Remembering Patsy

Born in 1932, the gifted singer Patsy Cline died in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. She was 30 years old. Yet, as Remembering Patsy Cline reminds us, her considerable music legacy lives on. Combining home movie footage, interviews with friends, family, contemporaries (Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Bill Anderson, Loretta Lynn, and Mel Tillis), and new stars who were influenced by Cline's work (k.d. lang, Trisha Yearwood, and Lisa Stewart), Remembering Patsy also includes several filmed appearances of Cline. On hits such as "I Fall to Pieces," Willie Nelson's song "Crazy," and "Faded Love," viewers hear the unmistakable imprimatur of a true artist, a singer who--as one interviewee points out--lived the song while it was being sung. In addition, singer Michelle Wright reads excerpts from Cline's letters, snippets which are often amusing: after having her coat stolen, Cline said "if I see anyone with it on, I'm gonna take blood, ass, and all," which might sound a little confusing, but surely didn't bode well for the wearer of that coat. A gutsy lady, with a velvet voice and a fighter's instinct (she made an amazing comeback after a terrible car accident took off the top of her head early in her career), Patsy Cline was an incredible performer, and Remembering Patsy is an outstanding tribute. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (Available from: Hallway Entertainment, 214 Second Ave. North, Nashville, TN 37201; (615) 254-7087.)