What Billie Holiday was to jazz, Patsy Cline was to country music. She didn’t have the largest range in the world, but her nuanced delivery told more than any improvisation or high C could ever deliver. Like Holiday, she held her musical heart on her sleeve, and this collection of TV performances is a must have, even if you consider country music an oxymoron.
Cline had an incessant feel for swing, as she shows on “Walkin’ After Midnight” with a rhythmic feel that is infectious. It’s her delivery of torch songs, however, that make every other singer stand in the shadows. She agonizes on “Strange,” “She’s Got You” and “I Fall To Pieces” in a way that makes you almost afraid to listen to the lyrics too closely, as she might hit a nerve with you that you might not want touched. She can also get frisky, as she gets close to yodeling on “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “San Antonio Rose,” with a backup band that will want to get you on the dance floor. Singers like this come along so rarely, it’s important to pick up anything that they touch. Try this one out for size.