Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.

Born in Winchester, Virginia, Cline's first professional performances began in 1948 at local radio station WINC when she was 15. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. She signed her first recording contract with the 4 Star label in 1954, and had minor success with her earliest 4 Star singles, including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957, Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnight", the single became her first major hit on both the country and pop charts.

Cline's further singles with 4 Star Records were unsuccessful, although she continued performing and recording. In 1958, she relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to further her career. Working with new manager Randy Hughes, Cline became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and then moved to Decca Records in 1960. Under the direction of producer Owen Bradley, her musical sound shifted, and she achieved consistent success. The 1961 single "I Fall to Pieces" became her first to top the Billboard country chart. Cline was severely injured in an automobile accident, which caused her to spend a month in the hospital. After she recovered, her next single, "Crazy", also became a major hit.

During her final years, Cline had hits with "She's Got You", "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong", and "Leavin' on Your Mind". She also toured and headlined shows with more frequency. On March 5, 1963, she was killed in the 1963 Camden PA-24 crash along with country musicians Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Kansas, back to Nashville.

Since her death, Cline has been cited as one of the most celebrated, respected, and influential performers of the 20th century. Her music has influenced performers of various styles and genres. She has also been seen as a forerunner for women in country music, being among the first to sell records and headline concerts. In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, Cline's posthumous successes continued in the mass media. She was portrayed twice in major motion pictures, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange. Several documentaries and stage shows about her have been made, including the 1988 musical Always...Patsy Cline. A 1991 box set of her recordings received critical acclaim. Her greatest-hits album sold over 10 million copies in 2005. In 2011, Cline's childhood home in Winchester was restored as a museum for visitors and fans to tour.

Early life

Virginia Patterson Hensley was born in Winchester, Virginia, on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson) and Samuel Lawrence Hensley. Her mother was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15), who lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley gave birth to Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae. Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was referred to as "Ginny".

She temporarily lived with her mother's family in Gore, Virginia, before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including Elkton, Staunton, and Norfolk. When the family had little money, she would find work, including at an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens. The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia, on South Kent Street. Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her. When confiding the abuse to friend Loretta Lynn, Cline told her, "take this to your grave." Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams.

At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and rheumatic fever. Speaking of the incident in 1957, she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered, I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's." During this time, she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events. She also taught herself how to play the piano.

With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing grew, and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances were at WINC in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic[rophone] and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you." While performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer Helen Morgan's.

Cline's parents had marital conflicts during her childhood, and by 1947, her father had deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother as saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child. Cline attended the ninth grade at John Handley High School in Winchester. However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion, and Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and soda jerk.

Career

1948–1953: Early career

At age 15, Cline wrote a letter to the Grand Ole Opry asking for an audition. She told local photographer Ralph Grubbs about the letter, "A friend thinks I'm crazy to send it. What do you think?" Grubbs encouraged Cline to send it. Several weeks later, she received a return letter from the Opry asking for pictures and recordings. At the same time, Gospel performer Wally Fowler headlined a concert in her hometown. Cline convinced concert employees to let her backstage, where she asked Fowler for an audition. Following a successful audition, Cline's family received a call asking for her to audition for the Opry. She traveled with her mother, two siblings, and a family friend on an eight-hour journey to Nashville, Tennessee. With limited finances, they drove overnight and slept in a Nashville park the following morning. Cline auditioned for Opry performer Moon Mullican the same day. The audition was well-received, and Cline expected to hear from the Opry the same day. However, she never received news and the family returned to Virginia.

By the early 1950s, Cline continued performing around the local area. In 1952, she asked to audition for local country bandleader Bill Peer. Following her audition, she began performing regularly as a member of Bill Peer's Melody Boys and Girls. The pair's relationship turned romantic, continuing an affair for several years. Nonetheless, the pair remained married to their spouses. Peer's group played primarily at the Moose Lodge in Brunswick, Maryland, where she would meet her first husband, Gerald Cline. Peer encouraged her to have a more appropriate stage name. She changed her first name from Virginia to Patsy (taken from her middle name, Patterson). She kept her new last name, Cline. Ultimately, she became professionally known as "Patsy Cline".

In August 1953, Cline was a contestant in a local country music contest. She won $100 and the opportunity to perform as a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country Time. The show included country stars Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV, and Billy Grammer, and was filmed in Washington, DC and Arlington County, Virginia. She was not officially added to the program's television shows until October 1955. Cline's television performances received critical acclaim. The Washington Star magazine praised her stage presence, commenting, "She creates the moods through movement of her hands and body and by the lilt of her voice, reaching way down deep in her soul to bring forth the melody. Most female country music vocalists stand motionless, sing with monotonous high-pitched nasal twang. Patsy's come up with a throaty style loaded with motion and E-motion."