When Patsy Cline Was…Crazy

Rosanne Cash narrates filmmaker Barbara H. Hall's star-studded PBS-aired American Masters profile of country music singer Patsy Cline (1932-1963), featuring artists including Reba McEntire and Margo Price, who cite Cline songs that impacted them the most, as well as actress Beverly D'Angelo, who played Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter. Born in Virginia in 1932, Patsy entered the world as Virginia Hensley. Her family moved often as her father Sam chased work around the South. When her mother Hilda decided she'd had enough, she took off with the kids. When Patsy left school after eighth grade, she worked odd jobs and sang with local bands. In her early 20s, she married Gerald Cline, signed her first record deal, and recorded with Owen Bradley, who describes her style as more pop than country. Known as the "Nashville sound," her take on the genre held its own when rock ‘n' roll came to dominate the industry. After winning the top prize on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, she scored a hit with "Walkin' After Midnight." While performing, she met Charlie Dick, who proved more supportive of her career. During that same year, 1957, she divorced Gerry and married Charlie, but after a bad record deal the couple moved to Nashville, where Patsy worked with the town's top songwriters. A car crash almost took her life, but the hits (including "Crazy") accumulated until a fateful plane trip brought everything to a premature end. Offering a fine testament to the life and legacy of an indomitable performer, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)