PATSY CLINE'S PLANE CRASH: MARCH 5, 1963

Miss Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline
Born: September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia
Married: Gerald Cline (1953), Charlie Dick (1957)
Children: Julie (1958), Randy (1961).
Residence: 815 Nella Drive, Goodlettsville, TN
Occupation: Country and pop singer
Deceased: Mar 5, 1963 near Camden, TN


Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline was born as Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932, in Winchester, Virginia. She is my favorite woman country singer of all time. She was brassy and courageous. She didn't just open the doors for the millions of pop/country women singers to come after her, she took her cowgirl boots and kicked the tar outta those doors! No one stopped Patsy Cline...

She did pack so much living into those short years she was alive. She almost died several times due to illness and accidents. Her legendary heart and kindness lives on and of course that fabulous voice lives on for the ages.



A fantastic fansite A Tribute to Patsy Cline tells her story very well. Her shocking death in a small plane crash stunned the world and robbed us of one of the most beautiful voices in popular music.



In 2005 her album "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits" was certified by the RIAA as Diamond, meaning it had reached sales of 10 million copies.

Among her many honors, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6160 Hollywood Blvd, she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973, in 1993 she was honored with her image on a United States postage stamp and in 1995, she was awarded posthumously a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Great Fan page on Myspace HERE



We got to see her Hall of Fame exhibit in Nashville and tour the studio where Owen Bradley produced those great Patsy hit songs. Also one of my most fun tours was through the Ryman Auditorium and I got to stand on the stage where Patsy once stood. See the stage in this video:



This was before they cut the circle of wood to put in the new Grand Ole Opry at Opryland. People in Nashville still talk about the very special talent that Patsy possessed.



Patsy boarded a small plane to fly home from a gig in Kansas City and the story goes something like this:


Tennessee Concerts

The remains of four country music personalities,including three nationally known Grand Ole Opry stars, were found this morning in the scattered bits of a private plane which crashed in rugged woodlands near here. The victims were Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Randy Hughes,believed to be the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft.

The wreckage was discovered about 6 a.m. after a night-long search by Highway Patrol, Civil Defense and local officers.Parts of the yellow plane were scattered over a 60-yard area a mile off Highway 70 about three miles west of Camden. The wreckage was between the highway and a ranger tower, which had served as a base of operations for searchers.

"The plane left Dyersburg about 6 p.m. Tuesday for a flight to Nashville. The entertainers had been in Kansas City for a benefit performance for the late Cactus Jack Call, a disc jockey. Sam Webb, whose farm is near the dense woodlands said he saw a plane circling his home about 7 p.m. and that it was "revving up its motor. . . going fast and then slow, like it was attempting to climb." Webb said the plane left his sight and then he heard something "like it struck the top of some trees."

The weather in the area at the time of the accident was termed "extremely turbulent." Investigators of the Civil Aeronautics Board were enroute to the crash scene to make a detailed probe of the wreckage in an effort to learn the cause of the smashup.

Full Story HERE



The Sweet Dreams Movie was so disappointing to me as the great actress Jessica Lange just wasn't Patsy. She was too thin and too tall. I just never could get into that portrayal. I think that Beverly D'Angelo really captured the essence of Patsy much better in A Coal Miner's Daughter.



Patsy Cline Documentary Clips on You Tube

Part ONE Patsy's Final Days by her friends and neighbor
Part TWO Ryman Auditorium Charlie Dick
Part THREE Billy Walker and Dottie West
Part FOUR Dottie West
Part FIVE Airport Manager
Part SIX Charlie Dick Roy Clark Willie Nelson George Jones

Love her so much RIP Patsy...