Maps of Music

Patsy Cline (1957)

Where the lyrics of Patsy Cline take you, and where it was really made.

Cline recorded these songs for 4 Star Records, but the album came out on Decca, the label she would join later.

Key places

Recording at Bradley Recording Studio, Nashville (1957)

Recording site Nashville — Part of the album was recorded at Bradley Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, in May 1957. The map point is set at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Decca Recording Studio, New York City (1957)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Part of the album was recorded at Decca Recording Studio in New York City in April 1957. The map point is set at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Patsy Cline: debut studio album by American country singer Patsy Cline
• Released 5 August 1957
• One of three studio albums Cline recorded during her lifetime
• Twelve songs in total
• Mix of honky tonk, rockabilly and country pop

Background

• Two singles came from the album
• First single "Walkin' After Midnight" was released in 1957 and became a Top 20 pop smash and a classic
• Second single "I Don't Wanta" failed to chart
• Cline did not have another major hit or studio album until 1961
• Cline recorded for 4 Star Records, but the album was released on Decca Records
• Decca became Cline's label from late 1960 until her death in 1963, and she issued two studio albums there
• Digitally remastered and released on MCA Records in 1988, using the original album cover

Recording

• Recording began as early as January 1956 and ended as late as 23 May 1957
• Produced by Owen Bradley, who later produced all of Cline's sessions from 1960 to 1963
• Background vocals by The Anita Kerr Singers, a Nashville group that backed many country artists in the 1950s and 60s

Cover

• Album cover photography by Warren Rothschild

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia, on September 8, 1932.
• Began performing in 1948 at local radio station WINC at age 15.
• Took the stage name Patsy Cline, using her middle name Patterson.

Career

• Signed a recording contract with 4 Star Records in 1954; early singles were not hits.
• Breakthrough came in 1957 with "Walkin' After Midnight" after a national TV appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.
• Moved to Nashville in 1958 and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in January 1960.
• Moved to Decca Records in 1960, working under producer Owen Bradley, and had two number-one country hits, including "I Fall to Pieces" (1961) and "She's Got You".
• "Crazy" (1961) became her biggest pop hit; she was among the first country artists to cross over successfully into pop.
• Died in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, on March 5, 1963, at age 30.

Legacy

• Became the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.
• Received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
• Her childhood home in Winchester was restored and opened as a museum in 2011.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Reappraisal

• Many music critics have called the tracks very different from the material Cline recorded for her later albums
• The album mixes honky tonk, rockabilly and country pop across twelve songs
• One track, "Don't Ever Leave Me Again", was co-written by Cline

Records

• The single "Walkin' After Midnight" became a Top 20 pop smash in 1957
• The same single reached number 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and number 12 on the Pop Singles chart
• The second single "I Don't Wanta" failed to chart
• Cline did not have another major hit or studio album until 1961

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" appears in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, on the fictional radio station K-Rose
• "Don't Ever Leave Me Again" was co-written by Cline with James Crawford and Lillian Claiborne, and she used her real name, Virginia Hensley, in the songwriting credits
• "A Poor Man's Roses", the flip side of "Walkin' After Midnight", was not featured on the album
• The Anita Kerr Singers, who provided the background vocals, also backed many popular country artists in the 1950s and 60s

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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