, when the song was finally recorded the next week in one take by Cline, she recorded a version that was completely different from the demo, and because of this, it turned out to become a classic and, ultimately, Cline's signature song - the one for which she remains best known. In late 1961, the song was an immediate Country Pop crossover hit, and was also her biggest Pop hit, when it went into the Top 10 there. Friend Loretta Lynn later reported that the night Cline premiered "Crazy" at the Grand Ole Opry, she received three standing ovations.
The success of "Crazy" was a hit on three different charts, the Hot Country Songs list, the US Hot 100 list, and the Adult Contemporary list. Soon an album was released that November entitled Showcase With the Jordanaires, that featured Cline's two big hits that year. The album brought success to Cline late that year.
Affect & Influence
Cline was the first female in the industry to prove that she could surpass her male competitors in terms of record sales and concert tickets. Cline is often considered a "pioneer" and "heroine" by her female contemporaries, who claim that she broke down doors in the industry for women when it was dominated and ruled by men. In retrospect, it was Cline who opened the door to greater pop-influence for country female vocalists, like Lynn Anderson, Crystal Gayle, Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood.
Guitarist/Producer Harold Bradley said of Cline in the 2003 book Remembering Patsy: "She's taken the standards for being a country music vocalist, and she raised the bar. Women, even now, are trying to get to that bar.... If you're going to be a country singer, if you're not going to copy her -- and most people do come to town copying her -- then you have to be aware of how she did it. It's always good to know what was in the past because you think you're pretty hot until you hear her.... It gives all the female singers coming in something to gauge their talents against. And I expect it will forever."
Despite her name, Cline proved she was "nobody's patsy" many times in her life. She was in control of her own career, making it clear that she could stand up to any man -- verbally and professionally -- and challenge their rules if they got in the way of where she felt her career should be headed. In a day and time when concert promoters often cheated stars out of their money by promising to pay them after the show and running with the money during the concert, Cline stood up to many of the male promoters before she even took the stage and demanded their money by claiming: "No dough, no show." According to friend Roy Druskey on the 1986 documentary The Real Patsy Cline: "Before one concert we hadn't been paid. And we were talking about who was going to tell the audience that we couldn't perform without pay. Patsy said 'I'll tell 'em!' And she did!" Friend Faron Young stated "It was common knowledge around town that you didn't mess with 'The Cline'!"
When Cline made her first recordings in 1955, Kitty Wells, known as "The Queen of Country Music," was the undisputed top female vocalist in the country music field. By the time Cline broke through as a consistent hit maker in 1961, Wells was still country's biggest female star. However, Cline dethroned Wells when, for two years in a row, she won Billboard Magazine's "Favorite Female Country & Western Artist" and the 1962 Music Reporter "Star of The Year" award. The two country queens could not have been more different, given that Cline's husky, full-throated, sophisticated sound was a marked contrast to Wells' pure-country, quivering vocals. Cline proved her name as such a household word that she needed no "royal" title other than her name to prove her popularity. Though she was gaining attention on Country and Pop charts, she did not think of herself as anything other than a country singer and was known for her humility in her motto "I don't want to get rich -- just live good."
With Cline's success climbing the record charts, she was in high demand on the concert circuit. Whereas most women in Country Music at that time were only considered "window dressing," opening acts or extra attractions for the more popular and higher paid male star headliners, Cline was the first to headline her own show and receive top billing above many of the male stars with whom she toured. While bands typically backed up the female singer, Cline led the band through the concert instead. Cline was so respected by men in the industry, that, rather than being introduced to audiences as "Pretty Miss Patsy Cline" as her female colleagues often were, she was given a more stately introduction such as that given by Johnny Cash on their 1962 tour together: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the one and only Patsy Cline." As an artist, Cline held her fan base in extreme high regard (many of which became lifelong friends), staying for hours after concerts to chat with them and sign autographs.
Cline was not only the first woman in Country Music to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall (which she did with fellow Opry members with disapproval from elite gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, whom Cline fired back at) but also to headline the Hollywood Bowl with Johnny Cash and, later, in 1962, the first woman in Country Music to headline her own show in Las Vegas. This success enabled Cline to buy her dream home in Nashville's Goodletsville community, personally decorated in her style featuring real gold dust sprinkled in the bathroom tiles and a music room. Loretta Lynn stated in a 1986 documentary interview "She called me into the front yard and said 'Isn't this pretty? Now I'll never be happy until I have my Mama one just like it.'" Cline called her home "The house that Vegas built" since she was able to pay it off with the money she earned during her time there.
With this new demand for Cline came a higher price tag and, reportedly, towards the end of her life she was being paid at least $1,000 for her appearances -- then an unheard of fee for women in the Country Music industry since they usually grossed less than $200. In fact, her second to last concert, held in Birmingham, Alabama, grossed Cline $3,000.
To match her new sophisticated sound, Cline also reinvented her personal style, shedding her western trademark cowgirl outfits for elegant designer sequined gowns, cocktail dresses, spiked heels and even gold lame pants. Cline's new image was considered riskier and sexier by a then conservative Country Music industry that was more accustomed to gingham and calico dresses for women. But like her sound, Cline's style in fashion was mocked by many at first, but then quickly copied. Cline also loved dangly earrings, ruby red lipstick and her favorite perfume was Wind Song.
During her short career of only five and a half years, Patsy Cline received 12 prestigious awards for her achievements in music and three more following her death. Most of these were Cashbox, Music Reporter and Billboard Awards, which were considered high honors during her time. Awards such as the ACM and CMA's were not established until after her death, and the Nashville chapter of The Grammys wasn't founded until 1964.
Cline stated of her success in a letter to friend Anne Armstrong (from the 1993 documentary Remembering Patsy): "It's wonderful -- but what do I do for '63? Its getting so even I can't follow Cline!"
The height of her career: 1962-1963
In late 1961, Cline was back in the studio once again to record some songs for her upcoming album in 1962. One of the first songs recorded in late 1961 was the song "She's Got You." The song was written by Hank Cochran, and Cochran pitched the song over the phone to Cline, before she actually recorded it. This song was actually one of the few songs Cline ever enjoyed recording. The song was released as a single in January 1962, and soon was another Country Pop crossover hit, becoming her second #1 hit on the Country charts. "She's Got You" was also Cline's only entry onto the United Kingdom's singles chart. The song was a minor hit over there, reaching #43. Following the success of "She's Got You," Cline enjoyed a string of minor hits that year, starting with the #10 Country hit "When I Get Thru' With You." Her other hits that year, include "So Wrong," "Imagine That" and "Strange."
These were followed by an appearance on American Bandstand and the release of a third album that August called Sentimentally Yours. When asked in a WSM radio interview about her vocal stylings, Cline stated: "Oh I just sing like I hurt inside."
Though she was in high demand and her career was at its peak, the wear and tear of the road and business began to present the possibility of a short term retirement for Cline, who longed to spend more time raising her children, Julie and Randy, especially after headling her own show in Las Vegas at the end of 1962.
A month before her death, Cline went into the studio to record her fourth album, Faded Love. Recording a mix of Country standards and vintage pop classics, such as Irving Berlin's "Always" and "Does Your Heart Beat For Me," these sessions proved to be most contemporary sounding of her career, without any Country Music instruments and featuring a full string section. (Owen Bradley told Patsy author Margaret Jones that he and Cline had even talked of doing an album of showtunes and standards before her death, including "Can't Help Loving That Man of Mine", since Cline was a fan of Helen Morgan) Cline, so involved with the story in the song's lyrics, reportedly cried through most of what would be her last sessions. This emotion can be heard on certain tracks, especially "Sweet Dreams" and "Faded Love." At the play back party that night at the studio, according to singer Jan Howard, on the documentary Remembering Patsy, Patsy held up a copy of her first record and a copy of her newest tracks and stated "Well, here it is... the first and the last."
Tragic death
As stated in the 1980 Ellis Nassour biography, Patsy Cline, friends Dottie West and June Carter Cash both recalled Cline telling them that she felt a sense of impending doom and didn't expect to live much longer in the months leading up to her death. Cline, though known for her extreme generosity, even began giving away personal items to friends, writing out her own last will on Delta Air Lines stationery and asking close friends to care for her children if anything should happen to her. She reportedly told Jordanaire back up singer Ray Walker as she exited the Grand Ole Opry a week before her death: "Honey, I've had two bad ones (accidents). The third one will either be a charm or it'll kill me."
On March 3, 1963, Patsy, though ill with the flu, gave a stellar final performance at a benefit show at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of a disc jockey, Cactus Jack Call, who had recently died in an automobile accident. Also performing on the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, and George McCormick and the Clinch Mountain Clan. Cline wore a white chiffon gown and closed the show with her performance to a thunderous ovation. Her last song was the last one she recorded during her last sessions the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone."
Dottie West, leery of Cline flying, pleaded with her to ride back in the car with her and her husband, Bill. Cline, anxious to get home to her children, refused West's offer, saying "Don't worry about me, hoss. When it's my time to go, its my time." She called her mother from the airport and then boarded a Piper Comanche bound for Nashville, flown by her manager Randy Hughes, along with Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. After stopping to refuel in Dyersburg, Tennessee, the plane took off at 6:07 pm. According to revelations by the airfield manager in the Nassour biography, he suggested that they stay the night after advising of high winds and inclement weather on the flight path, but Hughes responded, "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it." However, they never made it to Nashville. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed at 6:20 p.m., according to Patsy's wrist watch, in a forest just outside of Camden, Tennessee, only 90 miles from the destination. There were no survivors. Patsy Cline was 30 years old.[3]
Throughout the night, reports of the missing plane flooded the radio airwaves. Roger Miller told Patsy Cline author Ellis Nassour that he and a friend went searching for any survivors in the early hours of the morning: "As fast as I could I ran through the woods screaming their names -- through the brush and the trees and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Not long after the victims were removed, scavengers came to take what they could of the stars' personal belongings and pieces of the plane. Many of these items were later donated to The Country Music Hall of Fame, with the exception of the white chiffon dress that Patsy had worn for her last concert. It was never found.
Nashville was in shock over the losses. News of the tragedy screamed across headlines of newspapers the next morning. Per her wishes, Cline was brought home to her dream house for the last time before her memorial service, which thousands attended. Hours later, news that singer Jack Anglin had died on the way to her service surfaced, and the Opry mounted a special tribute show to honor the victims. (March, 1963 would prove to be the grimmest month in Opry history, ending with the death of former Opry star Texas Ruby, one of Cline's early influences, in a fire on March 29, bringing the total of Opry star deaths in one month to five.)
She was buried in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia, at Shenandoah Memorial Park. Her mother had her grave marked with a simple bronze plaque, which reads: "Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love." With the help of Loretta Lynn and Dottie West a bell tower, erected in her memory at the cemetery, plays hymns daily at 6:00 p.m., the hour of her death. A memorial marks the place where the plane crashed in the still remote forest outside of Camden, Tennessee.
While her life may have ended, her fan following did not. In fact, her life and career have acquired almost iconic status, so that she has become a rather greater and more widely-admired star in death than she was in life.
Legacy: 1963-1985
Three songs became hits after Cline's death: "Sweet Dreams," "Leavin' On Your Mind" and "Faded Love." More albums of unreleased material followed posthumously, starting with The Patsy Cline Story in the summer of 1963. This album replaced Cline's planned fourth album, originally to have been released that March and titled Faded Love. Owen Bradley produced all of these tracks. The majority featured the legendary back-up vocal group The Jordanaires, who also appeared on many of Elvis Presley's albums. The album's cover photo and design, featuring Patsy in a smoky haze of gold and with simple titles across the top, is also considered the first contemporary album cover art in Country Music history.
As the 1960s and early 70s moved on, MCA (new owner of Cline's former label, "Decca") continued to issue Patsy Cline albums, so that Cline has had several posthumous hits, starting in early 1964 with a Top 25 Country hit "He Called Me Baby," a song recorded during Cline's "last sessions" in 1963, which was then released on her 1964 album That's How a Heartache Begins. Her Greatest Hits album continues to appear on the Country Music charts to this day, since its release in 1967. It held the record as being the album to stay on the Country Charts the longest, until Garth Brooks surpassed it in the 1990s. However, it still holds the record for an album by a female artist.
In 1973, Cline was elected to The Country Music Hall of Fame along with guitarist/RCA producer Chet Atkins, making her the first female solo artist in Country Music history to receive that honor. Along with the standard induction bronze plaque, the Hall houses a few of Cline's stage outfits, letters to her fan club president, and personal effects recovered from the crash site, including her "Dixie" cigarette lighter.
By the late 70s, Cline's name occasionally appeared in magazine articles and television interviews by her friends, namely Dottie West and Loretta Lynn, who credited her with inspiration for the success they were seeing at that time. In fact, Lynn recorded a tribute album dedicated to Cline, "I Remember Patsy" and scored a hit with Cline's 1962 hit "She's Got You."
It was encounters with MCA/Decca recording star Loretta Lynn by MCA manager of artist relations Ellis Nassour that led to a series of magazine profiles and the first of two complete biographies by Nassour with interviews with Patsy's mother Hilda Hensley, her husbands, intimate friends and peers such as Dottie West, Brenda Lee and Faron Young. Nassours biography Patsy Cline (revised and expanded in 1992 to Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline) has long served as perhaps the most definitive Cline biography, often used as a factual reference by other authors for later publications on Cline due to its extensive interviews and information.
Loretta Lynn published her biography, "Coal Miner's Daughter," which featured a chapter dedicated to her friendship with Cline. Lynn's biopic of the same name followed and featured actress Beverly D'Angelo, (who used her own voice) as Cline. Contrary to the movie's script, Cline and Lynn never toured together as Cline never owned her own bus and stars during her time usually traveled in caravans and limos. Public interest in Patsy Cline began to increase.
Singles continued to be released by MCA records through much of the 70s, but none of the singles actually charted on the Country list. In 1980 however, MCA, released an overdubbed version of her version of the song "Always," which was recorded back in 1963. The song went on to become a charted Country hit, peaking at #18 on the Hot Country Songs list in 1980. An album of the same name was released that year. In 1981, an electronically-produced duet between Cline and Jim Reeves (another legendary Country singer, who died a year after Patsy Cline, and sadly died from the same fate Cline did). Their duet of "Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)" was a Top 5 Country hit that year. Like Cline, Jim Reeves gained a massive fan following after his death, as well as a string of re-issued singles.
Movies & documentaries
With Loretta Lynn's Coal Miner's Daughter book and hit motion picture making headlines, talk of a picture devoted solely on Patsy Cline's life story began to transpire.
In 1985, HBO/Tri Star Pictures produced Sweet Dreams: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline, starring actress Jessica Lange, lip-syncing as Cline, actor Ed Harris as Cline's husband, Charlie Dick, and actress Ann Wedgeworth as Hilda Hensley, Cline's mother. The film depicted Cline's marriage to Dick as abusive, falsely portraying Cline as a victim of domestic violence and blowing their marital strife out of proportion. Dottie West said of the couple's disagreements in a 1986 interview: "It was always very interesting to watch -- because you ALWAYS knew Patsy was going to win! He was her man. He was her lover." Cline's family and friends claimed that this and other sequences in the film were inaccurately fictionalized for Hollywood and were not pleased with the final product. Cline's mother was quoted in a 1985 edition of People magazine: "The producers told me they were going to make a love story. I saw the film once. That was enough. Jessica (Lange) did well with what she had to work with." Cline's widower, Charlie Dick, stated in the same article: "Its a great film -- if you like fiction." Despite the film's controversy, the picture became a hit, and Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, one that she credits today as one of her favorites. The soundtrack to the film was a great success, and Patsy Cline's discography began to climb the record charts again. Suddenly, people everywhere seemingly couldn't get enough of Patsy Cline.
Hoping to set the record straight on her personal life, Cline's family and friends have produced a series of videos/documentaries since Sweet Dreams including The Real Patsy Cline, Remembering Patsy and most recently Sweet Dreams Still: The Live Collection. One of these, Remembering Patsy, was used on the A&E Channel's award winning show "Biography" in the 1990s.
Legacy: 1990-present
In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service honored her, along with Hank Williams, on a U.S. postage stamp. Also in 1992, MCA released a 4 CD/Cassette Collection of the discography, called The Patsy Cline Collection. This boxed set, which includes a booklet chronicling Cline's career (with many rare photos), remains one of the top 10 bestselling boxed collections in the record industry.
In 1993, the Grand Ole Opry opened its museum beside The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. It includes a permanent Patsy Cline exhibit, displaying several of her awards, stage outfits, wigs, make-up, hairbrush and a fully-furnished replica of her dream home's music room.
1993 also marked the 30th anniversary of the 1963 plane crash. To commemorate the event, The Grand Ole Opry televised its Saturday night segment as a tribute to Cline, Hawkins and Copas. With Cline's widower, Charlie, and their daughter, Julie, onhand, friend Jan Howard paid tribute to Cline singing "I Fall to Pieces" (which her ex-husband, Harlan Howard, cowrote), followed by Loretta Lynn who performed "She's Got You."
That same year, the musical play AlwaysÂ…Patsy Cline premiered, produced by Ted Swidley, chronicling the real-life story of Mississippi native Louise Seger, at the time a Houston, Texas fan who met Cline after a concert one evening and became a lifelong friend. The revue has made its way across the U.S., running off-Broadway in New York, New York and for over a year at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium where it starred singer Mandy Barnett and sold out nightly. Other plays, based on Cline's life and career, have followed; including A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline which starred Julie Johnson and Patsy! (a version of A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline that was performed only at the Grand Palace in Branson, MO). These are the only plays licensed by Legacy, Inc., the company operated by the family. All "Patsy Cline" related plays and merchandising are handled through the Legacy, Inc. office in the Nashville area.
Also in 1993, singers Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette included Cline's cover of Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" on their "Honky Tonk Angels" trio album, singing along with Cline's original track/vocal.
Cline became a member of the Texas Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1994. That same year, actress Delta Burke starred in her own television show entitled "Delta" as a Nashville waitress trying to make it into Country Music. The show referenced Patsy Cline throughout its run, and included several of Patsy Cline's hits, all sung by Burke. One episode took her to pay homage to Patsy Cline's grave where she meets another visitor, singer Tanya Tucker, who played herself.
Cline was portrayed on film again in the 1995 CBS bio pic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, featuring Michele Lee as Dottie West and actress Tere Myers as Cline. At that years Grammy Awards, she was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, along with Barbra Streisand and Peggy Lee. On the Grand Ole Opry's 70th Anniversay Special on CBS, singer Martina McBride celebrated her induction as the Opry's newest member by paying tribute to Cline with her version of "Crazy."
In 1997, Cline's recording of "Crazy" was named the #1 Jukebox Hit of All Time. "I Fall to Pieces" came in at # 17. In 1998, she was nominated to The Hollywood Walk of Fame by a dedicated fan and a street was named after her on the back lot of Universal Studios in 1999.
Also in 1999, VH1 named Cline #11 on its "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll" and in 2002, CMT named her #1 on its "40 Greatest Women of Country Music." She was also honored with the Nashville Golden Voice Award in its Legend Category that same year. Singer Trisha Yearwood celebrated her induction to the Opry that same year, paying tribute to Cline with her version of "Sweet Dreams" and receiving a necklace worn by Cline as a gift to commemorate the event from Cline's widower, Charlie, and their daughter, Julie.
Cline's hit song "I Fall to Pieces" was listed at #107 on RIAA's list of Songs of the Century in 2001. Loretta Lynn also released the sequel to her biography "Coal Miner's Daughter" called "Still Woman Enough." Lynn again dedicated a chapter to her friendship with Cline called "Still Thinking of Patsy." One of Lynn's daughters is named after Cline and one of Brenda Lee's daughter's is named after Cline's daughter, Julie.
Throughout her career, country legend Reba McEntire has cited Cline as one of her childhood inspirations and, upon reaching stardom in the 1980s, several of her first albums featured Cline's hits. McEntire closed her live shows for years with Cline's signature hit "Sweet Dreams," but discontinued the encore after closing a show with it on March 15, 1991 when the airplane carrying her band crashed and killed everyone aboard early the next morning. McEntire has been compared to Cline in regards to her career control as a woman.
Grammy Award winning country singer LeAnn Rimes has often been touted to be the heir to Cline's legacy, because her remarkably rich, powerful vocals are quite similar to that of Cline's. In fact, Rimes has released covers of Cline's hit songs such as "Crazy" and "I Fall to Pieces," and has performed "Crazy" at the White House for George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush.
In 2003, MCA Records released "Remembering Patsy," a collection of Cline's hits performed to new arrangements by various artists including Michelle Branch, Natalie Cole, Nora Jones, Patty Griffin and Martina McBride. A coffee table book by the same name was also released by author Brian Mansfield in conjunction with the album, featuring many never before seen photos of Cline and stories told by her friends and family.
One of the most heard Country Music albums of all time, "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits", has sold 10 million copies worldwide since its 1967 release. Bob Ludwig remastered the set, and it's been issued in its original cover art. [4] In 2005, the album Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits was certified by the RIAA as Diamond. That same year, that same album was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for staying on the overall music charts the longest of any female artist of any music genre in history.
That same year, her childhood home in Winchester, Virginia was listed on The National Register of Historic Places, complete with a bronze marker in its front yard. Cline was also memorialized in Nashville's downtown "Owen Bradley Park," her name on a slab of concrete featuring three of the hits that she and Bradley made famous. On the life-size grand piano upon which Bradley's statue sits is the sheet music for "I Fall to Pieces."
Cline's career and musical influence have been cited as inspirations by countless vocalists, including Tammy Wynette, Cyndi Lauper, Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell, Michelle Branch, Amy Grant, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes. k.d. lang built her early career and first five albums on a character that was basically a tribute to Cline, both in vocal characteristics, fashion sense (the early Cline image of Western cowgirl skirts and cowboy boots), musical material covered and Lang's band was even named the Re-Clines. In those early years, Lang described herself as the reincarnation of Cline. On her 1988 Shadowland album, Lang recruited Owen Bradley to produce it.
Each year, fans from around the globe gather in Cline's hometown of Winchester, where she is buried, to pay homage to her during its Labor Day and Memorial Day events. Efforts to erect a Patsy Cline museum in Winchester, Virginia, are still in the works. Sadly, a feud between her siblings regarding Patsy's mother's estate put Cline's stage costumes on the auction block in 2003 to pay for court costs. The feud attracted national media attention and the outspoken disappointment of Cline's fans, who had hoped to see the items donated to a museum as Cline's mother had intended. However, the group behind the museum effort, Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc., claims that the items are in good hands. Cline's brother died not long after the auctions. With the support and efforts of Patsy fans and supporters of the preservation of Patsy's life and career, a few items were secured from the auctions. One of the outfits (sold to an unknown bidder) has turned up in a Smithsonian Institution exhibit. Other costumes of Cline's have been seen in the Hard Rock Cafe collection.
Perhaps the greatest testament to her legacy, aside from her discography, is a fan base that continues to grow throughout the years, spanning generations and continents.
Family today
In December 1998, Cline's mother, Hilda Hensley, died in Winchester, Virginia of natural causes (Cline's father had died in the 1950s). Hensley rarely granted live interviews, living the rest of her life practicing her craft as a master seamstress in Winchester and helping to raise her beloved grandchildren. Cline's daughter Julie stated in a 1985 People Magazine article: "Grannie loved my mother so much that its still hard for her to talk about her." Hensley stated in her later years that the outpouring of love given to her by Cline's fans was amazing. Because Cline and her mother were so close in age, Cline often commented that her mother was also her best friend and the one person in life she could truly count on. Hensley also commented that Cline was a "wonderful daughter" who never let her family down in the hard times they endured. Cline's brother died in 2004, though her sister still lives in Virginia.
Patsy's husband, Charlie Dick, resides in Nashville, where he continues to be a well-known member of the Country Music community, producing documentaries on Cline and other artists through a video production company. Dick is very involved with Cline's fan base and considers them an extension of family, attending many fan functions. Daughter Julie joins him in representing Cline's estate at public functions and has four children of her own (one, Virginia, named for Cline, was killed in an automobile accident in 1994) and three grandchildren, making Patsy Cline a great-grandmother. Son Randy was the drummer of a Nashville band and still resides in Nashville, although he chooses not to live in the limelight. Dick's brother, Mel, heads up the "Always... Patsy Cline" fan organization.
After Cline's death, Charlie Dick married singer Jamey Ryan in 1965, but the two divorced years later. Charlie & Jamey have a son, and two more grandchildren. Ironically, Jamey Ryan provided the vocals for two songs in the film Sweet Dreams: "Bill Bailey (Won't You Please Come Home)" (a Cline concert favorite for many years, she finally recorded the song in 1963, during what would turn out to be her final series of recording sessions for Decca); and "Blue Christmas" (a tune that Cline never recorded). Ryan's sound is so close to Cline's that many fans search Cline's discography trying to find these two songs but soon discover that these tracks were recorded solely for the film and were not included on the soundtrack.
