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Sixty years ago today, October 16, 1961, Patsy Cline released "Crazy."
Big hat tip to This Day in Country Music
1961
Decca records released "Crazy" by Patsy Cline. The ballad, composed by Willie Nelson gave Cline a #2 country hit in 1962. Nelson originally wrote the song for country singer Billy Walker, but Walker turned it down. The song's eventual success helped launch Nelson as a performer as well as a songwriter. It spent 21 weeks on the chart for Cline, and eventually became one of her signature tunes.
Decca records released "Crazy" by Patsy Cline. The ballad, composed by Willie Nelson gave Cline a #2 country hit in 1962. Nelson originally wrote the song for country singer Billy Walker, but Walker turned it down. The song's eventual success helped launch Nelson as a performer as well as a songwriter. It spent 21 weeks on the chart for Cline, and eventually became one of her signature tunes.
Crazy (Willie Nelson song)
Single by Patsy Cline
from the album Showcase
B-side: "Who Can I Count On?"
Released: October 16, 1961
Recorded: August 21, 1961; Bradley Film & Recording Studio, Nashville
Songwriter(s): Willie Nelson
Producer(s): Owen Bradley
"Crazy" is a ballad composed by Willie Nelson. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably by Patsy Cline, whose version was a No. 2 country hit in 1962. This version is included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Partly due to the genre-blending nature of the song, it has been covered by dozens of artists in several genres over the years; nevertheless, the song remains inextricably linked with Cline. Nelson's own version appears on his 1962 debut album ...And Then I Wrote.
{snip}
Patsy Cline version
Patsy Cline was already a country music superstar[citation needed] and looking for material to extend a string of hits. She picked it as a follow-up to her previous big hit "I Fall to Pieces". "Crazy", its complex melody suiting Cline's vocal talent perfectly, was released in late 1961, immediately became another huge hit for Cline and widened the crossover audience she had established with her prior hits. It features the background vocals of the Jordanaires. It spent 21 weeks on the chart and eventually became one of her signature tunes. In 2011, Cline's version was ranked No. 85 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, becoming the third highest ranked song by a solo female artist, after "Respect" by Aretha Franklin at #5 and "Walk on By" by Dionne Warwick at #70. In 2021, the song was ranked No. 195 on an update of the same list.
According to Willie Nelson in an interview with Sirius XM satellite radio, he was at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and had put his own song "Crazy" in the jukebox. Patsy Cline's husband heard it and wanted to get it to Patsy. They were both drunk, and Willie was reluctant to go, and he even stayed in the car while her husband played it for her. In the end, she recorded it a few weeks later. In another interview, Willie says that the song originally was called "Stupid".
According to Ellis Nassour's biography Patsy Cline, Nelson, then a struggling songwriter known as Hugh Nelson, was a regular at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Nashville's Lower Broadway, which he frequented with friends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller, both also unknown songwriters at this time. Nelson met Cline's husband Charlie Dick at the bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Dick took the track home and played it for Cline, who absolutely hated it at first because Nelson's demo "spoke" the lyrics ahead of and behind the beat; an annoyed Cline remarked that she "couldn't sing like that".
However, Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it in the ballad form in which it later was recorded. On Loretta Lynn's album I Remember Patsy, Bradley reported that as Cline still was recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, she'd had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song on the original production night due to her broken ribs. So after about four hours of trying – in the days of four songs being recorded in three hours – they called it a night. A week later, she recorded the lead vocal in one take.
In the same interview, Lynn remembers the first time Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry on crutches, and received three standing ovations. Barbara Mandrell remembers Cline introducing the song to her audiences live in concert saying
Willie Nelson stated that Cline's version of "Crazy" was his favorite song of his that anybody has recorded because it "was a lot of magic".
{snip}
Single by Patsy Cline
from the album Showcase
B-side: "Who Can I Count On?"
Released: October 16, 1961
Recorded: August 21, 1961; Bradley Film & Recording Studio, Nashville
Songwriter(s): Willie Nelson
Producer(s): Owen Bradley
"Crazy" is a ballad composed by Willie Nelson. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably by Patsy Cline, whose version was a No. 2 country hit in 1962. This version is included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Partly due to the genre-blending nature of the song, it has been covered by dozens of artists in several genres over the years; nevertheless, the song remains inextricably linked with Cline. Nelson's own version appears on his 1962 debut album ...And Then I Wrote.
{snip}
Patsy Cline version
Patsy Cline was already a country music superstar[citation needed] and looking for material to extend a string of hits. She picked it as a follow-up to her previous big hit "I Fall to Pieces". "Crazy", its complex melody suiting Cline's vocal talent perfectly, was released in late 1961, immediately became another huge hit for Cline and widened the crossover audience she had established with her prior hits. It features the background vocals of the Jordanaires. It spent 21 weeks on the chart and eventually became one of her signature tunes. In 2011, Cline's version was ranked No. 85 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, becoming the third highest ranked song by a solo female artist, after "Respect" by Aretha Franklin at #5 and "Walk on By" by Dionne Warwick at #70. In 2021, the song was ranked No. 195 on an update of the same list.
According to Willie Nelson in an interview with Sirius XM satellite radio, he was at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and had put his own song "Crazy" in the jukebox. Patsy Cline's husband heard it and wanted to get it to Patsy. They were both drunk, and Willie was reluctant to go, and he even stayed in the car while her husband played it for her. In the end, she recorded it a few weeks later. In another interview, Willie says that the song originally was called "Stupid".
According to Ellis Nassour's biography Patsy Cline, Nelson, then a struggling songwriter known as Hugh Nelson, was a regular at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Nashville's Lower Broadway, which he frequented with friends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller, both also unknown songwriters at this time. Nelson met Cline's husband Charlie Dick at the bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Dick took the track home and played it for Cline, who absolutely hated it at first because Nelson's demo "spoke" the lyrics ahead of and behind the beat; an annoyed Cline remarked that she "couldn't sing like that".
However, Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it in the ballad form in which it later was recorded. On Loretta Lynn's album I Remember Patsy, Bradley reported that as Cline still was recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, she'd had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song on the original production night due to her broken ribs. So after about four hours of trying – in the days of four songs being recorded in three hours – they called it a night. A week later, she recorded the lead vocal in one take.
In the same interview, Lynn remembers the first time Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry on crutches, and received three standing ovations. Barbara Mandrell remembers Cline introducing the song to her audiences live in concert saying
All my recent hits have come true in my life. I had a hit out called "Tra-La-La Triangle" and people thought about me and Gerald and Charlie. I had another hit out called "I Fall to Pieces", and I was in a car wreck. Now I'm really worried because I have a new hit single out, and it's called 'Crazy'.
Willie Nelson stated that Cline's version of "Crazy" was his favorite song of his that anybody has recorded because it "was a lot of magic".
{snip}
Patsy Cline - Crazy (1961)
61,036 views Jul 23, 2017
Curtis Hayden
61,036 views Jul 23, 2017
Curtis Hayden
kus0mak 1 year ago
An absolutely flawless performance by a gift from heaven. She was taken back far too soon. I miss Patsy so much!
An absolutely flawless performance by a gift from heaven. She was taken back far too soon. I miss Patsy so much!
Let's toss in this bonus video.
Patsy Cline - Lovesick Blues
872,132 views Jul 9, 2008
crazy4patsycline
13.6K subscribers
From "Community Jamboree" in 1960
872,132 views Jul 9, 2008
crazy4patsycline
13.6K subscribers
From "Community Jamboree" in 1960
One more:
Reuben, Reuben - RARE Patsy Cline performance
109,622 views Feb 26, 2009
crazy4patsycline
13.6K subscribers
Reuben, Reuben performed by Patsy Cline, June Valli, Cowboy Copas and Eddy Arnold.
From the "Ozard Jubillee" on June 1960.
109,622 views Feb 26, 2009
crazy4patsycline
13.6K subscribers
Reuben, Reuben performed by Patsy Cline, June Valli, Cowboy Copas and Eddy Arnold.
From the "Ozard Jubillee" on June 1960.
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
