Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

All except two sessions held in New York at the Pythian Temple Studio on West 70th Street. The acoustical properties of the studio are different enough it's noticeable to the intent listener. Reverb plates were unnecessary at Pythian given its cavernous design.

Patsy recorded 8 songs there over two days (April 24 - 25, 1957). She was in the Big Apple for Arthur Godfrey appearances as a cast member on his CBS television show Godfrey and Friends.

The best remembered of her New York recordings are "Three Cigarettes" and "Too Many Secrets", although all 8 masters are quite good, especially the arrangements, as they are a radical departure from the country string band sound of Patsy's first sessions. This was the first experiment that hinted at her crossover appeal. While a commercial flop, these two sessions are invaluable to Cline collectors. I suspect Decca's lack of decent promotion for the resulting singles was a larger part of the problem than critics care to admit. She's a female Pat Boone here.

Of particular interest is the brass section on "Too Many Secrets". The April 25 session is also the first time Patsy worked with The Anita Kerr Singers. But the most interesting of all - two of the songs recorded on April 24 were co-written by Patsy: "A Stranger in My Arms " and "Don't Ever Leave Me Again". She registered the credits as her birth name, Virginia Hensley, to get around the stiff 4 Star Records contract that would otherwise steal her publishing royalties.

The producer of these sessions was Paul Cohen, who was head of Decca A&R Country before Owen Bradley was promoted upon his departure from the label.

Another note: jazz guitarist George Barnes played on these two sessions.

 

"Three Cigarettes" - a surviving acetate transcription from Arthur Godfrey and Friends. Godfrey's remarks at the end and Patsy's quick-tongued response are quite charming:

 

I actually prefer her live performance to the single. She's more comfortable and free. Either way, it's a great song. The followup single to "Walkin' After Midnight", and forever living in its shadow.

 

One more Godfrey appearance. If any 4 Star song could have lived up to the gutsy blues of "Midnight", it's "In Care of the Blues". This performance would get Elvis howlin'. Apparently Godfrey thought Patsy was going to be the next Betty Grable:



Sounds like George Barnes on electric guitar, but that's unconfirmed. (Call it "tentative", as I'm fond of saying at the dcg).

 

Tentatively, at the risk of getting us both kicked off the forum... ... what do you think of "Blue" by Leann Rimes? Remember, she and Steve H. are friends.

 

Are they? Good to know.

Personally, I don't understand the mass media hysteria comparing Rimes to Patsy when "Blue" was released. Seems to me it was a story concocted by the National Enquirer. Rimes should be appreciated in her own right. If the press wants to herald someone as "the new Patsy", well, Hell, she doesn't exist. But the closest incarnation would be Mandy Barnett. Even then, I'm underwhelmed...

Mark my words, George. There will never be another. Seems to me I'll have to get that phrase engraved on my tombstone for people to believe it. And I'll do it, because it's true.

There will never be another Patsy Cline.

 

My choice for "new Patsy Cline" would be Neko Case, because Neko shares the same birthdate as Patsy. True, they don't really sound alike, but that's the point. Patsy didn't get where she is by imitating someone else, and a true heir to her legacy wouldn't be an imitator.

I know a recurrent theme for me has been how slow and conservative the HOF is about inductions, and Patsy is certainly another example. It amazes me that it took them ten years after her death before they inducted her. They sure don't want to rush into anything, do they? Guess they needed those ten years to listen to her old records and really be sure she deserved it.

 

What label was this recorded for?

 

4 Star Records. With licensing and distribution by Decca. A great rockabilly song recorded in stereo but only issued in mono.

 

Perhaps it took 10 years for the Country Music Association to allow solo female inductees, and even still there's only about 15 of them.

 

According to a post earlier in this thread... excuse me for not quoting it directly... that lists the Hall requirements, inductees must meet the minimum of 25 years between coming into "national prominence" and induction. Assuming this requirement dates from the beginning of the Hall, it seems that Patsy Cline was inducted in her first year of eligibility, and that took a stretch of the requirements because she started in local radio in 1947, not recording.

 

Thought you may have seen Patsy Cline in concert. Just checked your post on Dr. Weber's Ryman Auditorium thread for confirmation. Any memories? I'm certain our op would be delighted...

 

Thought this was the picture sleeve of her highest charting single in the UK, no?

 

Aha. I missed that post, thanks. But what about Jim Reeves? As best I can discern, he wasn't doing anything musically until the late 40s either, so how did he manage to get inducted six years earlier?

 

Just curious what your source is for that? Hoffman is not listed in the album credits, and that CD is not listed in his discography on this site.

 

Nope. Only 3 Cline singles featured a picture sleeve: Walkin' After Midnight/A Poor Man's Roses, When I Get Thru With You/Imagine That and Leavin' On Your Mind/Triangle.

That's the cover of the 1985 MCA Special Products compilation titled Heartaches. The song was first issed in the UK as Brunswick single 05878 in 1962. Like its domestic Decca counterpart, its flip side featured "Why Can't He Be You." "Heartaches only reached #73 Billboard Pop and #65 Cash Box Pop. It fared better in the UK, reaching #31 Pop. The tune did not chart country, perhaps the reason it was omitted from Greatest Hits. It is, however the first selection on The Patsy Cline Story.

The "Heartaches" single was spawned from Cline's third album, Sentimentally Yours. Once it began to climb the pop charts, the cover art of the LP was revised to read "featuring HEARTACHES."

 

The J-card of the cassette release is my source. Under the song listing it reads "compiled by Steve Hoffman" in bold print. I'm unsure if the CD inlay credits him or not, as I've never owned it.

Later, the title was changed to "The Best of Patsy Cline" during the 1990's using a different photo from the "red shoot" but keeping the same track listing and running order. The CD version had two additional songs - "The Wayward Wind" and "Anytime".

Hoffman is listed in the credits at Discogs:

http://www.discogs.com/Patsy-Cline-The-Best-Of-Patsy-Cline/release/3819634

 

From the Releases page of my website:

Title: Heartaches
Artist: Patsy Cline
Format: CS/CD
Label: MCA Special Products
Cat. Num. 20265
Rel. Year: 1985

August 21, 1961 [overdub session] 111037-1
Crazy (Willie Nelson)

November 16, 1960 [14:30-17:30] 109887-4 + WP splice -
I Fall To Pieces (Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard)

February 12, 1962 [19:15-22:45] 111783 Heartaches
(Al Hoffman, John Klenner)

December 17, 1961 [19:10-22:40] 111504 She's Got You (Hank Cochran)

August 25, 1961 [14:30-18:30] 111058 Walkin' After Midnight (Donn Hecht, Alan Block)

February 5, 1963 [19:00-22:00] 113135 Sweet Dreams (Of You) (Don Gibson)

February 12, 1962 [19:15-22:45] 111782 You Belong To Me (Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, Chilton Price)

August 25, 1961 [14:30-18:30] 111059 Strange (Mel Tillis, Fred Burch)

February 15, 1962 [19:15-23:45] 111803 Anytime (Herbert Lawson)

August 17, 1961 [14:00-23:15] 111032 The Wayward Wind (Stan Lebowsky, Herb Newman)

Bill Justis, Bill McElhiney, Bob Moore (ldr), Owen Bradley (pdr), Patsy Cline (v), The Jordanaires (bkv), Randy Hughes (acg), Hank Garland, Grady Martin (eg), Ray Edenton (rg), Walter Haynes, Ben Keith (stg), Floyd Cramer (p, org), Hargus "Pig" Robbins (p), William Pursell (org, vib), Bob Moore (b), Harold Bradley (6eb), Murrey "Buddy" Harman, Doug Kirkham (d), Charlie McCoy (h), Byron Bach (vn, vc), Brenton Banks, George Binkley III, Howard Carpenter, Solie Fott, Lillian Hunt, Suzanne Parker, Verne Richardson, Wilda Tinsley, Gary Williams (vn), Cecil Brower (vn, vl), John Bright (vl).

NOTES: Released in 1985. Compiled by Steve Hoffman. The cassette version excludes the last two selections "Anytime" and "The Wayward Wind". In 1997 this compilation was reissued with the 4 Star version of "Walkin' After Midnight", under the title The Best of Patsy Cline. On March 30, 2000, this release was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over one million copies in the United States.

 

Thanks for typing all that all. There's no liner notes or credits of any kind in the CD version of Heartaches... strictly bare bones packaging. So probably Hoffman mastered it also. Cool. I've always liked that CD.

 

Indeed. He chose a nice blend of hits and classics. It's possible he mastered it, although the credits don't specify.

 

I wish I had an answer for that.

 

Re-posting from the Hank Williams: Garden Spot thread because I reveal some interesting information about Patsy Cline and her producer, Owen Bradley:

To be fair, Patsy Cline initially expressed concern about "the new sound" of her records, but she trusted Owen Bradley's judgment. They often disagreed, and Owen's brother, Harold Bradley (an A-Team session musician who played on nearly all of Patsy's commercial recordings) has indicated in many interviews that Patsy & Owen argued quite frequently about arrangements. There were many compromises. "A Poor Man's Roses" as long as she would record "Walkin' After Midnight"; "Lovin' in Vain" as long as she would record "I Fall To Pieces". Bradley refused to release "You're Stronger Than Me" until she rerecorded it as a ballad with violins, etc.

Cline wanted to record a song called "Dakota Lil'", which tells a brutal tale about a female gunslinger in the western storytelling style of Johnny Cash or Marty Robbins' popular songs, but Owen refused to capture it on tape. His reply? "It's terrible, Patsy." Hell, the reason "Bill Bailey" is in two time signatures is because of a Patsy/Owen compromise. Cline always sang the tune upbeat during live performances, and wanted the master to swing the whole way through. Bradley disagreed, and wanted it done as a slow ballad from start to finish. Finally, they made a composite take - the first two-thirds of the song is a ballad, with Randy Hughes leading a guitar riff into swing time so that Patsy could really let loose during the ending lines.

In addition, Owen Bradley himself had stated in interviews that he hadn't premeditated the Nashville Sound, especially (or, at least) with Patsy. He slowly (and very cautiously) let the violins creep in after Brenda Lee's commercial success with "I'm Sorry" in mid 1960, and did so "because they sound[ed] nice with Patsy's voice". Because Patsy trusted Owen, she warmed to the idea after he gave her an explanation. Bradley was always straight up with Patsy, and she learned a lot about the music business from him. Her own reservations about the new sound on her records may have been caused by Owen's transparency - he may have expressed his worry to Patsy that they may not sell records with the violins. But they did.

One simply needs to look at the programming of Patsy's second and third albums as confirmation of their stylistic caution - both Patsy Cline Showcase and Sentimentally Yours contain only 4 of 12 songs with violins. Faded Love was to be her first album with violins the whole way through. She died, though, and Decca scrapped the plans for her fourth album.

Chet Atkins was far less concerned about alienating country fans with Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves' records. He definitely saw dollar signs in this new sound. And he was right.

 

I correct myself, the "Modern Era" is 20 rather than 25 years after "achieving national prominence."

With Patsy Cline, she performed on network TV in 1955, so that probably counts for when she came to national prominence. Inducted in 1973, that still doesn't add up to 2o years, only 18.

With Jim Reeves, I can't determine precisely when he "achieved national prominence." Inducted in 1967, it should be 1947.

Might the Hall Rules (years) quoted above be more recent?

One way or the other, I'm going to suggest that Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline were inducted soon after becoming eligible.

 

So the book doesn't cover the Hall voting criteria? Of those relevant digital books at Amazon.com, The Encyclopedia of Country Music seems the most promising, but I'm looking for a history of the Hall more than of the inductees.

 

An observation: It wouldn't be until 1988 and Loretta Lynn that an inductee was born later in the 20th century than Patsy Cline, April 1935 for Lynn, September 1932 for Cline.

Another observation: Of the 22 inductees from 1961 through 1973, 6 were born in the 19th century, not counting 2/3rds of the Carter Family, who qualify.