Date: 1-7-01

PEOPLE IN AMERICA #11803 - PATSY CLINE

ANNCR:

PEOPLE IN AMERICA, A SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM BY THE VOICE OF
AMERICA.

((THEME))

ANNCR:

TODAY I TELL ABOUT A YOUNG WOMAN WHO DIED MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS
AGO. HER NAME WAS VIRGINIA PATTERSON HENSLEY. NO ONE BUT HER
FAMILY WOULD REMEMBER THAT NAME. THE WORLD REMEMBERS HER AS
PATSY CLINE.

(((CUT ONE: "WALKIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT"

THAT SONG IS CALLED "WALKIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT." IT WAS PATSY
CLINE'S FIRST BIG HIT RECORD. SHE RECORDED IT IN
NINETEEN-FIFTY-SEVEN. IT BECAME NUMBER THREE ON THE LIST OF
COUNTRY MUSIC HIT RECORDINGS AND NUMBER TWELVE ON THE LIST OF
MOST POPULAR MUSIC.

PATSY HAD WORKED FOR MANY YEARS TO MAKE THAT FIRST SUCCESSFUL
RECORD. SHE BEGAN SINGING WHEN SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL IN HER HOME
TOWN OF WINCHESTER, IN THE SOUTHERN STATE OF VIRGINIA.

PATSY SANG ANYWHERE SHE COULD. SHE SANG AT WEDDINGS AND DANCES.
SHE SANG AT PUBLIC EATING PLACES FOR EIGHT DOLLARS A NIGHT.
THOSE WHO KNEW HER SAID SHE WORKED HARD TO IMPROVE HER SINGING.

IN NINETEEN-FIFTY-FOUR SHE WON A COUNTRY MUSIC COMPETITION NEAR
HER HOME. SHE WAS TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD. SHE WAS ASKED TO APPEAR
ON A COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION PROGRAM IN WASHINGTON D-C. SHE
ALSO SANG ON RADIO PROGRAMS IN THE VIRGINIA AREA AND RECORDED
SOME RECORDS.

IN NINETEEN-FIFTY-SEVEN, PATSY CLINE APPEARED ON A NATIONAL
TELEVISION SHOW IN NEW YORK. IT WAS ON THIS PROGRAM THAT
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FIRST HEARD HER SING. SHE SANG "WALKIN' AFTER
MIDNIGHT," A SONG SHE HAD RECENTLY RECORDED. HER APPEARANCE ON
THE TELEVISION PROGRAM HELPED MAKE THAT RECORD A MAJOR HIT.

PATSY CONTINUED TO RECORD MORE SONGS. WITHIN TWO YEARS SHE HAD
ANOTHER MAJOR HIT. IT WAS CALLED, "I FALL TO PIECES." BY THIS
TIME PATSY'S VOICE HAD ALREADY BECOME SOMETHING SPECIAL. SHE HAD
LEARNED TO CONTROL NOT ONLY THE SOUND BUT THE FEELINGS EXPRESSED
IN HER SONGS. IT WAS THE SLOW, SAD LOVE SONGS THAT HER FANS
ENJOYED MOST, SONGS LIKE. . . "I FALL TO PIECES."

(((CUT-TWO "I FALL TO PIECES."

ANNCR:
PATSY CLINE'S RECORDING OF "I FALL TO PIECES" BECAME HER FIRST
NUMBER ONE COUNTRY MUSIC HIT. IT WAS ALSO A HIT WITH FANS OF
POPULAR MUSIC. PATSY WAS A MAJOR STAR. SHE ALSO HAD BEGUN
PERFORMING AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC THEATER, THE GRAND OLE OPRY IN
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

THOSE WHO KNEW HER AFTER SHE BECAME A RECORDING STAR SAY PATSY
CLINE WAS A VERY GOOD FRIEND. SHE LIKED TO HELP YOUNG MUSICIANS.
LATER, MANY OF THESE YOUNG MUSICIANS BECAME IMPORTANT STARS
THEMSELVES.

ONE OF PATSY'S BIGGEST HIT SONGS ALSO HELPED TWO OF THESE YOUNG
MUSICIANS BECOME KNOWN. THE SONG IS CALLED, "CRAZY." IT WAS
WRITTEN BY AN UNKNOWN MUSICIAN WHO LATER BECAME A 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 PATSY AND FLOYD PERFORM WILLIE NELSON'S SONG. ."CRAZY."

((((CUT THREE. . ."CRAZY"

ANNCR:
ON MARCH SIXTH, NINETEEN-SIXTY-THREE, PATSY CLINE WAS KILLED IN
THE CRASH OF A SMALL AIRPLANE. SHE WAS ONLY THIRTY YEARS OLD.
SHE WAS FLYING HOME TO NASHVILLE. SHE HAD TAKEN PART IN A
SPECIAL CONCERT IN KANSAS CITY TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE FAMILY OF A
COUNTRY MUSIC 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
AFTER HER DEATH, SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN PERFORMER ELECTED TO
THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME.

IN NINETEEN-EIGHTY-FIVE, HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS MADE A MOVIE ABOUT
THE LIFE OF PATSY CLINE. IT WAS CALLED "SWEET DREAMS."POPULAR
ACTRESS JESSICA LANGE PLAYED PATSY. NO ONE REALLY COULD SOUND
LIKE PATSY CLINE. SO THE PRODUCERS USED HER OLD RECORDS IN THE
MOVIE. MIZZ LANGE MOVED HER MOUTH SO SHE APPEARED TO BE SINGING.

PEOPLE WHO HAD NEVER HEARD OF PATSY CLINE SAW THE MOVIE AND
ENJOYED HER SINGING. THEY BEGAN BUYING HER RECORDS. TODAY, HER
RECORDS STILL SELL THOUSANDS OF COPIES EACH YEAR AS NEW FANS
DISCOVER HER.

WE LEAVE YOU WITH A SONG PATSY CLINE RECORDED ONLY A MONTH BEFORE
SHE DIED. IT SOUNDS ALMOST AS THOUGH SHE WAS SINGING IN SPECIAL
ENGLISH. THE SONG IS CALLED "FADED LOVE."

(((CUT FOUR: "FADED LOVE" ))))

ANNCR:
THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY PAUL
THOMPSON. JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK FOR ANOTHER PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.