We spoke of Patsy again today.  We were enjoying the picking and singing at Chattanooga's bluegrass festival on the river when I suddenly thought of Patsy.  I told my friends,  "You know, if we hadn't lost Patsy Cline, I bet she would be up on that stage.  She was a bluegrass girl at heart."

Patsy's been gone for 44 years, but we talked about her today like we lost her only a couple of years ago.   Anytime we speak of Patsy, it's with an awesome reverence.   We use phrases like 'when we lost her', as if she belonged to us, and I guess she did, in a way. 

I decided then and there that I would write about Patsy when I arrived home.

If I could sing, I would want to sound exactly like Patsy Cline.  She claimed she was more comfortable singing bluegrass and country western, but it was her crossovers such as 'Sweet Dreams' and 'Crazy' that won me over.  

I seldom dream.  Not that I can remember, anyway.  But sweet dreams, or even the lack of them, can remind me of a favorite song.   But then, I've never needed reminders to think about songs.

One of my favorite country songs is 'Sweet Dreams.'

Don Gibson wrote the song.  He recorded it in 1952 and it quickly rose to the top ten on the Country Billboard charts.   Faron Young took it to #2 in 1956.   However, it is the Patsy Cline version that I know and play today.

I have too many favorite songs to try to count them, but the 'Patsy Cline: 12 Greatest Hits' album filled with hits such as 'Sweet Dreams' and 'Crazy', accompanied by powerful, weeping violins, Floyd Cramer on piano, and the Jordanaires' singing softly in the background, is one of my most played country CD's.    The album spent more time on the Billboard charts than any album and is still the top-selling hits collection by a female country artist.   

During Patsy's prime, no one could touch her. 

But, in 1963, Patsy's career, as well as those of country stars Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and manager Randy Hughes, ended in a plane crash in a rugged, wooded area near Camden, Tennessee, and country music lost a lot of its stardust and magic.

Patsy Cline was elected posthumously, as the first female sole artist, to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.   She still holds a reputation as one of the greatest female vocalists of all time, and anytime you need to slip away from the cares of the world, just listen to a little 'Patsy'.  Her rich voice, fraught with emotion, still soothes.  

That's all for tonight, readers.  I feel a mood coming on.   I think I'll slip a little 'Patsy' into the CD player.

Sweet dreams.

Copyright 2007 Patricia Paris
Contact: patriciaparis@gmail.com
Patricia Paris is an author/columnist from Chattanooga. Member: Tennessee Mountain Writers, International Women Writers Association, Tennessee Writers Alliance, Chattanooga Writers Guild