January 27, 2003:

Here's a great article about the upcoming Willie Nelson album "Crazy: The Demo Sessions" from today's editon of the Rocky Mountain News:
Nelson's Pre-Glory Days

By: Paulette Flowers
King Features Syndicate

In the summer of 1961, a drunken Willie Nelson sat in a car outside Patsy Cline's house at 1:00 in the morning. Patsy's husband, Charlie Dick, had been out drinking with Willie and wanted to introduce her to this promising new songwriter in town.

"I'd never met Patsy," Willie recalls, "but I knew what my wife would have said if we'd come sailing in there at 1 o'clock in the morning drunk and said: 'Hey, here's a songwriter. We've got a song for ya'."

Cline did listen to the demo Dick brought in, and soon her version of Nelson's Crazy was No. 2 on the charts.

But wouldn't you love to hear exactly what Cline heard that night? Well, you can.
Click Here For More Info. . .



January 21, 2003:

Once again, Patsifans are coming together to show their love for the legendary Patsy Cline.

With the support of Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., a Flowers Fund has been established to ensure that Patsy's grave at Shenandoah Memorial Park in Winchester will always be decorated on March 5, September 8, October 15 (the date of Patsy's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame) and for Christmas.

Donations for the Flowers Fund are now being accepted. If you would like to contribute, please send a check or money order, payable to Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., to:

Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc.
P.O. Box 3900
Winchester, Virginia 22604

Please mark "Flowers Fund" on the envelope. You can also make your contribution via PayPal using Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.

If you have a PayPal account, login at www.paypal.com, and click "Send Money." Send payment to cline2004@yahoo.com. Please note "CPC Flowers Fund" in the Comments section. If you do not yet have a PayPal account, you can set one up absolutely free of charge.

Since Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, all donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you for your continued support, and your contributions.



January 13, 2003:

The Winchester-Frederick Country Tourism Board and the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Winchester recently met at a retreat to discuss a five year plan for development of tourism in the Winchester area. One of the anchor points is the long awaited Patsy Cline museum. Here's a great article about the retreat from Monday's edition of The Winchester Star:
Board Hopes for Bigger Tourism Push
Retreat Focuses on Expanding Interest in Winchester, Frederick County Attractions

By: Dan Telvock
The Winchester Star

Members of the Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Board and the Convention and Visitors Bureau believe that in order to make the area a major destination for tourists, they need to communicate a lot more.

During a retreat Saturday at Hedgebrook Farm in Frederick County, 12 people, including a few non-board members, brainstormed for three hours on ways they can build the local tourism industry into an economic powerhouse.

"The county doesn’t understand what they have," said Frederick County Supervisor Lynda J. Tyler, who told the group she wants to be the county’s liaison to the Tourism Board. "Somehow that message needs to get to our Board (of Supervisors)."

Kitty Hockman-Nicholas, chairwoman of the Tourism Board and owner of Hedgebrook Farm, said members decided to have the retreat to formulate a game plan.

"We want everyone to contribute and come together," she said.

The group realized there’s a major communication gap between the local governments, restaurants, attractions, hotels, and campgrounds, and they’re not capitalizing on what the region has to offer, such as Civil War battlefields and Patsy Cline’s birthplace.
Click Here For More Info. . .



January 12, 2003:

2002: The Patsy Year-In-Review

This time, last year, Lisa Flood asked me to do a recap of Patsy related events in 2001 for her "PatsyNews" page. Since then, "PatsyNews" has merged with "The Cline Chronicle," and Lisa recently suggested a similar recap for 2002. Let's climb in the way back machine, and revisit the Patsy events of the past year.
** In a CMT countdown of the 40 Greatest Women in Country Music History, Patsy ranked #1 (as if there were any doubt). Patsy's contemporaries sang her praises, as did many of today's biggest stars. Reba McEntire said Patsy was "bigger than life" while Toby Keith remarked that Patsy had "the best pipes in the business." Patsy Cline remains the standard by which subsequent generations of female Country artists have been, and will be, measured.

** In April, Winchester based Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. signed a letter of intent to purchase Patsy's childhood home at 608 S. Kent, in Winchester, to be the site of the long awaited Patsy Cline museum. A tour of the home was held for members of the Always Patsy Cline Fan Organization during APC's annual gathering in Winchester over Labor Day weekend. Proceeds from the 2002 Blues Festival, sponsored by the Preservation of Historic Winchester committee, were donated to help pay for the home. CPC is raising funds to complete the home's purchase, and you can click Here to learn more about this effort.

** Several tribute shows continue to tour the country. Among these are "Always. . . Patsy Cline," "A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline" and "The Legend of Patsy Cline."

** MCA Records announced that an all-star tribute CD, entitled "Remembering Patsy" would be issued. Natalie Cole, Amy Grant, Lee Ann Womack and kd lang are part of the line-up, as is a new recording of "Walkin' After Midnight," using the vocal from Patsy's 1961 remake set to a Blues/Rock backing track. Originally slated for a September debut, changes in Management at the MCA Nashville office caused the CD's release date to be rescheduled for March 2003.

** Rutledge Hill Press announced that a coffee table book featuring rare photographs and reminiscenses of Patsy would be released as a companion to the tribute CD. Also delayed from September, the book will be published this month. Click Here for more info. . .

** MCA Nashville also announced that a newly remastered edition of the "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits" CD would be released (reportedly using the original Decca album cover artwork). Consequently, MCA pulled the following albums from the market: "Sentimentally Yours," "Always," "LIVE At The Opry" and "Remembering Patsy Cline & Jim Reeves."

The Auction

Without a doubt, the biggest Patsy news item of 2002 was the Auction. In April, the Circuit Court in Winchester ordered that several items of Patsy's clothing and stage costumes be sold to pay for costs related to the settlement of Mrs. Hilda Hensley's estate. Three items were chosen by the court to be sold, with an additional 17 items coming from Patsy's brother, Samuel Hensley. The auction was to be conducted by Profiles in History of Beverly Hills, California and was scheduled for December 19.

Among the pieces put up for bid were the Black Lace dress Patsy wore at New York's Carnegie Hall in November 1961 during the historic Grand Ole Opry benefit performance for the Musician's Union, a black sequined Evening Gown Patsy wore during her historic run at the Mint Casino in Las Vegas in November/December 1962, a pair of white Cowgirl Boots, a Buckskin Jacket, a Sky Blue Cowgirl outfit and a Silver/Lavender Lamé Cowgirl outfit. A display of these items was held in Nashville during the first week of November. Artists attending the 2002 CMA Awards were offered the opportunity to wear the clothing items at the ceremony. All declined.

The auction announcement outraged many fans. However, the negative energy was turned into a postive force, and a grassroots effort to raise funds to bid at the auction was born. The offer was presented to the folks at Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., who warmly accepted. In turn, CPC provided all of the necessary legal protections for this endeavor which no other organization could offer. Best of all, donors received a tax deduction in return.

In one month's time, approximately $3,500 was donated by Patsy Cline fans from around the world for this effort. This amount allowed CPC's designated bidding agent to consider several of the items up for bid, but the primary focus was on the white cowgirl boots.

The auction began at 4:00pm EST on Thursday, December 19. The lots moved fast and furiously. From start to finish, the auction took 11 minutes. Additional details can be found in the "Chronicle" archive, but many items did not sell. However, a few successful bidders came away with a treasure. CPC among them. Although the cowgirl boots went beyond our reach, we were able to purchase two western style blouses for CPC and the Museum project. At last word, the blouses had arrived safe and sound. Hopefully, they will be displayed at the annual Patsy Cline gathering this Labor Day weekend.

There it is, the 2002 Patsy Year-In-Review. Lots of exciting things happening, and even more expected in 2003. Hang onto your seats, and stay tuned to the Chronicle.


According to Jimmy Walker, the city of Camden, Tennessee is planning to hold a Memorial Service to remember Patsy, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Randy Hughes on the 40th Anniversary of the Plane Crash. Activities will be held beginning Friday, February 28, and will include a concert by Lisa Layne at the Briarwood School. Tickets will be $15 each. Additional details will be posted as they come in.


According to reports on the various Country Music newsgroups, there will be a merging of staffs at WSM-AM and WSM-FM. The Programming Director for WSM-FM will now handle those duties for WSM-AM. On-Air talent may also be shared.



January 8, 2003:

Looks like the folks at Gaylord Entertainment might try to sneak a format change at WSM-AM 650 in through the back door. An article from Wednesday's edition of The Tennessean details what is probably the first step:
Gaylord Fires Longtime WSM-AM Radio Staff

By: CRAIG HAVIGHURST
Staff Writer

A year after a public outcry derailed a possible format change for classic country radio station WSM-AM 650, its operations manager and several other staffers were fired yesterday by an owner dissatisfied with the number of listeners it attracts.

Kyle Cantrell, a 20-year WSM veteran and a longtime Grand Ole Opry announcer, was fired as operations manager and program director yesterday, owner Gaylord Entertainment Co. confirmed. He will exit the Opry announcing staff as well.

Matthew Gillian and Johnny Koval, hosts of the overnight Opry Star Spotlight program, and online content director K.K. Wilson said they were fired, as well.

In addition, Wilson said afternoon disc jockey Allen Dennis, assistant promotion director Trish Matthews and Cantrell assistant Carolyn Davis lost their jobs.

Gaylord would confirm only Cantrell by name.

One year ago, Gaylord seriously considered changing WSM's format from classic country to sports and talk programming. The resulting controversy led the company to reconsider.
Click Here For More. . .



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