REMEMBERING PATSY CLINE

Oh, my God. So embarrassed. Why? Because I didn't realize that today was the 50th anniversary of Patsy Cline's tragic demise-by-private-jet in the hills outside Camden, Tennessee on March 5, 1963. But of course now that I know, I'm hard-pressed to think of anything really original or even marginally unique to say about the woman whose throaty voice and tough girl style made her a country/pop icon despite the fact that, at the age of 30, her recording career had spanned less than a decade when she died. But when has that ever stopped me before? So, here goes. (Takes a deep breath.) Patsy Cline was one of those artists who transcend genre and defy categorization because there has never been anyone like them before and never will be anyone like them again. People who knew Patsy Cline personally have said that she was every bit as tough as she seemed to be, but that, behind the toughness, there was a kind heart, especially where other female singers were concerned. (Her friendship with Loretta Lynn, an up and coming novice at the time, allegedly inspired the coal miner's daughter to write the ball-busting songs "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin'" and "The Pill.")

Patsy Cline drank beer like a man, swore like a sailor, and addressed men as "Hoss", but she looked sexy as hell doing it, and when she sang, it was with a voice that even an angel would envy. She was the first singer to record "Crazy" by Willie Nelson, and although the song has been recorded countless times since by some amazingly gifted singers, no one ever has...or I dare say ever will...improve on Patsy's version, including Willie Nelson. And on the foggy night she died in that plane crash, after performing at a charity event in Kansas City with her friend, Dottie West, she turned down West's offer of a car ride back to Nashville with the retort, "When it's my time to go, it's my time to go." Coming from a woman who had already survived two car wrecks, the second one nearly killing her and leaving her forehesd scarred, that might seem like a pretty flippant attitude. But from what I've read about Patsy Cline, it was probably just the no-nonsense way that she saw the situation. And so she got on the plane and that was it. But of course it wasn't. Not really. Not as long as there are still recordings with Patsy Cline's voice on them. Because, as we all know, artists like Patsy Cline never die. They just catch the wind with their angel wings and continue to spread the magic of their gift across the endless skies.

Skol!