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PEOPLE IN AMERICA - November 10, 2002: Patsy Cline
By Paul Thompson
Anncr:
Today I tell about a young woman who died more than thirty years ago. Her name was Virginia Patterson
Hensley. No one but her family would remember that name. The world remembers her as Patsy Cline.
(MUSIC)
That song is called "Walkin' After Midnight." It was Patsy Cline's first big hit
record. She recorded it in nineteen-fifty-seven. It became number three on the list of
country music hit recordings and number twelve on the list of most popular music.
Patsy had worked for many years to make that first successful record. She began
singing when she was a young girl in her home town of Winchester, in the southern
state of Virginia.
Patsy sang anywhere she could. She sang at weddings and dances. She sang at public eating places for eight
dollars a night. Those who knew her said she worked hard to improve her singing.
In nineteen-fifty-four she won a country music competition near her home. She was twenty-two years old. She
was asked to appear on a country music television program in Washington D-C. She also sang on radio programs
in the Virginia area and recorded some records.
In nineteen-fifty-seven, Patsy Cline appeared on a national television show in New York. It was on this program
that millions of people first heard her sing. She sang "Walkin' After Midnight," a song she had recently recorded.
Her appearance on the television program helped make that record a major hit.
Patsy continued to record more songs. Within two years she had another major hit. It was called, "I Fall to
Pieces." By this time Patsy's voice had already become something special. She had learned to control not only the
sound but the feelings expressed in her songs. It was the slow, sad love songs that her fans enjoyed most, songs
like "I Fall to Pieces."
(MUSIC) Anncr: Patsy Cline's recording of "I Fall to Pieces" became her first number one country music hit. It
was also a hit with fans of popular music. Patsy was a major star. She also had begun performing at the country
music theater, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
Those who knew her after she became a recording star say Patsy Cline was a very good friend. She liked to help
young musicians. Later, many of these young musicians became important stars themselves.
One of Patsy's biggest hit songs also helped two of these young musicians become known. The song is called,
"Crazy." It was written by an unknown musician who later became a major country music star. His name is
Willie Nelson.
If you listen carefully to Patsy Cline's recording of "Crazy," you can hear the beautiful piano playing of another
young musician, Floyd Cramer. He also became a major recording star. Listen to Patsy and Floyd perform Willie
Nelson's song, "Crazy."
(MUSIC)
Anncr: on March sixth, nineteen-sixty-three, Patsy Cline was killed in the crash of a small airplane. She was only
thirty years old. She was flying home to Nashville. She had taken part in a special concert in Kansas City to raise
money for the family of a country music radio performer who recently had died.
Patsy Cline was buried near her home town of Winchester, Virginia. Thousands of people came to her funeral.
Ten years after her death, she became the first woman performer elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In nineteen-eighty-five, Hollywood producers made a movie about the life of Patsy Cline. It was called "sweet
dreams. " Popular actress Jessica Lange played Patsy. No one really could sound like Patsy Cline. So the
producers used her old records in the movie. Mizz Lange moved her mouth so she appeared to be singing.
People who had never heard of Patsy Cline saw the movie and enjoyed her singing. They began buying her
records. Today, her records still sell thousands of copies each year as new fans discover her.
We leave you with a song Patsy Cline recorded only a month before she died. It sounds almost as though she was
singing in Special English. The song is called "Faded Love."
(MUSIC)
Anncr: this Special English program was written and directed by Paul Thompson. I'm Dick Rael. Join us again
next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.
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