Sometimes a mother has to look out for her daughter. When my sons were little I made sure they listened to the Beatles and the Stones and the Beach Boys, so they’d know where they’d come from, musically speaking. For my daughter’s eighth birthday, however, I bought her three CDs: The Very Best of Dusty Springfield, 12 Greatest Hits of Patsy Cline, and The Best of Janis Joplin. Time for the child to get herself a few role models.
Well, Janis Joplin fell on deaf ears, but my daughter loved, I mean L-O-V-E-D, the other two. Every time we took a car trip together – and we drove a lot together that summer – all I had to ask her was “Patsy or Dusty?” and we’d have the CD player going. Thelma and Louise had nothing on us as we tooled along the interstate, singing at full blast.
I’d always been a Dusty Springfield fan (my British Invasion weakness has been well documented here and elsewhere), but including Patsy was sort of a fluke. I didn’t even know who Patsy Cline was until I saw the movie Sweet Dreams; buying her records after that was kinda like buying a Dalmatian puppy after seeing 101 Dalmatians. But in the long run, it doesn’t matter how you find the music, so long as you love it when you do.
And I will say, in my defense, that Patsy Cline’s songs had entered my consciousness by osmosis long before. There were a bunch of similar great female singers in the early '60s — Teresa Brewer, Brenda Lee, the divine Skeeter Davis (her “End of the World” was one of my favorite tracks even before Herman’s Hermits covered it) – and I knew their songs even if I couldn’t tell you who sang which one. Sitting through Sweet Dreams, I kept saying, to myself, “Wow, she sang that one too?” When you stop to think that Patsy only had six years to make her mark – she put out only three albums before that plane crash took her in 1963 – the quality of the output is incredible.
On those car trips, going deep into those twelve great Patsy tunes was a revelation for me. The confidence of her voice simply astounds me – the way she could fiddle with the beat, top a high note with perfect pitch, zoom in and out on volume (often on a single word), curl her voice around a phrase just so. Phrasing? Patsy had a instinct for phrasing nearly as good as Sinatra’s. Putting a song across? Patsy was a born storyteller – an essential for any country music performer – an actor who knew exactly when to quaver with emotion and when to bite off a lyric spitefully.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Thank you for this wonderful piece, Holly. It has been promoted to Digg, Reddit, and Netscape. Click the above links to vote for it.
2 - Mark Saleski
love this. truly.
nice to see that others can focus on the hidden details of music.
3 - bryan price
This is yet another great piece.
I have no daughters and no sons, but I like Judy Collins, Vashti Bunyan, Anne Briggs, Loretta Lynn and Fairport Convention/Richard and Linda Thompson; just to show how boys and girls can play together...or not...I don't know.
b
4 - tink
Wonderful piece Holly!!!
May I recommend the book 'Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield' by Penny Valentine and Vicki Wickham to you?? Here's the ISBN (as per Amazon): 0312304994.
As for your 'whaddaya think'...I say turn her onto (IMOHO) one of the most under-rated songwriters and a fine solo performer in her own right, Ms. Laura Nyro.
Not familiar with her name??
Maybe you'll recognize a few of these songs: "Wedding Bell Blues"..."Stoney End"..."And When I Die"..."Eli's Coming"..."Stone Soul Picnic"..."It's Gonna Take A Miracle"...just a small sample of her songwriting skills. And to hear her versions??? They can make you wonder how they were big hits for other people when they sound so incredible when she's at the keyboard!!!
Seriously...a GREAT read...thanks!!
5 - Holly Hughes
Not familiar with Laura Nyro's name? Au contraire, tink: when they write my biography there will be an entire chapter titled "The Laura Nyro Years." But I think I should wait until my daughter is, oh, I'd say 13 or 14, before she's ready to handle that much reality. And if she likes Laura, then I'll try a little Janis Ian too.
Thanks for the link to the Dusty bio. There's also an excellent documentary about her that shows up on Trio or one of the other arts cable channels from time to time, usually late at night. Heart-breaking, of course. Patsy was lucky enough to have a strong marriage and be pretty happy in life; Dusty was plagued by stage fright, low self-esteem, and almost crippling perfectionism in the studio. Go figure.
6 - tink
Holly, you are definitely a woman of great character and taste...or am I just stating the obvious?
Waiting for your daughter's early teen years to turn her onto Ms. Nyro makes a lot of sense...I do believe it was around that time when I discovered her for myself, come to think of it. Her intense highs and lows will flow right along with the raging hormonal surges that young grrls of that age live by (this I know from experience!!) AND will give you the strength to see her through those years.
What about some Supremes or Ronnie Specter? Never too young to learn arm sweeps, hand-pulls and which makes a better microphone--hairbrush or candlestick.
Thanks for the head's up on the Dusty docu...will keep an eye open for it.
7 - Jeff
Can't deny the greats Patsy Cline, Dusty and Janis Joplin. I do love the vocals and slide guitar of Bonnie Raitt, shes an underated musical gem, she can do so many styles of music so well, closing in on 60 in 2009 she still has some surprises in store I'm sure.
Continuing on the womens music theme through the years I've really
found some interesting voices out there, heres a list to name a few Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Laura Nyro, Debbie Harry, The B-52 girls Kate and Cindy, Martha Davis from the Motels, Phoebe Snow, Ricki Lee Jones, Shona Laing, Carly Simon, Marianne Faithfull, Grace Jones, Lene Lovitch, Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Patty Griffin, Emmy Lou Harris, Wendy Mcharry, Chrissy Hynde, Linda Rhonstad, Laurie Anderson, Grace Slick, Cheryl Wheeler, Patty Larkin, Maria Mulduar, well I could just go on and on, I'm so glad I love music, now to list all the male vocalist I really enjoy...... what would this world be without these voices?
8 - Holly Hughes
And don't forget the divine Cass Eliott.
FYI -- for anyone who has young kids -- Maria Muldaur did a superb album for children called "On the Sunny Side," and Carole King has an excellent children's album called "Really Rosie" that my kids loved. But in general, I steer away from music made specifically for children. I've found that the B-52s work just as well for toddlers -- what child could fail to love "Rock Lobster" or "52 Girls"?
9 - jimmy w
Enjoyed the Patsy and Dusy article. Great travels to you and your daughter.
Jimmy W
Central Ky biggest Patsy Cline Fan
Charter member of Always Patsy Cline Fan club