[SYN-037]
When Patsy Cline's plane went down in Camden, Tennessee on March 5, 1963, she was only 30. In the decades since, she's become one of country music's most revered icons. Cline's historical significance can't be denied; along with Kitty Wells and Brenda Lee, she established a place for women in the notoriously male-dominated Nashville music industry while making records that bridged the divide between country and pop. And then there's the sheer power of her singing: stoic, vulnerable, wise, and immeasurably influential. Recorded between 1955 and 1960, the tracks on this disc predate the early-'60s era that spawned classics like "Crazy" and "I Fall to Pieces." And yet such wonderfully titled tunes as "A Church, a Courtroom and then Goodbye" and "I Cried All the Way to the Altar" play off the singer's wounded-romantic side to brilliant effect. Truth is, Patsy Cline always sounded best when the recipe called for heartache. — Mac Randall