Note: A
version of this first appeared in this blog on this date in 2010
There may not be a Don
McLean song to commemorate the occasion, but March 5, 1963 was surely
another day the music died. On that day
a small plane carrying Patsy Cline and
fellow Grand Ol’ Opry stars Cowboy Copas and Hankshaw Hawkins went down on the way home to Nashville from a Kansas City
benefit. The three stars and two
others were killed in the crash in remote woods near Camden, Tennessee.
Learning that the plane was missing in the area friends from
Nashville joined in the frantic search.
The crash site was discovered by Roger
Miller, one of the many young artists Cline had mentored.
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia in 1932 to a
sixteen year old seamstress and her blacksmith husband, she was performing in
local talent shows and clubs by her mid teens.
During a short lived marriage to Gerald
Cline in the early ‘50’s she began performing as Patsy Cline.
Cline was soon being featured on a local Washington, DC TV program along another
rising young country star, Jimmy Dean and
signed a recording contract with Four
Star Records. She enjoyed middling
success recording, at the label’s insistence, material not suited for her rich
voice and emotional delivery. Still, she
was getting enough attention to be invited to occasionally appear on the Opry.
In 1957 she competed on Arthur
Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, one of the most popular shows on television. Godfrey insisted that she abandon the cowgirl
outfits her mother made for a sophisticated cocktail dress. She sang her recently recorded Walkin’
After Midnight. She won the
competition handily and the song was released as single and soared to the top
of the country music and pop charts. She
regularly appeared on Godfrey’s radio show and became a featured performer on
the Ozark Jubilee on ABC.
Cline was touring regularly and was a fast rising star when
she married Charlie Dick.
With a new manager Cline was finally released from her
restrictive Four Star contract and signed with Decca in 1960. She enjoyed
country and pop success with a string of hits the featured full orchestration
and elaborate production values, the so-called Nashville Sound. Her first
Decca record I Fall to Pieces set the standard for the new sound and new
success.
By 1961 Cline became a member of the Opry and was soon one
of its biggest stars. She befriended and
mentored many artists, especially women like Lorretta Lynn, Dottie West,
and Barbara Mandrel. But she could also hang out with male
performers matching beers and dirty jokes.
Incredibly generous she often supported struggling performers, even
brining them into her home. Cline was
the best loved woman in Nashville.
Her high ride almost ended in a near fatal car crash in 1961
in which she was thrown through the car’s windshield. Dottie West rushed to the scene and cradled
her injured friend picking glass out of her hair. Cline declined treatment in the hospital
until the other driver was cared for.
That driver died, and the delay may have made Cline’s injuries
worse. She suffered a broken hip,
several broken ribs and a deep, long gash on her forehead.
The rest of her life she had to hide the scar under wigs and
heavy make-up. Ever the trouper, she
returned to touring while still on crutches.
Her recording of Willie
Nelson’s Crazy became the biggest
hit of her career. Cline became the
first woman in country music to have her own show at Carnage Hall. She also sang
at the Hollywood Bowl and headlined
her own show in Las Vegas.
Patsy Cline was only 30 years old when she died. She has since become a cultural icon. To this day no one sings a song with
emotional intensity of the girl from Winchester.
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