Patsy Cline to Receive The PBS American Masters Treatment
There are few other legends of country music whose music lasted longer, had more impact, and crossed sensibilities of taste and genre better than the songs of Patsy Cline. That voice, and the songs she selected in her short career can still stop you dead in your tracks from the emotion they stir.
Beginning on March 4th, PBS will premier a new documentary on Patsy Cline as part of their long-running American Masters series. It’s the 31st season of THIRTEEN’s American Masters, and they have selected Patsy Cline to feature on the 85th Anniversary of her birth. Patsy Cline died tragically on March 5, 1963 at the age of 30 in a plane crash.
Narrated by Rosanne Cash, Patsy Cline: American Masters examines the roots of Cline‘s impact on country music and culture, including her role as a groundbreaker for female artists in the genre, and how she became seminal to the Nashville Sound. The film features rare performances of Cline classics such as “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” “You Made Me Love You,” and many more. It also features interviews with LeAnn Rimes, Kacey Musgraves, Rhiannon Giddens, Wanda Jackson, Bill Anderson, Beverly D’Angelo, Callie Khouri, Reba McEntire, Mickey Guyton, Terri Clark, and others.
“It’s been such a privilege to tell the story of Patsy Cline,” says Emmy-nominated director and producer Barbara J. Hall. “For me, her story exceeds her musical accomplishments. She is in a rare class of women who simply set out to achieve their dreams and through those efforts left an indelible mark.”
Confirmed air dates for Patsy Cline: American Masters include:
*New York metro area: Saturday, March 4 at 9 p.m. and Sunday, March 5 at 10:30 p.m. on THIRTEEN
*San Francisco: Saturday, March 4 at 6 p.m. on KQED 9
*Denver: Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS
*Minneapolis/St. Paul: Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. on TPT 2
*Nashville: Monday, March 6 at 8:30 p.m. on Nashville Public Television
*Houston: Tuesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. on Houston Public Media
*Seattle: Saturday, March 11 at 7 p.m. on KCTS 9
*Phoenix: Sunday, March 12 at 7 p.m. on Arizona PBS
*Baltimore: Sunday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. on MPT
*Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham: Monday, March 13 at 8 p.m. on UNC-TV
*Indianapolis: Tuesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. on WFYI
*Portland: Tuesday, March 14 at 9:30 p.m. on OPB TV
*Miami: Tuesday, March 14 at 10 p.m. on WPBT2
*Los Angeles: Thursday, March 16 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal
*Orlando: Thursday, March 16 at 9:30 p.m. on WUCF TV
February 10, 2017 @ 9:42 am
Yee haw! Sounds great!
February 10, 2017 @ 9:50 am
Won’t be missing this. The Cash Museum has a floor dedicated to a new Patsy Cline museum. Long overdue.
February 10, 2017 @ 10:05 am
“That voice, and the songs she selected in her short career can still stop you dead in your tracks from the emotion they stir.”
That’s almost an understatement… Her voice is probably one of the ten best voices ever…It’s absolutely breathtaking 🙂
One of my favorites by her is “Life is Like a Mountain Railroad ”
https://www.google.se/search?q=patsy+cline+railroad&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=hPGdWOmVFeHk8AenqpjoCA
February 10, 2017 @ 4:18 pm
Agree! There were only a couple gospel/hymns that she got to do, but “Life’s Railway To Heaven” & “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” have always been stand outs, if not the quintessential versions of those songs, imo anyway ; )
February 10, 2017 @ 5:29 pm
“…if not the quintessential versions of those songs, imo anyway”
Yes, I guess they are… I’m not religious but both are such beautiful songs and the way she sings them, especially her phrasing, is outstanding and that voice…
February 10, 2017 @ 10:23 am
Looking forward to this.
February 10, 2017 @ 10:32 am
I remember a surge of interest in Patsy back in the 80’s. A TV ad for a greatest hits package and maybe a book or movie on her. I had two Greatest Hits cassetes (yes) that got a lot of play. I always likes the up-tempo rockabilly tunes. She could really growl it up too. I mention that cuz most know her only for the smoother stuff.
Patsy is one of those country legends (like Hank and Cash) whose records even non-country music addicts always seem to have.
February 10, 2017 @ 1:19 pm
The PBS station here in the Seattle area also aired a special on Merle Travis a couple of weeks ago that was pretty good if you are interested in the history of country music or just guitar playing for that matter. I imagine it can be found online somewhere.
February 10, 2017 @ 2:30 pm
Yeah PBS American Masters has done a good job with other past artists, so I have high hopes for this one. I’d recommend the Bing Crosby documentary from PBS Masters- it is up on YouTube.
Fascinating stuff
February 11, 2017 @ 2:21 pm
This is so exciting! I will definitely watch. If anyone misses the documentary on television, American Masters usually streams its films on the PBS website for a period of time: http://www.pbs.org/show/american-masters/
In fact, they have the Patsy Cline trailer already up on the website: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365950646/