A brief celebration today of country crossover singer Patsy Cline (Virginia Hensley, 1932-1963). Her birthday falls on the same day as country pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, who also died young, and one day after that of Buddy Holly, who, like Cline, died in a plane crash.
Calamities seem to define Cline’s life. Born into abuse and poverty in rural Virginia, she worked in poultry plants and at other odd jobs as a girl. A bout of rheumatic fever at age 13 altered her voice into the brassy confident instrument that served her as a singer. In mid 1961 she survived a near-fatal car crash that tossed her through a windshield, damaging her face. Her luck finally ran out less than two years later.
Cline’s musical models as a girl included Helen Morgan, Kate Smith, Kay Starr, Patti Page, and Patsy Montana. She covered many a Hank Williams song, but clearly loved Tin Pan Alley as well, hence her easy cross-over into the pop charts once her career gained momentum. She talked her way onto local radio when still a teenager, and a local tv show called Town and Country Time in the early ’50s. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1957, made a #12 pop hit out of her single “Walkin’ After Midnight”, and led to performances with Godfrey’s roadshow for months. It was a few years until her next chart successes, but they have proved to have lasting impact. In 1961, “I Fall to Pieces” went to #12, and Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” went to #9. Her emotional performances of both of these songs (it’s easy to discern the Helen Morgan influence), as well as the deep eloquence of their themes have resulted in their being employed on multiple motion picture soundtracks. Her next single, “She’s Got You” (1962) did about as well (#14), but hasn’t had the same kind of staying power.
Constant touring means increased risk of death in a vehicular accident; it would seem to be one of the occapational hazards of being a musician. Cline was traveling with her manager and fellow country stars Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas from Kanasas City to Nashville in a heavy storm when their plane went down in the Tennessee woods.
Beverly D’Angelo played Cline in the 1980 Loretta Lynn bio-pic Coal MIner’s Daughter resulting in renewed interest in her career. Posthumous releases of some of her old tracks resulted in new hits, including a cover of Irving Berlin’s “Always” (1980), and a duet with Jim Reeves’ (who died the year after Cline) of “Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)?” (1981). Jessica Lange played the singer in the 1985 bio-pic Sweet Dreams. In 1988 the stage musical Always…Patsy Cline premiered. There were the documentaries The Real Patsy Cline (1989), and Remembering Patsy (1994), followed by the 1995 tv movie Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, in which she was portrayed by actress Tere Myers. More recently, there was a 2017 episode of American Masters devoted to her, and a a Lifetime movie called Patsy and Loretta in 2019. In 2017, The Patsy Cline Museum opened in Nashville!