Patsy Cline Memorial Thread

Patsy Cline will be dead 50 years on March 5th. She had such a beautiful voice, which won here widespread fame on the Arthur Godfry show. Somehow I don't think she (or Dylan, or Orbison, etc.) would have fared as well today on American Idol (where looks are more important than talent).

Video killed the radio star, and computerized sound is killing music
• She would have been fine--she was quite attractive.

• Years ago I picked up a video that collected all her music videos (or whatever they called them in the 1950s) I will have a Patsy Cline Memorial Viweing on March 5th.

• Patsy Cline was Loretta Lynn's mentor. Loretta said if it wasn't for Patsy, she might not have had a career.

• I used to think Patsy Cline was Jewish, not ever having seen her name in print. Silly me.

  Irving

• Yes, Patsy was attractive, but her real appeal was that voice and delivery. I just don't think those talents are as appreciated today. Autotune and digitalized music, have made talent take a back seat to "image".

  anonymous

• Oh, yes! "Looks are more important than talent"! Says nobody ever about AI's Fantasia, Taylor Hicks, Lee DeWyze, Ruben Studdard, or Scotty McCreery.

• The concept of Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts was so much better than American Idol. There were three contestants every week and one would be a winner. Many show biz stars got their start on Talent Scouts. Many of Talent Scout losers were better than AI winners.

• Well, AI got them exposure, but who among those named has had a real career, r6? Kelly Clarkson certainly has more talent than looks, and has fought and made a career for herself. Some of the biggest more recent successes (uhem..Madonna, anyone) were built out of PR, image shock value, if you will), with a deficit to complete lack of musical talent. Of, course American Idol is not to blame, it is just the state of the modern music industry.

  anonymous

• Was she, like, the one from Hee Haw or something?

  Miley%20Cyrus

• There was a clarity and richness to Patsy's voice. It could soar high, then swoop down low, then rise just barely above a whisper, evoking joy, pain, and heartache in a single song. But it was always in a gradual progression, not this flashy vocal gymnastics showboating that today's singers seem to prefer. I recently attended my niece's high school talent show, and she and every single girl vocalists did all the belting, whoops, runs, and melissimas that they learned from their idols Whitney, Mariah, Céline, and Christina. It was excruciating and I wished these girls had listened to Patsy or Karen Carpenter or even Gloria Estefan to see how real singing is done. But perhaps they find this style too old fashioned.

• Patsy was a rare talent. Very few who have followed approach her talent. Dolly Parton comes close, but still no cigar.

• This one was a hit after Patsy died...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b35SkJdDGV4

  anonymous

• Most country stars of yesteryear didn't have much talent. The talent was all in "The Nashville A-team"

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nashville_A-Team

• Patsy Cline transcended country music.

• Critics called her "The Hayseed Judy Garland."

• The ironic thing about that fateful day in '63, when Patsy died was that onboard the plane with her were Hackshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas, who were the bigger stars at the time. Cline's legend grew after her death, while Hawkins and Copas are only remembered (if at all) as those "honky tonk singers who died in that plane with Patsy." When you watch that biopic of Patsy, "Sweet Dreams," Jessica Lange as Patsy calls them by name, but so little time is invested in these characters that you'd think they were just her backup band, not the superstars they were.