Overview
More than thirty-five years after her tragic death in a plane crash at age thirty, Patsy Cline (19321963)remains one of the greatest voices of this century. Her soulful torch-song ballads—“Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” and “Sweet Dreams”—bought her worldwide fame as both a country and pop star, while her life and career were immortalized in the 1985 film, Sweet Dreams. InPatsy, Margaret Jones chronicles the life of Patsy Cline (nee Virginia Hensley) from her impoverished childhood and abuse by her father, through the struggle for her success and her exploitation by record producers to her phenomenal but short-lived recording career. The book is based on extensive interviews with country music’s greatest—Loretta Lynn, June Carter, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell, Faron Young, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Johnny Western, Tompall Glaser, songwriters Harlan Howard and Donn Hecht, and record men Owen Bradley and Don Pierce. The result is the first fully drawn portrait of this crossover superstar, as well as a vivid picture of the ever-expanding country music world. Hard-living and hard-loving, bawdy and ballsy, Patsy Cline surmounted unimaginable odds in a male-dominated industry to become the most popular female country singer in recording history.Synopsis
A biography of Patsy Cline, the American country singer who died in a plane crash at age 31.
Publishers Weekly
The turbulent life of the country music star whose popularity continues long after her death in 1963 is chronicled in this biography with compelling sympathy and an attention to detail that will appeal to fans. Cline's stuggle to develop a unique country act began in Winchester, Va., in a musical, if dysfunctional, family. According to Jones, a PW contributing editor, ``a home environment charged with guilt, shame and fear'' led by an abusive father had a direct bearing on the marital problems and hard drinking of Cline's adult years. At the time of her death in a car accident at age 30, Cline was a headliner at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, a multimillion-dollar recording star and an influence on a generation of country singers with classics like ``Crazy'' and ``Walking After Midnight.'' This sad story follows the grueling hardships and remarkable triumphs of a legendary country musician. Discography included. Photos not seen by PW. $25,000 ad/promo; author tour. (July)