Who wrote Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”?
I was surprised to discover recently that it was Willie Nelson, and that he sang it on his first album in 1962, the same year Cline had a big hit with it.
Here’s Nelson back then (the video says 1961, but the link says it came out in 1962). I didn’t think Nelson was ever as young and clean-cut as in the photo:
I think this later rendition is better, performed when he was thirty years older (1992) and his voice more laden with experience:
I think Nelson is good. But I still think Cline edges him out on this one:
According to Willie Nelson in an interview with Sirius XM satellite radio, he was at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and had put his own song “Crazy” in the jukebox. Patsy Cline’s husband heard it and wanted to get it to Patsy. They were both drunk, and Willie was reluctant to go, and he even stayed in the car while her husband played it for her. In the end, she recorded it a few weeks later. In another interview, Willie says that the song originally was called “Stupid”.
According to Ellis Nassour’s biography Patsy Cline, Nelson, then a struggling songwriter known as Hugh Nelson,…met Cline’s husband Charlie Dick at the bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Dick took the track home and played it for Cline, who absolutely hated it at first because Nelson’s demo “spoke” the lyrics ahead of and behind the beat; an annoyed Cline remarked that she “couldn’t sing like that”.
However, Cline’s producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it in the ballad form in which it later was recorded. On Loretta Lynn’s album I Remember Patsy, Bradley reported that as Cline still was recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, she’d had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song on the original production night due to her broken ribs. So after about four hours of trying – in the days of four songs being recorded in three hours – they called it a night. A week later, she recorded the lead vocal in one take.
And I think “Crazy” is a much better lyric than “Stupid.”
This was during a time when country music was going through a bit of an identity crisis. Hank Williams was hugely popular but he died in the early fifties and Lefty Frizzell had kind of gotten lost in his alcoholism while at the same time in 1956 Elvis came along and stole away a lot of the country audience and really set a still relatively young genre into an existential crisis.
At this time Patsy Cline’s producer Owen Bradley was the head of Decca Records and he focused his artists sound away from the rougher honky tonk sound and instead went with what became know as ‘countrypolitan’ productions that featured lots of strings and a more lush sound. Cline, Jim Reeves, and later Eddy Arnold (‘Make The World Go Away’) really utilized this sound to great affect.
It took until the late sixties with Merle Haggard and eventually Waylon and Willie for country to get back to that grittier sound.
But I agree the Patsy Cline version of ‘Crazy’ is better than Willie’s.
Yes the song “Crazy” is much more suited for a woman to sing.
Now if it were “Stupid” maybe better suited for a man.
neo is learning all kinds of tidbits about music these days.
Willie Nelson’s life and career are absolutely amazing. He was kicking around the music biz for like 15 years before he had a big hit (‘Blues Eyes Crying In The Rain’) in 1976 and then amazingly became this massive cultural crossover star in his forties and beyond.
He’s also one the greatest songwriters in American history. ‘Family Bible’, ‘Hello Walls’, ‘Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground’, ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’, ‘Whiskey River’, ‘The Party’s Over’ and on and on all Willie writes.
Willie never had ambitions of singing in the beginning. He just wanted to write but wasn’t making much money. Then he said let me give singing a try to make a living.
jack,
Yes, and Willie’s style is so idiosyncratic as he sings behind the beat and it makes dueting with him very hard yet he has done hundreds of duets through the years.
Willie turns 88 on April 29. Which reminds me of the line attributed to Mickey Mantle, among others. “If I had known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself!” Though I believe that Willie took better care of himself than Keith Richards did.
An American institution.
jack:
I find musical tidbits much more interesting now than I did in the past. Now the whole thing is a great and relaxing distraction from the political stuff. I always liked music, but never really got into the stories of the personalities before, and didn’t even pay much attention to who sang what except now and then. Maybe because when I was younger there was no internet. Now the information is so easily accessible, and the old records and live performances are so easy to see, too. Back then it would have been much much harder and far more expensive.
neo …
Here’s a little info you might find interesting. I and a bunch of friends made the first 3. They were never a monetary success but it was fun at the time for the crowds. We thought we were at Woodstock … LOL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nelson%27s_Fourth_of_July_Picnic#Dripping_Springs_Reunion
Neo:
According to Willie Nelson in an interview with Sirius XM satellite radio, he was at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and had put his own song “Crazy” in the jukebox.
Griffin:
This was during a time when country music was going through a bit of an identity crisis. Hank Williams was hugely popular but he died in the early fifties.
Which reminded me of a song that combined Hank and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.
Austin Lounge Lizards – The Car Hank Died In. At times the Austin Lounge Lizards get a bit snarky with their “progressive” politics, but what the heck. They are not alone.
As I first heard the song performed by the Geezislaw Brothers, I include one of their songs.Geezinslaws – Help I’m White and I Can’t Get Down.
I have known Nelson wrote that song since it was mentioned, I think, on American Top 40 sometime in the early 80s.
Yes, the Cline version is the only one that matters, though.
And, I agree with the commenter above who said “crazy” for a female, “stupid” for a male is about the right connotations.
Speaking of musical tidbits: Willie’s in the middle, just taking it all in….
https://youtu.be/1yVeybZLYrs
One of the most interesting things to do is to collect all the versions of a song that is sung… some are almost literally sung by everyone… others like somewhere over the rainbow, only a few…
this goes for movies too
watch Dangerous Liasons then Valmont…
after that, you realize that actors aren’t really all that important
and as seen above… neither are singers…
they are the fronts for the real creatives that put it all together..
you only have to look at who produced and arranged the songs to know who was the power house as their names come up over and over and over and over like king makers and star factories…
and you can even see whole groups whose careers wax and wane as these people decide to work with them or go on to other groups for all kinds of reasons… (ergo, Madonna never made a ‘come back’, nor will she) same with songwriters… you find lots of them..
i have spoken about one before, but here is another i have not spoken about..
Example… Patrick Leonard
who?
Leonard has worked with a wide variety of artists including late-period Pink Floyd and solo Roger Waters, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, Bryan Ferry, Julian Lennon, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, Bryan Adams, Peter Cetera, Jewel, Blue October, Duncan Sheik, Michael W. Smith, Marianne Faithfull, and Robbie Robertson. He was half of the art-pop group Toy Matinee with Kevin Gilbert and Third Matinee with Richard Page.
P.S. there is also a group of studio musicians that are key too, that most of the public doesnt know much about… but if your doing an album, you want these key people… together they will make you famous and rich… without them… you may only have one song… IF you have one song…
Need steel guitar? Greg Leisz…
some people are stars in their own right, as well as working in the background humbly: Leon Russell is one of those..
some may know Tommy Tedesco…
one of my favorites.. the wrecking crew – Carol Kaye… one of the worlds greatest bass players… seriously… you know her work if you listen to joe cocker, nancy sinatra, the beach boys (good vibrations), Tina turner… wow
Carol Kaye
The Wrecking Crew – Making of Good Vibrations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UqNvMOdhGU
The Wrecking Crew was a loose collective of session musicians based in Los Angeles whose services were employed for thousands of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including several hundred Top 40 hits. The musicians were not publicly recognized in their era, but were viewed with reverence by industry insiders. They are now considered one of the most successful and prolific session recording units in music history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)
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i know my music, but my friends dont have any idea of how much i know music from my early days… oh well..
Dont forget phil specter… who else would do a song in B? F? if you know music and seen it on paper.. weird…
like with dangerous liasons, of valmont – phil was the director… it was the people around that he organized that did what he said or were put in by him to do what they do..
you lost that loving feeling..
tina turner… wow
jan and dean?
oh wow..
again… the singers were fronts… the foundations is what made them who they were and they could be made or broken by these groups of people and whether they wanted to play with them or not interested..
Ross Perot designated Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” as the official theme song of his 1992 presidential campaign.
Below is a great podcast on the recording of Crazy by Patsy Cline, and Nelson’s role.
Patsy Cline: The Making of “Crazy” (NPR Podcast)
https://youtu.be/yl9oYSvwWCM
It is 13 minutes long but well worth viewing to the very end.
I’ll try to post a few more of Willie Nelson’s songs and recordings from the same time period (and maybe add HTML, but am on my phone, and not sure right now how this is going to work).
here is how you know patrick leonard
Patrick Leonard wrote the music for, among others: “Like a Prayer,” “Cherish,” “True Blue,” “Live to Tell,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Frozen,” “Hanky Panky,” “Sky Fits Heaven,” “Nothing Really Matters,” “I’ll Remember,” and “Something to Remember.” He was a producer on “Open Your Heart.”
“I’m one of those people behind the curtain.” Leonard says. “If she [Madonna] hadn’t sung those songs, no one would have heard them. She’s made it possible for me to do what I’m doing now.”
but in truth… without people like him, none of them would be who they became
Leonard told me he didn’t care if Madonna goes into the Songwriters Hall of Fame without him. He doesn’t believe in awards. He doesn’t even hang his gold records. “They’re all in a closet somewhere,” he said. He just believes in moving forward. This week he comes to New York to work with Roger Waters.
reminds my of my friends father… 8 Emmy awards… used one for a doorstop… too bad i lost my CLIO…
Throwback Thursday: Watch Glen Campbell Play Willie Nelson’s ‘Crazy’ in 1982
On March 5, 1963, country music singers Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas were killed in a plane crash outside Camden, Tennessee, following a benefit concert for the widow of a Kansas City disc jockey named “Cactus” Jack Call, who had died in a car crash.
To commemorate that tragic day we’ve gone a slightly unusual route, perhaps. Here’s a fantastically sung and passionately played version of “Crazy,” by the always underrated Glen Campbell (1936-2017); it’s easy to forget that Glen was an ace session guitarist in Hollywood (part of the famed “Wrecking Crew”) years before he became famous. In this clip from The Glen Campbell Music Show in 1982, he plays one of his beloved Ovation composite guitars. Frankly, the clip does not do the guitar justice (TV always tending to the treble side), but check out Campbell’s short, sizzling solo toward the end!
Glen Campbell singing and playing “CRAZY”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs5Lg_D4YqY
Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson – Funny (How Time Slips Away) (Audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5KtCUHnAFw
Glenn was a member of the Wrecking Crew…
Willie had another big hit in 1961, Hello Walls, by Faron Young. It reached number 1 on the country, and number 12 on the pop charts.
https://youtu.be/HMSWAUAKJn0
Faron Young was a big star at the time, and Willie a virtually unknown songwriter. Per the story below, Willie want $500 for Young to buy the rights to the song, but Young refused. He instead offered Willie a royalty and any cash he might need right then to get by.
Willie Nelson and Faron Young – The story behind “Hello Walls”
https://youtu.be/IBN9uk1N2oA
Artfldgr:
The people behind the scenes – producers, arrangers, and of course songwriters – often have really fascinating stories and tremendous influence on the songs’ artistry. Years ago, that aspect of the music business didn’t interest me much, but in recent years it certainly does.
I remember seeing him and Waylon in the 70’s in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They played at the NMSU indoor arena. As I recall the arena held like 19,000 seats. They drew a curtain about halfway in. I’m guessing maybe 9-10,000 people showed up.
The next week Neil Diamond played there. It sold out. Not a seat available. Go figure
Thanks for digging up the Willie performances.
I will say it again – “Crazy” is one of the three best-written pop songs I’ve ever heard, the other two being Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade” (the killer cover was done by the great George Benson) and my all-time favorite, the late John Hartford’s “Gentle on My Mind”. That song tells a story so real you can see it as you listen to the song – and does so with gently poetic lyrics.
I’ve been fortunate to see Nelson perform four times, including one of his big Summer Picnic shows with Waylon, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jessi Colter . . . and the Grateful Dead! Rednecks and hippies, pounding ice-cold beer on a blazing hot day and having a great time together. A fantastic show and a great memory!
One of my favorite Nelson songs is the little known “One in a Row”. Years ago my wife and I attended a huge hospital benefit where Nelson and his band were the entertainment. On a break, I went up to a member of the crew and said “Do you think the band would play ‘One in a Row’ “? The guy let out a long, slow whistle, shook his head, and said “Man – we haven’t done that one in years!”
To me, Crazy is also a measure of Linda Ronstadt’ immense talent – how many singers would cover a song like “Crazy” so closely associated with a legend like “The Cline” and knock it out of the park like she did? It takes some real grit to even try that, much less pull it off.
Neo – do yourself a favor and go down the Wrecking Crew rabbit hole, it is fascinating stuff. Same with another legendary crew of top-flight session players, The Swamp Rats of Muscle Shoals. You’ll not only be impressed by what amazing musicians these folks are and how many records they made, the stories they tell are something else!
Patsy Cline singing Crazy at the Grand Ole Opry, where she worked, I think in 1962 (good recording but not live video)
https://youtu.be/FYtrGjJOMpE
Willie Nelson singing a medley of hits from his 1962 album there, I think in 1965 (high quality video, maybe televised?)
https://youtu.be/W1bXdXWEKaE
I imagine this could have been his first performance there. Pasty Cline died in a plane crash in 1963; he almost seems a little choked up, not hard to imagine possibly related to this.
Below is Willie performing Whiskey River (a signature song of his, but one he didn’t write) for the pilot episode of Austin City Limits. I think it was the first song on the program. Reading when I first came across all of this, Willie wasn’t sure at first, but liked the relaxed style. The show was picked up by PBS the next season.
Willie Nelson – Whiskey River – 1974.10.17
https://youtu.be/O7CTMAa4m6M
Contrast with how formal the Grand Ole Opry appearance is.
Willie is good indeed. But Patsy Cline’s version wipes the floor with Willie. It’s not even close. Nor is it just that Cline is a far better singer than Nelson. The arrangement is far better as well, it perfectly matches Cline’s heart wrenching angst.
Patsy Cline in a 1957 television performance of Walkin’ After Midnight
https://youtu.be/imxGOKJMxho
Owen Bradley, who per that podcast I posted above at 7:27 was key in producing Crazy as it was, is on piano. More notes at YouTube.
One of the most interesting things to do is to collect all the versions of a song that is sung… this goes for movies too. — Artfldgr
I’ve had fun in the last year or two watching and comparing a couple film remakes in the film-noir genre.
Out of the Past (1947)
Against All Odds (1984)
The Glass Key (1942)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Each pair has the same story line, but are radically different films. All four are quite good, (The Glass Key is the weakest IMO) but the screenwriter’s and director’s visions are so different. Great fun.
In the second slide, he looks a lot like Lester Polsfuss.
I cannot recall when it was, but my first adult recollection of Willie Nelson, was with his famous solo and retro-primitive performance of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Would that be the 80’s?
Occasionally that kind of release becomes a startling hit. Big Bill Broonzy’s “The Glory of Love”, is another. And Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billy Joe” nearly qualifies.
In Nelson’s case, it relaunched a career that never really went into total eclipse again.
With regard to Nelson’s tunesmithing, I’m not sure that I have a clear and more or less contemporaneous recollection of Patsy Cline’s release of “Crazy”, any more than of “Ray Price’s cover of Nelson’s “Night Life”. Though, I’d bet that an uncle probably had one or the other playing on his car or transistor radio at some point when I was a kid.
My cousin had a party for his mother some years back, and as part of it had photos from his parents young married life on a big pasteboard. There was aunt Connie, standing next to a two tone early 60’s Chevy, while dressed in blue jeans, and a gingham short sleeved shirt topped with a neckerchief. Geez. I guess I had not imagined that, either …
Of course, both Nelson songs have received a great deal of airplay over the years, being rediscovered every decade or so. …
Artfldgr – following covers is a hobby of mine. Willy is one of the few who can do covers, and also write songs to be covered. Imma follow this thread to see who gets thrown in as modern-day songwriting cats of the old school. The old school would include Willy, Shel Silverstein, Dylan, and Prine. I’m throwing in John Hiatt and Paul Thorn.
Oh, a moivey expoit, as Curley would say. LOL
Drumroll … ” Ok folks, our next contestant is Mr. Tommy Jay, of Newneopolis, Scotchandsoda.
Oh, he says he is not interested. In that case we will leave it open to any and all … assuming there are any at all.
The category is “Film Noir”: and today’s challenge is to name three movies of the era in which the song, “I Remember April” –
eventually to become a jazz standard – appeared as a theme or background music. As usual the audience is allowed to assist, but only in the manner of offering further hints. Though due to the main contestant’s reluctance to be chivvied into in, it is unclear who is what or who.
Nonetheless …
Our first hint in finding one film is: “He sometimes gets crisscrossed in people’s minds with Kirk Douglas, as a type”
The second hint and this is a giveaway: “Is she Ava too?
And the third killer hint is this: “Hey, that uncredited actor doing the rumba with the female lead, will eventually become a star with the same last name as the lead actor is the least famous film!”
Grand prize is free access to thenewneo comnent section.
“who else would do a song in B? F?”
1) A lot of pop songs are done in all kinds of “strange” keys, ie lots of accidentals (sharps or flats) because they are trying to find the one that suits the vocalist’s range best
2) F is a *very* common key. It has only one flat so is very well suited for piano and horns. There are even quite a few guitar tunes in F. Keys with a lot of flat accidentals (Bb, Eb, Ab) are very common in big bands where the horn parts get transposed to “easier” keys. I have played in big bands and I see Db (five flats) more than D.
“Carol Kaye
The Wrecking Crew – Making of Good Vibrations”
I read recently that the Beach Boys’ archivist has determined that Kaye did *not* play on Good Vibrations. There were many recording sessions for that song and while Kaye was hired to play at some of them none of her work apparently made it onto the released single.
While Kaye played on many hit records e. g. “Wichita Lineman” and “These Boots Are Made For Walking” just to name two, she has also made exaggerated claims about her recordings that have been debunked, particularly her attempts to claim the work of the great Motown bassist James Jamerson.
Neo said, “The people behind the scenes – producers, arrangers, and of course songwriters – often have really fascinating stories and tremendous influence on the songs’ artistry. Years ago, that aspect of the music business didn’t interest me much, but in recent years it certainly does.”
If you haven’t already seen it, I think you would enjoy Ken Burns’ documentary series, “Country Music,” tracing the history of the genre from the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers onwards. Full of stories about the musicians and the producers and songwriters behind the music — as well as the music itself.
Mr W, a pianist, has always played a lot of vintage country — particularly including Willie — but there’s so much we didn’t know. We were engrossed. It’s available online through PBS, though I think you need to purchase their “Passport” package, or on Amazon, free if you have Prime. Highly recommended.
Cline’s version gets the nod here and it isn’t close — Nelson’s version is a little rough but Patsy Cline could sing the phone book or an ingredients list and make it sound great.
Another upvote for the “Country Music” doc, it’s really good.
FOAF,
Do you know the reason big bands tune to Bflat? It’s home position for the trombones and an open, non-valved, position for the other brass (sometimes, except trumpet and cornet players sometimes prefer different keyed instruments).
All brass instruments have at least one tuning slide that is moved in to “sharpen” the tone or out to “flatten” it. Since the trombone has a slide instead of valves, one can only tell it is in tune by playing a note in 1st position, when the slide is pushed against the stop at the lead end, by the lips. It’s also best to play an open note on the other, non-slide brass since each of their three valves can also be out of whack. By playing a note that does not require a slide position or valve one can truly tell if the tuning slide itself is in the right position*.
For a similar reason you want to tune stringed instruments to something “open,” requiring no fingering, to truly judge if the strings themselves are properly tuned at the pegs. Especially fretless instruments.
*In clarifying I think I just made it more confusing.
Rufus, I hadn’t thought it through but it makes sense for the horns in a big band to tune to Bb. Of course playing bass, electric and upright, I tune to the open strings.
“Especially fretless instruments”
I think I have pretty good intonation but no I would not trust myself tuning upright bass except on open strings lol
Since we’re on the topic of country music, Neo (and others who like harmony) may want to do a deep dive into the Statler Brothers. I did this last March after their legendary bass singer Harold Reid (what a voice on that guy!) passed away.
Ever since that time — coincidentally this was just after the “Country Music” doc had finished, and that is definitely a factor — I’ve found myself going to old school country and “roots” music like this as a default.
Griffin, glad to see you mention Lefty Frizzell, he is a favorite of mine. I didn’t grow up with country music other than pop crossovers – lots of those in the early 60s like Cline, Johnny Horton and others – but when I started listening to it in the 70s someone came out with a song “Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul”. I figured if he was being mentioned in the same breath as Hank Williams he must be pretty good and discovered a lot of great recordings by him.
My hometown is about 50 minutes north on I81 from Winchester. Patsy Cline was like a local girl to us.
I recommend Ken Burns Country Music highly. One of the commentators on that is Ketch Secor of the band The Old Crow Medicine Show. They have a CD and DVD that covers their show 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde and it’s really good. Roots band takes on Dylan.
Check out Lefty Frizzle’s version of Long Black Veil and pay attention to the sparse accompaniment. It makes a chilling song more so.
I grew up in Kentucky about 65 miles from Nashville and watched and listened to a lot of country music.
Another thumb’s up for the Country Music doc. I usually find Ken Burns to be insufferable, but I thought he kept his politics in control in this one.
Jeff+Brokow – I’ve always enjoyed “roots” music, but I bounce around from Van Morrison to Mark Knopfler to Dylan to Miles to Coltrane to Beethoven to Shostakovich to King Sunny Ade to Fela and around some more, But I also found myself going to old school country after watching the doc. I broke out my old NGDB albums, which led to Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Ralph Stanley, Buck Owens, and for those smooth harmonies, the Louvin Brothers.
Want to drop off a link here to an ad of all things.
Following suggestions on YT and came across videos on the D’Angelico throwback collection. Some of you music-icans may be familiar with the history of that famous archtop brand along with the original Epiphone.
Anyway, the ad features Vinni Rainolo who accompanied Frank Vignola for years, and has in recent times worked as a lead guitarist on occasion with the Avalon Jazz Band. In that regard Adrien Chevalier – who in my untutored estimation is the best Grappelli style violinist I have heard in years – handles the violin.
Beautiful guitars, if a bit elaborate for my taste, for a couple thousand bucks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOpNoCy6ahc
DNW
In that regard Adrien Chevalier – who in my untutored estimation is the best Grappelli style violinist I have heard in years…
Heaving heard Grappelli both in person and recorded, I’m not about to argue with you. Chevalier is GOOOOD. I wonder if Adrien is related to some other Chevaliers of historical import, such as Maurice Chevalier or Haakon Chevalier.
I don’t know, but the name is distinctive as it carries vague connotations of rank even today. Whether it is his real name or a stage name I could not say. Oddly, or maybe not [ if it was an intentional pick and kind of ” homage”] , Grapelli, was reputedly the son of an Italian marchese who seemed to have misplaced his chateau somewhere along the way.
Gringo, you might be the commenter I remember mentioning having back in his college age days seen Grappelli and Martin Taylor in that vineyard concert series in Ca., …which was later released on CD. It is a CD I still have.
The Avalon Jazz Band seems to have a revolving membership, and can even be too cloying: but for my money the 3 or 4 best YouTube performances feature Chevalier’s work.
Download these for your wife and save her a trip to the Starbucks or Pottery Barn CD eclectic moods collection rack. No Nina Simone cuts though. Haha
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4zOi8h-Uds
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OddALnXIhkE