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VOICE ONE:
I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Doug Johnson with Peoplein America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about a young womannamed Virginia Patterson Hensley. No one but her family wouldremember that name. The world remembers her as Patsy Cline.
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VOICE ONE:
That song is called “Walkin’ After Midnight. ” It was PatsyCline’s first big hit record. She recorded it in nineteenfifty-seven. It became number three on the list of country music hitrecordings and number twelve on the list of most popular music.
Patsy had worked for many years to make that first successfulrecord. She began singing when she was a young girl in her home townof Winchester, in the southern state of Virginia. Patsy sanganywhere she could. She sang at weddings and dances. She sang atpublic eating places for eight dollars a night. Those who knew hersaid she worked hard to improve her singing.
In nineteen fifty-four she won a country music competition nearher home. She was twenty-two years old. She was asked to appear on acountry music television program in Washington, D.C. She also sangon radio programs in the Virginia area and recorded some records.
VOICE TWO:
In nineteen fifty-seven, Patsy Cline appeared on a nationaltelevision show in New York City. It was on this program thatmillions of people first heard her sing. She sang “Walkin’ AfterMidnight,” a song she had recently recorded. Her appearance on thetelevision program helped make that record a major hit.
Patsy continued to record more songs. Within two years she hadanother major hit. It was called, “I Fall to Pieces.” By this timePatsy’s voice had already become something special. She had learnedto control not only the sound but the feelings expressed in hersongs. It was the slow, sad love songs that her fans enjoyed most,songs like “I Fall to Pieces. “
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VOICE ONE:
Patsy Cline’s recording of “I Fall to Pieces” became her firstnumber one country music hit. It was also a hit with fans of popularmusic. Patsy was a major star. She also had begun performing at thecountry music theater, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
Those who knew her after she became a recording star say PatsyCline was a very good friend. She liked to help young musicians.Later, many of these young musicians became important starsthemselves. One of Patsy’s biggest hit songs also helped two ofthese young musicians become known. The song is called
“Crazy. ” It was written by an unknown musician who later becamea major country music star. His name is Willie Nelson.
If you listen carefully to Patsy Cline’s recording of “Crazy,”you can hear the beautiful piano playing of another young musician,Floyd Cramer. He also became a major recording star. Listen to Patsyand Floyd perform Willie Nelson’s song, “Crazy.”
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VOICE TWO:
On March sixth, nineteen sixty-three, Patsy Cline was killed inthe crash of a small airplane. She was only thirty years old. Shewas flying home to Nashville. She had taken part in a specialconcert in Kansas City to raise money for the family of a countrymusic radio performer who recently had died.
Patsy Cline was buried near her home town of Winchester,Virginia. Thousands of people came to her funeral. Ten years afterher death, she became the first woman performer elected to theCountry Music Hall of Fame.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen eighty-five, Hollywood producers made a movie aboutthe life of Patsy Cline. It was called “Sweet Dreams. ” Popularactress Jessica Lange played Patsy. No one really could sound likePatsy Cline. So the producers used her old records in the movie.Mizz Lange moved her mouth so she appeared to be singing. People whohad never heard of Patsy Cline saw the movie and enjoyed hersinging. They began buying her records. Today, her records stillsell thousands of copies each year as new fans discover her.
We leave you with a song Patsy Cline recorded only a month beforeshe died. It sounds almost as though she was singing in SpecialEnglish. The song is called “Faded Love. “
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byLawan Davis. I’m Doug Johnson.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for People inAmerica in VOA Special English.