Patsy Cline: An Angel Remembered

The word tragic could not even begin to describe the fatal event of March 5, 1963. On that day, country music legend Patsy Cline -- along with fellow stars Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Patsy's manager Randy Hughes -- died in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn.

Patsy was only 30 at the time of the accident and well on her way to superstardom. She had established herself as the top female star in country music, reaching No. 1 in 1961 with her most famous song, "I Fall To Pieces," and the following year with "She's Got You."

Perhaps more important, in ways that wouldn't be fully realized until later, Patsy helped blaze a trail for other female singers to become an integral part of the male-dominated music industry.

Our committee met to discuss the plans for next weekend and things are looking great. Jimmy Walker has been such a big help to us as have all of you helping us spread the word. Grand Ole Opry star Jan Howard has agreed to speak at the Memorial Service and will join Hank Cochran and Mike Copas so far. We are still hearing from others and hope to have a couple of more people lined up before next week. We will be taking plenty of pictures for those of you that can't attend. If any of you would like to send me something to be read at the memorial service, feel free to do so. There will be a portion set aside to read messages and thoughts from fans. I also talked with George Hamilton IV today and what a lovely man he is. He is going to try and rearrange his schedule so that he can attend the memorial, but is scheduled to be out of town that weekend. We are currently having an archetict draw up a proposal for 4 monuments that will be built and displayed at the crash site. We will be taking donations at some point and I will have more on that later.

Snow’s Weight Too Much For Loudoun Street Home

By: Dan Telvock
The Winchester Star

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Howard Luttrell heard his rental house on South Loudoun Street making noises.

Thinking it was just the snow — about 2 feet of it — falling off his roof, he went back to bed.

Crackkk. Crackkk. Crackkk.

The house continued to groan, so Luttrell got out of bed and looked around.

He heard some loud crashing — his canning jars in the kitchen were falling to the ground.

Then plaster from the walls and ceiling started falling.

At that point, Luttrell knew that his single-level house at 1527 South Loudoun Street, which sits back from the street behind two other houses, was falling apart.

In actuality, the home was splitting in half and bending out.

Disinclined: Patsy Package on MCA’s Back Burner

Once again, MCA Records has pushed back the release date of its Patsy Cline tribute, Remembering Patsy. Originally set for release last fall, and then moved to this spring, it now appears that the collection won’t be out until this fall or even later. MCA has given no reason for the delay, but it may have something to do with the fact that the project is a holdover from the previous administration and, thus, not an urgency for the present one. Whenever the project surfaces, it should sparkle, with Cline covers by Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Martina McBride, Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Amy Grant, Patti Griffin and others.

Patsy Cline Memorial Planned For Camden

It's the 40th Anniversary

By: Robert Cobb

The Patsy Cline Memorial Weekend is scheduled for Feb. 28-Mar. 1.

Plans have been made by the Benton County Chamber of Commerce for two great days of remembering the music of Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas. Also to be remembered will be Patsy Cline’s manager Randy Hughes. Hughes was the pilot of the plane that claimed the lives of the three singers/entertainers 40 years ago on March 5, 1963.

The Camden Board of Aldermen voted Monday night to annually designate March 5 as "Patsy Cline Day" in Camden.

For Friday night of the 2003 Memorial Weekend, a memorial service honoring Patsy Cline will be held at Camden City Park at 6:00 p.m., Feb 28. In the event of inclement weather, the memorial service be will be held at Briarwood School.

Share The Files, Share The Wealth

By: Sean Piccoli
Pop Music Writer

What is a good song worth? Legend has it that a young, broke Willie Nelson sold "Crazy," one of the first hits he ever penned, for somewhere between $50 and $150 to cover a bar tab or to buy groceries. The details change, but the point never does -- that someone acquired an eventual classic for, well, a song.

Willie got paid, as every composer should for work that people enjoy. But considering how beloved "Crazy" would become with Patsy Cline's 1961 recording, in hindsight Willie also sold himself short.

What he needed was the Internet.

Don't laugh. For all the hand-wringing over music's migration into digital space, and the supposed folly of people swapping digitized tracks, there may be no better measure of a song's true worth than what happens to it once it gets online.

Traditional Country Music Bounces Back on Radio

By: LYNETTE HOLLOWAY

With their slick rock-style tunes and sexy videos, Faith Hill and Shania Twain have stolen the show in country music in the last decade. And their hipper brand of country has replaced the traditional sounds of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette on radio dials across the country.

But recently, contemporary country has experienced a backlash among traditionalists — mostly older listeners. They want Waylon Jennings back, and the radio industry is beginning to respond. In the last four months, a half-dozen stations have changed their formats to classic country, said Sean Ross, executive editor of Billboard's Airplay Monitor, a trade publication.

In December, Citadel Communications' KVLO-FM (102.9) in Little Rock, Ark., forsook mainstream pop for classic country. In Houston, Cox Radio's KTHT-FM (97.1) switched from Top 40 dance music to classic country last month. In September, Cumulus Media's KAYD-FM (101.7) in Beaumont, Tex., began playing traditional country instead of contemporary country.

"My audience doesn't get Shania," said Kevin Christopher, the program director of KVLO in Little Rock. "It's like classic rock. You love the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but you don't get 'N Sync."

Mr. Christopher said the new format had drawn a phenomenal response. The station features artists like Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton and the late Ms. Wynette.

Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. is planning a Memorial Service for Patsy on March 9th, at 2 p.m. The service will be held at Shenandoah Memorial Park. Pastor Sandy H. Stamey will be leading the service. Special music will be presented, as well as a few words from Mel Dick, Patsy's brother-in-law. Testimonials will be given by friends, and each person will receive a flower to place on Patsy's grave. A reception will be held following the service.

PHW Closes Kurtz Gift Shop

By: Stephanie M. Mangino
The Winchester Star

The doors are locked and no light shines from behind the picture windows at the former Old Town Welcome Center and Gift Shop in downtown Winchester.

The window signage marking the center’s presence was scraped away Monday and replaced with decals noting the Winchester-Frederick County Chamber of Commerce’s ownership.

Preservation of Historic Winchester Inc. closed the shop at the beginning of the year, and its executive director, Anna Thomson, said Monday that the group is trying to sell the last of the equipment that once filled the first floor space in the Kurtz Building at 2 N. Cameron St.

PHW decided to get out of the gift shop business when it no longer needed the income after selling the Kurtz to the Chamber of Commerce in 2001, Thomson said.

When it ran the gift shop, PHW also partnered in the operation of the chamber’s Welcome Center, but that was also unnecessary after the sale, she said.

In mid-2002, the Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Board attempted to move into the space vacated by the Welcome Center, but that endeavor ended after a few months. The board is now headquartered in the Visitors Center on South Pleasant Valley Road.