REMEMBERING PATSY CLINE
BY BEATLE BOB-
It was 47 years ago this month, March, 1963, we lost the great Patsy Cline in a tragic airplane accident.
She was only 30-years old.
Patsy Cline was one of the most successful, influential,and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.
Her life and career have been the subject of many books, films, documentaries, and stage plays. Ten years after her death she became the first female solo artist to be into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Her hits included "Walkin' After Midnight," "I Fall To Pieces," "Crazy,""Sweet Dreams," "She's Got You." "Crazy," (written by Willie Nelson) was a hit on three different music charts Hot Country Songs list (#2), the US Hot 100 list (#9) and the Adult Contemporary list (2).
During her short 5 1/2 year career she recieved 12 major music awards.
In 2002, Cline was voted by the aritsts and members of the country music industry as number one on CMT's television special: The 40 Greatest Women Of Country Music,and in a 1999 she was voted #11 in VH1's TV special:The 100 Greatest 100 Women in Rock & Roll by members and artists of the rock industry.
Patsy's final performance was a benefit concert in Kansas City,Kansas on March 3 for a family of a disc jockey, Cactus Jack Call, who had died recently in a automobile accident. The last song she ever sang live was "I'll Sail My Ship Alone."
Dottie West whom also performed at the benefit was wary of Cline flying home and begged to her to ride back to Nashville with her and her husband. Cline politely refused, being in a hurry to see her family,saying, "Don't worry about me. Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time to go."
The plane included the pilot, Cline's manager Randy Hughes, and country music greats Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. After refueling in Dyyersburg, Tn, the airfield manager tried to get Hughes to spend the night due to high winds and incliment weather.
Hughes refused, and later the nplane flew into severe weather, and accordingto Patsy Cline's wristwatch crashed at 6:20 pm in a forest outside of Camden,Tn, 90-miles from Nashville.
There were no surviviors.
Patsy Cline was buried in her hometown of Winchester,Virginia at Shenandoah Memorial Park.
Her grave is marked with a simple bronze placque, which reads: Virginia H (Patsy) Cline: "Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love."
A bell tower in her memory at the cemetary, erected with the help of Loretta Lynn and Dottie West, plays hyms daily at 6:00 pm.
A memorial mark the place of her crash in the self-remote forest just outside of Camden,Tn. |
