(This post was intended to run on March 5th but was postponed in respect of the fallen Midland Police Officer Nathan Heidelberg, who gave his life in the service of his community during the early hours of March 5th. )
On this day in 1963, one of the greatest country singers of all time, Patsy Cline, was killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee. Patsy (born Virginia Patterson Hensley) had an enrapturing voice that captures one's soul even these several decades after her death. I was a toddler when she died, but by the time I was old enough to listen to country music on my grandfather's radio in the dairy barn, I was already a Patsy Cline fan. As one radio DJ said, "Patsy Cline can sing any song and IMMEDIATELY make it her own." I have to agree wholeheartedly with that assessment. For instance, Don Gibson, a country superstar of the 60's, wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams of You." Gibson's version was not a Top 10 hit, but Patsy Cline's version, released in 1963 only months after her death, completely overshadowed Gibson's version by reaching Number 5 on the country charts and breaking the Top 20 on the Pop charts. Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" went on to become one of the signature songs of country music. Today many younger people do not even know that Don Gibson released this song, much less wrote it, but love to hear Patsy Cline's melancholy, yet sultry rendition.
Patsy Cline put her special vocal "touch" on many country "standards" including some of my favorites, such as "I Fall to Pieces," "Crazy," I Go Walking After Midnight," "She's Got You," and "Faded Love," just to name a few. "Back" in the days of CDs (compact discs, in case you are under thirty) I wore out two or three Patsy Cline disks. And celebrities loved Patsy Cline's voice as much as the fans did. Madonna idolized Patsy Cline's beautiful voice and considered Patsy Cline to be very influential on her own music. Madonna felt that Patsy Cline had one of the greatest voices of all time and conceded in one interview that her own voice paled in comparison.
Although Patsy Cline left us so many years ago, her memory lives on in her songs. Even these decades after her death, Patsy Cline's haunting voice in her ballads, in her upbeat tunes, and her bluesy, melancholy songs of broken love, will continue to pull at the hearts of her old fans, while at the same time attracting new admirers, for many years to come. Thank you, Patsy, for your beautiful songs. I will always love your voice and your songs, and will continue to have "Sweet Dreams of You."
Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 - March 5, 1963
On this day in 1963, one of the greatest country singers of all time, Patsy Cline, was killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee. Patsy (born Virginia Patterson Hensley) had an enrapturing voice that captures one's soul even these several decades after her death. I was a toddler when she died, but by the time I was old enough to listen to country music on my grandfather's radio in the dairy barn, I was already a Patsy Cline fan. As one radio DJ said, "Patsy Cline can sing any song and IMMEDIATELY make it her own." I have to agree wholeheartedly with that assessment. For instance, Don Gibson, a country superstar of the 60's, wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams of You." Gibson's version was not a Top 10 hit, but Patsy Cline's version, released in 1963 only months after her death, completely overshadowed Gibson's version by reaching Number 5 on the country charts and breaking the Top 20 on the Pop charts. Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" went on to become one of the signature songs of country music. Today many younger people do not even know that Don Gibson released this song, much less wrote it, but love to hear Patsy Cline's melancholy, yet sultry rendition.
Patsy Cline put her special vocal "touch" on many country "standards" including some of my favorites, such as "I Fall to Pieces," "Crazy," I Go Walking After Midnight," "She's Got You," and "Faded Love," just to name a few. "Back" in the days of CDs (compact discs, in case you are under thirty) I wore out two or three Patsy Cline disks. And celebrities loved Patsy Cline's voice as much as the fans did. Madonna idolized Patsy Cline's beautiful voice and considered Patsy Cline to be very influential on her own music. Madonna felt that Patsy Cline had one of the greatest voices of all time and conceded in one interview that her own voice paled in comparison.
Although Patsy Cline left us so many years ago, her memory lives on in her songs. Even these decades after her death, Patsy Cline's haunting voice in her ballads, in her upbeat tunes, and her bluesy, melancholy songs of broken love, will continue to pull at the hearts of her old fans, while at the same time attracting new admirers, for many years to come. Thank you, Patsy, for your beautiful songs. I will always love your voice and your songs, and will continue to have "Sweet Dreams of You."
Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 - March 5, 1963
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