Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 -
March 5, 1963
Y
~ Gone too soon ... but
what a legacy she left ~

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All You Ever Wanted to Know About Patsy Cline-- And Then Some

Patsy Cline was killed at age 30 in a 1963 plane crash at the peak of  her career.  She was riding high on the country and pop music charts for the third consecutive year and becoming a major pop music star.  Though Patsy didn't birth the new Nashville Sound, she brought it out of its diapers with the huge acceptance of her hits across the board.   Her records, many of which are standards, include "I Fall to Pieces," "Crazy," "She's Got You," "That's How A Heartache Begins" and "Walkin' After Midnight."  Her recording of "Crazy" remains the world-wide jukebox champion. 
       Honky Tonk Angel : The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline introduces a Patsy Cline few know.   As an artist, she was an innovative hit maker (not always willingly) who broke many   country taboos. She recorded in a unique style literally 20 years ahead of the competition.  As a woman, she was brassy, loving, and had more than her share of heartbreak.   Almost single-handedly, she opened the doors for women singers to become solo acts.  Patsy's brief life is filled with enough drama, music and laughter to fill several books.
      This is more than a biography of a show business legend. The interviews with those who knew, loved and worked with Patsy take the reader beyond that.  This  Patsy is certainly not wearing a halo, but the reader vividly experiences her dream to  be a star, feel her drive and, most of all, her heart and soul.  Reviewer after reviewer has written how Ellis Nassour manages to introduce a larger- than-life woman who let nothing stop her quest for the top of the charts. Her personal   story will touch and enlighten. The book reveals the real Patsy Cline – the hard-driving, two-fisted, gutsy rebel and the brilliant recording artist and pioneer – warts and all.  It also answers numerous questions and provides fascinating detail of the career and marriages of a fascinating woman. By separating fiction from fact, the book puts to   rest endless speculation and exposes a Patsy Cline who's more incredible than you could ever believe. 
      Honky Tonk Angel is packed with absorbing detail, touching drama and great humor.   It's the story of Patsy's roller coaster ride to fame and of the drive behind the woman who's become a country and pop music icon around the world.  In sheer impact, Ellis Nassour's dramatic retelling of Patsy Cline's brief life and   quest for fame through those who knew her best will make you laugh and cry.  In her wise-cracking bluster, inner beauty, emotions, courage and unique talent, Patsy emerges an original.
      It's a book you'll find hard to put down!   In 1973 Patsy became the first solo female artist named to the country Music Hall of  Fame. In death, Patsy's popularity, though dormant for nearly 16 years, has increased to the point that she’s more popular today than at the peak of her career. You can   hardly go anywhere without hearing her vocals. Her popularity has crossed age groups   and lifestyles.  Patsy, in addition to being awarded a special Grammy, having her star on Hollywood's   Walk of Fame and being named to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, was chosen in 1998 by People Magazine as one of the "THE MOST INTRIGUING PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY." 
      In 1999, Patsy was honored with membership in the Virginia Legends Walk, located in Virginia Beach. As an amazing barometer of her popularity, Patsy ranked Number 11 in VH1's 1999 poll of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock." Rock!  In 2002, Patsy was selected in a Country Music Television Network poll of critics and musicians as Number One among the 40 greatest country female artists.

   "This book manages to capture the raw elements that went into  making (Patsy) Cline the entertainer she was--and to his credit, author (Ellis) Nassour doesn't try to paint her over in shades of  gold. Cline's outspoken charm, abrasive warmth and brassy exterior were components of the artist herself; and, if offstage she qualified as her own ‘honky tonk angel,’ it in no way detracted from her magnitudinous talent onstage . . . (The book) invites a fascinating look at the restrictive realism that existed for females in country music during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Cline managed to stand out fromthe rest, due partly to her powerful one-of-a-kind voice and partly to her sheer good-humored aggressiveness and determination . . . Nassour sets up his narrative through remembered conversations and shared scraps of reminiscence by those who played peripheral roles in Cline's short life: her mother, Hilda Hensley; Gerald Cline, her first husband;Jimmy Dean; Dottie West; Faron Young; (record producer) Owen Bradley; (Patsy's first manager and a lover) Bill Peer; songwriter Donn Hecht...Brenda Lee; and her second husband, Charlie Dick, with whom she waged an intense and highly mercurial relationship . . . The book excels in its accurate recreation of the (1963 plane) crash itself and its impact on those who knew Cline best. And it provides insight into a woman who was certainly one of the most unusual and talented  performers to come out of country music in any decade . . . When her career was snuffed out at the age of 30, Cline had just begun to claim the stardom she'd always hungered for.  It's a tribute to her powerful talent, her indomitable spirit and her unconquerable individuality that her name and her music are still very much alive."
                                                                                                                       ~ BILLBOARD, Kip Kirby