In 1954, Patsy’s friend and lover Bill Peer sent some tapes to a
Nashville record company. Her voice was
very powerful for a woman and she sang with great emotion, (which was one of
the reasons she became such an influence on other singers)…
She got a recording contract but it was not on very favourable terms...
She would not make much money from it, and the record company would reap most
of the benefits. She sang in different styles in the early days, Rockabilly,
gospel, pop, and country... But she was still finding her feet musically. She worked in 1955 and ‘56 around Nashville
but her records did not sell all that well. Then she met her second husband, Charlie Dick.
She got a place on a TV talent show called Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts...and she decided to sing “Walking
after Midnight” at the recording in New York in early 1957.
Her song enabled her to win the contest that night and was the start of
her becoming famous. She appeared at the Opry and began to get noticed on TV. But
she was not as successful as she had hoped.
She married Charlie Dick in September – he was in the military...
Patsy gave birth to her daughter Julie and she moved to Nashville to
try to concentrate on her career….By 1960, she had a new manager and things
began to improve. In 1961, she recorded a song by the talented writer Harlan
Howard- “I Fall To Pieces”...which would become one of her great hits.
Her husband Charlie Dick rushed to be with her. She was left with serious scarring on her face, which needed plastic
surgery. Even so she had to wear heavy
make up and suffered from bad headaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment