March 5, 1963 just about a decade after
we lost Hank Williams Sr.
I keep feeling compelled to listen to her
song "A Poor Man's Roses". Her vocals are so
simple, as are the lyrics (written by
Bob Hilliard and Milton De Lugg).
There's nothing so evocative as the
image of "a rich man's gold" and a "
poor man's roses" ...truly down-home
lyrics.
But I really want to talk about her
biggest hit "Crazy".
Unlike most country songs at that
time, it has a simple paired-
down orchestration.
According to Owen Bradley, the label
wanted a track for Patsy that wasn't
overtly country- something they could
sell on the pop stations, so even though
they had a 3-track set up (sophisticated at
that time) they minimized most of the other
instruments, prominently keeping the piano
of Floyd Cramer. Although Floyd was
known for his fluid slip- piano playing,
he kept it low key, for a late nite
smokey barroom, 4-in-the-morning-feel.
The emphasis is on the vocals.
Willie Nelson had written the track for
Patsy. Thank god,
Owen Bradley had loved it,
because Patsy didn't.
Maybe she thought it was too
young for her. Patsy was on her
second marriage, about to hit thirty,
and in those days, that was considered
middle aged.
The track was unusual, with a steady
chromatic rise, echoing in subtle way
the theme of "crazy love".
This wasn't your usual
A-chord D- chord progression
and there wasn't any pedal-steel.
About a month after suffering a
serious car accident, Patsy had returned
to record "Crazy". She had a hard
time singing the high notes- due
in part to injuries to her ribs, and
not being able to copy Willie Nelson's
vocals on his demo. Supposedly,
she had returned a week later, to
record the vocals in one take
completely differently.
The song would go on to be a hit
on the country and pop charts, and
go on to re-define what the
definition of a "country" song was
and could be.
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