7 Patsy Cline 7Known in her youth as “Ginny,” she began to sing
with local country bands while a teenager, sometimes
accompanying herself on guitar. By the time she had
reached her early 20s, Cline was promoting herself as
“Patsy” and was on her way toward country music stardom.
She first recorded on the Four Star label in 1955, but it was
with the advent of television culture in the late 1950s that
she gained a wider audience. Cline began appearing on the
radio and on Town and Country Jamboree, a local television
variety show that was broadcast every Saturday night from
Capitol Arena in Washington, D.C.
Singing “Walkin’ After Midnight” as a contestant on
the CBS television show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,
Cline took first prize—the opportunity to appear on
Godfrey’s morning show for two weeks. She thereby
gained national exposure both for herself and for her song.
Three years later she became a regular performer on the
Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts from Nashville, Tenn.,
which largely defined the country music genre. Although
Cline preferred traditional country music, which typically
included vocalizations such as yodeling, the country music
industry—coming into increasing competition with rock
and roll—was trying to increase its appeal to a more main-
stream audience. After her recording of “I Fall to Pieces”
remained a popular seller for 39 consecutive weeks, she
was marketed as a pop singer and was backed by strings
and vocals. Cline never fully donned the pop music mantle,
however: she did not eliminate yodeling from her reper-
toire, she dressed in distinctly western-style clothing, and
she favoured country songs—especially heart-wrenching
ballads of lost or waning love—over her three popular
songs “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and
“Crazy” (written by a young Willie Nelson).
Cline’s life was cut short in March 1963 by an airplane
crash that also killed fellow entertainers Cowboy Copas