Sure, like everyone else who’s been to a wedding reception or a karaoke bar, you can sing every note of “Crazy.’’ Well done. Now it’s time to learn some of Patsy Cline’s lesser-known gems.
“Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray’’ It’s been a staple of k.d. lang’s live shows for years, and you can see why. Talk about melodrama! Cline’s with her lover in a small cafe and watches another woman take him away, leaving three cigarettes in the ashtray. (There’s a great performance of this floating around on YouTube, too.)
“Lovesick Blues’’ Hank Williams made it famous, but Cline’s version has a feisty sock-hop vibe. And her yodel? Pretty good.
“I Love You, Honey’’ Before producer Owen Bradley gave her songs a lush pop patina as part of the so-called Nashville Sound, Cline recorded twangy, barn-burning fare for First Star. On this fiddle-stoked tune she tells her beloved that she loves him — for his money and his automobile.
“Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home’’ It’s hard to imagine Cline really wants to pay the rent and do the cookin’, as the lyrics go, but what starts out as a bluesy lament suddenly morphs into swinging jump jazz.
“He Called Me Baby’’ She always had swagger in her voice, but on this sad-eyed ballad recorded a month before she died, Cline sounds on the verge of tears as she digs into the words “I still hear baby, baby / All night long.’’
“Stupid Cupid’’ Recorded live in 1961, Cline’s take on the Connie Francis hit suggests she would have held her own as rock ’n’ roll began to take over in the early ’60s.
