| features in: Album Chart of 1957 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1950s |
It’s hard to believe, but the young Patsy Cline had great difficulty in converting her extraordinary vocal talent into hit singles. She had signed to Bill McCall’s Four Star label (which has license affiliation with Decca) in 1955 and her first 4 singles, all in the honky tonk style, had failed to make any impression. Don Hecht, a songwriter for the label, thought that Patsy’s style was ideal for one of his songs that had been rejected by Kay Starr in 1954 – “Walkin’ After Midnight”. Cline initially did not like the song because it was, according to her, “just a little old pop song.” However, the song’s writers and record label insisted that she record it, with the compromise being that she could choose the b-side (“A Poor Man’s Roses (Or a Rich Man’s Gold)”). After performing the song nationally on the CBS TV show “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts”, the switch boards went crazy, Decca stepped in, and “Walkin’ After Midnight” was rush released as her 5th single on February 11, 1957. The song quickly debuted on the Billboard charts, eventually peaking at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 12 on the Pop chart by March 3rd. Brilliantly backed by “Nashville’s A-Team”, the song was a stone classic, fusing blues, pop and country with a cool ease. Patsy’s winsome croon and Don Helm’s nagging steel guitar were dynamite together. On the strength of the single, the debut album from the 24 year old duly followed in August, featuring 12 recordings made for Four Star/Decca between January 1956 and May 1957. Top Nashville production was handled by Owen Bradley, with background vocal group The Anita Kerr Singers adding pop doo-doops and lonesome wah-wahs. The band back her brilliantly on the LP, her sweet and pure vocal and easy going style are upfront all the way and, for me, the subtle bluesy inflection was just the perfect pitch for the job in hand. “Hungry For Love”, “Fingerprints”, “(Write Me) In Care Of The Blues” and one of her own compositions, “Don’t Ever Leave Me Again”, are all fantastic examples of this stylistic melting pot. A new star was born…
The Jukebox Rebel
21–Jul–2008
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [02:26]  Patsy Cline - That Wonderful Someone (Gertrude Berg) Pop Ballad |
| A2 | [02:33]  Patsy Cline - (Write Me) In Care Of The Blues (Eddie Miller, William McCall) Blues / Rhythm n Blues |
| A3 | [02:25]  Patsy Cline - Hungry For Love (Eddie Miller, William McCall) Pop |
| A4 | [02:14]  Patsy Cline - Too Many Secrets (Bobby Lile) Pop |
| A5 | [02:25]  Patsy Cline - Don’t Ever Leave Me Again (Lillian Clarborne, Jimmy Crawford, Virginia Hensley) Blues / Rhythm n Blues |
| A6 | [01:53] Patsy Cline - Ain’t No Wheels On This Ship (Wayland Chandler, William McCall) Rock n Roll / Rockabilly |
| B1 | [02:25]  Patsy Cline - I Can’t Forget You (Carl Belew, William McCall) Country |
| B2 | [02:17]  Patsy Cline - I Don’t Wanta (Eddie Miller, William McCall, Durwood Haddock) Country |
| B3 | [02:11] Patsy Cline - Three Cigarettes (In An Ashtray) (Eddie Miller, William McCall) Country |
| B4 | [02:33]  Patsy Cline - Walkin’ After Midnight [1957] (Don Hecht, Alan Block) Country |
| B5 | [02:43]  Patsy Cline - Fingerprints (Woodie O. Fleener, Don Hecht, William McCall) Country |
| B6 | [03:12]  Patsy Cline - Then You’ll Know (Bobby Lile) Pop Ballad |
