Personnel: Patsy Cline (vocals); Randy Hughes, Ray Edenton, Grady Martin, Hank Garland (guitar); Walter Haynes, Ben Keith (steel guitar); Rita Faye Wilson (autoharp); Floyd Cramer (piano, organ); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Bill Pursell (organ); Bob Moore, Joe Jenkins (acoustic bass); Harold Bradley (bass); Buddy Harman, Doug Kirkham (drums); Millie Kirkham (background vocals).
The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker, Hoyt Hawkins, Ray Walker, Neal Matthews, Jr. (background vocals).
Recorded between 1961 & 1963. Includes liner notes by Jay Orr and Don Roy.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
When Patsy Cline died in a plane cash in the early '60s she was at the top of her career, a star in both country and pop music. To this day, she is revered as the queen of country music.
Patsy's voice is the epitome of torch singing--emotional, yet distant enough from the flame not to get burned. Her superb voice, with its catches, chokes and soaring notes, changed the course of country and western music, and defined the new direction of female country artists.
Even non-coutry fans appreciate such legendary performances as the seamless, upbeat "Walking After Midnight"; the ultra-torchy "Sweet Dreams"; the swaying ballad "She's Got You"; Willie Nelson's bluesy "Crazy"; the bouncy "Back In Baby's Arms"; the definitive "I Fall To Pieces"...and the hits just go on and on and on.
Ironically, Cline, who considered herself a cowgirl, hated her successful pop tunes. She single-handedly removed the "western" from country & western, but that was her favorite music. She would rather be yodeling and singing mountain-style. Fortunately, she listened to her advisers and left us with a legacy of country-pop classics.
