COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME ® AND MUSEUM TO OPEN
PATSY CLINE: CRAZY FOR LOVING YOU, ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012
Opening
Festivities to Include Panel Discussion with Country Music Hall of Fame
Member Harold Bradley, Charlie Dick, Julie Fudge, George Hamilton IV
and Jan Howard; Concert Featuring Bradley, Jessi Alexander, Mandy
Barnett, Striking Matches and Emily West; and More
NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 25, 2012 – The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will pay tribute to one of country music’s most iconic artists, the inimitable Patsy Cline, with Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You, a
biographical exhibit opening Friday, August 24, 2012, for a 10-month
run in the museum’s East Gallery. The exhibition will run through June
10, 2013.
Opening weekend festivities will include an August 25 panel discussion featuring Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, and daughter, Julie Fudge, Country Music Hall of Fame member Harold Bradley and singers George Hamilton IV and Jan Howard; an August 25 concert featuring Bradley, singer-songwriter Jessi Alexander, Always…Patsy Cline star and singer Mandy Barnett, duo Striking Matches and singer Emily West; and an August 26 screening of the documentary Patsy Cline: Sweet Dreams Still.
The panel discussion and concert are included with museum admission
and free for museum members; seating is limited and a program pass is
required (visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org for complete details). A detailed schedule of grand opening activities is below.
The exhibit will also be accompanied by a beautiful 80-page companion book, titled Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You.
Published by the museum’s Country Music Foundation Press, the volume
will include a foreword by artist Rosanne Cash and an essay by noted
Cline authority Paul Kingsbury. The book will be available in the
Museum Store and at www.countrymusichalloffame.org
“Patsy Cline is an American music icon and perhaps the most accessible
artist in country music history,” said Museum Director Kyle Young.
“Though she recorded for only eight years and made her last record
nearly 50 years ago, her body of work—those classic torch songs and
ballads of heartache—have continued to resonate with music fans of all
genres. While she considered herself a country singer, she was equally
adept at pop stylings, and was a key influence in bringing the two
genres closer stylistically in the 1960s. The quintessential torch
singer, she could wring every nuance of emotion from a lyric; and her
prodigious vocal stylings and unique delivery have influenced scores of
artists, including Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt and Reba McEntire.
“Though her life was tragically cut short,” Young continued, “her
classic recordings are timeless, alive and vibrant. Our exhibit will
not only explore Patsy’s musical contributions, but will also offer
visitors a look at the woman behind the songs, the firecracker who
overcame childhood hardships to emerge as one of the most important
artists of the 20th century. We are grateful to Patsy’s
family and friends for sharing their mementos and memories and allowing
us to tell this extraordinary tale.”
Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia, on September
8, 1932, Patsy Cline became one of the most important artists in
American music history, recording classics such as “Crazy,” “She’s Got
You,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams (of You)” and many more before
her untimely death in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. Cline’s
achievements were acknowledged formally with her 1973 induction into the
Country Music Hall of Fame.
Employing costumes, personal possessions, vintage photographs,
correspondence, career-spanning audio and video and more, Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You will
explore the life and impact of this incomparable artist. The
exhibition lets Cline tell her story largely in her own words, and its
narrative draws extensively from the many letters Cline wrote to her
family and her first fan club president, Treva Miller. The
correspondence offers a wealth of information about Cline’s background,
touring and recording activities, and the challenges of balancing life
as a performer with her roles as wife and mother.
Upon entering the exhibit gallery, visitors will be able to read
Patsy’s biography in her own hand, via text-panel reproductions of the
bio Cline herself crafted in 1962.
The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a powerful and moving film,
created by museum staff, that includes new interviews with four Country
Music Hall of Fame members—Harold Bradley, Brenda Lee, Willie Nelson and
the Jordanaires’ Ray Walker—each of whom knew and worked with Cline;
archival performance footage; and audio clips from Owen Bradley’s
original three-track recordings of some of Patsy’s greatest
performances. For the first time, the public will be able to hear
Cline’s spine-tingling vocals, isolated without instrumental
accompaniment, on “Crazy,” “Sweet Dreams” and other classics.
The exhibit will also feature dozens of artifacts, including:
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Hand-written
letters from Cline to family and friends, including one to Miller dated
November 9, 1955. In it Patsy writes, “I’m married to a wonderful guy
from Frederick, Md.…we live with mom until we can get a trailer.”
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Cline’s
collection of salt and pepper shakers, including a Japanese-made set of
“she-devils” holding pitchforks; a set of “ladies’ lingerie” shakers;
western-themed sets of tepee and leather “cowboy hat” shakers; a variety
of animal-themed shakers featuring Siamese cats, dogs, turkeys and
zebras; and more
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Daughter Julie’s pink leatherette baby book, with entries handwritten by Patsy
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Cline’s pink marble cigarette jar and lighter, hand carved in Italy
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Patsy’s lacquered jewelry box and costume jewelry collection
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Gold
I.D. bracelet given by Patsy to her husband, Charlie. The bracelet is
engraved with the name ‘Charles Dick’ on the front, and on the back
reads “Love, Virginia.” The bracelet opens to reveal two photos of
Patsy.
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Harold Bradley’s 1961 datebook, spotlighting notable recording sessions with Cline
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Patsy’s
red cowgirl-style skirt and blouse, appliquéd with felt longhorn-steer
and wagon-wheel motifs and embellished with rhinestones and leather
fringe; the costume was designed by Patsy and sewn by her mother, Hilda
Hensley
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Elegant stage and evening wear, including Patsy’s gold lamé pants and matching ankle boots; and fur stole
Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You Grand Opening Weekend Program Schedule
All programs are included with museum admission and free to museum members, except as noted below.
Saturday, August 25 11:00 a.m.
Panel Discussion: I’ve Got Your Memory: Family and Friends Remember Patsy Cline
Those
who knew Cline as a wife, mother, friend, and musical collaborator will
share memories of her. Panelists include Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, and daughter, Julie Fudge; Country Music Hall of Fame member Harold Bradley, who played bass guitar on many of Cline’s records; and singers George Hamilton IV and Jan Howard,
personal friends of Cline who often shared the stage with her. This
discussion will be illustrated with vintage photographs, film footage
and recordings. Streamed live on www.countrymusichalloffame.org
Saturday, August 25 3:00 p.m.
Concert: Sweet Dreams of You: A Musical Tribute to Patsy Cline
Hear the classic songs of Patsy Cline performed by a cast of singers who revere her. Performers include singer-songwriter Jessi Alexander, Mandy Barnett, star of the musical Always…Patsy Cline, duo Striking Matches and singer Emily West. The house band will be led by Country Music Hall of Fame member Harold Bradley on tic-tac bass, and will also include Brad Albin on bass, Jimmy Capps on guitar, Bob Mater on drums and Jeff Taylor on keyboard. Streamed live on www.countrymusichalloffame.org
Sunday, August 26 2:00 p.m.
Film Screening: Patsy Cline: Sweet Dreams Still (2005)
This
documentary explores the magic of Cline’s brief career and features
many classic hits and her first televised performance. Archival footage
of songs such as “I Fall to Pieces,” “Walkin’ After Midnight” and
“Crazy” is put into context by journalist Robert K. Oermann. 55
minutes. Free.
Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You will be accompanied by an ongoing series of programs throughout the exhibit’s run.
These programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the
Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and by an agreement between the
Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame®
and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state
of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the
history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern
culture. With the same educational mission, the foundation also
operates CMF Records, the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press,
Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print®.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org