Patsy Cline - The Essential First Recordings

Patsy Cline had a voice in a million from the first moment she opened her mouth in front of a microphone, but it took a few years for her to fully hit her stride as a singer -- and to get the sort of material she truly deserved. Such are the flaws in this collection of sides Cline recorded during her early tenure at Four Star Records; while she had found a more than sympathetic producer in Owen Bradley, who conjured up some beautiful countrypolitan settings for her, Four Star was calling the shots in terms of material, and while they occasionally found just the right song for her (most notably "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"), this collection has more than its share of cuts in which Patsy is swimming uphill against tunes that just aren't her style (most notably the aggressively cheerful "Come On In [And Make Yourself at Home]" and the treacly "Life's Railway to Heaven"). Read More