Patsy Cline, In Her Own Voice

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There’s never been anything quite like Patsy Cline’s voice–big, clear, candid. Most people are familiar with songs like “Crazy” and “I Fall To Pieces.” It’s “Faded Love”, however, that shows off the true power of her voice. Near the very end of the song, she takes a breath. It’s a short pause, but she sounds as though she’s on the verge of tears.

There’s never been anything quite like Patsy Cline’s voice–big, clear, candid. Most people are familiar with songs like “Crazy” and “I Fall To Pieces.” It’s “Faded Love”, however, that shows off the true power of her voice. Near the very end of the song, she takes a breath. It’s a short pause, but she sounds as though she’s on the verge of tears.

“It’s heart-wrenching to hear that, it just grabs you,” says Harold Bradley. He played guitar in many of Patsy’s recording sessions. His brother, Owen, produced her most famous records. Harold Bradley says finding Patsy’s true ‘sound’ took a lot of trail and error. “They stumbled around a long time, different songs and stuff,” he says.

A COWGIRL IN HER EARLY DAYS

Patsy in 1956, When She Performed Western Swing Music in a Red Cowgirl Outfit (Photo: Elwood Baker, Courtesy of Mario Munoz)

Patsy spent the early part of career in the world of western swing, performing in a flamboyant cowgirl outfit. On her early recordings, she sang everything from rockabilly to songs with more of a traditional country flavor. Her own musical tastes leaned toward pop vocalists from late 40s and early 50s, including Kay Starr. Her voice was big and brassy. Listening to a few of her songs, you can hear hints of what would become Patsy’s signature sound.

“I’m sure Owen—just as he did with me—had Patsy listening to Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland and Edith Piaf,” says Brenda Lee. She thought of Patsy as a big sister, as both recorded at Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut studio on Music Row. “All those wonderful, wonderful girl singers that you wouldn’t really try to copy, but that some of that magic they had would sink into your mind and your soul.”

MOVING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE

Owen Bradley was known for “The Nashville Sound.” Instead of fiddles and steel guitars, he created a musical backdrop of smooth as silk backup vocals and lush string arrangements.

It’s the sound that would pave the way for her success, but Patsy felt a little uneasy. Sometimes, she would try to slip in some trademarks of her western swing days.

Patsy Recording at Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut Studio (Photo: Elmer Williams)

Ray Walker sings with The Jordanaires. He remembers what Patsy tried to do with the ending of I Fall to Pieces. “She sang that song so beautifully, such beautiful low notes,” he says.” “And when she started to tag it, she did this ‘dun nanananananananahhhhh I faaaaalllll to pieces!’” Walker was stunned. “She looked over and saw my face and said, ‘what’s the matter hoss, didn’t you like that?’”, he says. “I said, ‘well, Patsy you had us in the palm of your hand with those beautiful low notes you’ve got and then you went into this western swing which totally turned the song upside down!’”

“That’s what Owen said!,” Patsy shot back. It was Owen’s version that made the final cut, which would become her first number one single in August of 1961.

A VOICE CARRIES ON

Over the next two years, a string of hits followed, before she was killed in a plane crash at the age of 30.

Even in death, her voice carries on. Female artists from KD Lang and Trisha Yearwood to Emmylou Harris and Neko Case credit her as an influence.

You can see the roots of that influence in Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You, anexhibit on her life and career told from her perspective. It opens today and runs through next year, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.