SONG: I Fall to Pieces
ARTIST: Patsy Cline
YEAR: 1961
Listen to it here:
THE SONG:
I Fall to Pieces was written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard, and was released by Patsy Cline as a single in1961. Before the song made its way to Patsy Cline, it was turned down by numerous other performers, first by Brenda Lee who found it too Country, by country singer Roy Drusky who stated it was not a man’s song. Cline happened to be in the same hallway where this argument was taking place and asked to record it herself. On the night of the session, however, there were many roadblocks – Cline had second thoughts about the song, she was concerned the back up singers, The Jordanaires, would drown out her voice, and the session musicians were having trouble with the feel. They were sick of the standard shuffle rhythm that by that time had been done to death. But eventually the whole band fell into a groove, and they realized they had a hit on their hands.
It immediately topped the country charts, crossed over to the pop charts, and became one of Cline’s biggest hits. After agreeing to record it finally, the song received no airplay. Her producer began a targeted and aggressive campaign to put the song on the air. Just as the song started to increase in airplay, and started to ascend the country charts, Cline was injured in a near-fatal car accident. She spent several months recovering from her injuries before she was finally able to perform the track live.
Since that time, I Fall to Pieces has become a country music standard.
THE ARTIST:
Patsy Cline was known as one of the first singers to cross over from Country to Pop. Though her career was cut short by an early death, she produced many hits in her time as a professional singer. Her career started when she was fifteen and gave performances on the local radio station in Winchester, Virginia. These appearances led to TV broadcasts on Town and Country television, which in turn produced her first recording contract in 1954. At the start she had small successes with singles like “A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye” and “I’ve Loved and Lost Again”. See, even the youth can get into the country trope of losing everything! Cline’s big break happened when she sang “Walkin’ After Midnight” on the national television show, “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts”.
This early success did not stay, though, and further singles with her producers were unsuccessful. In 1957, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, got a new manager, and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She then signed with Decca and a new producer and the hits kept coming. She started with I Fall to Pieces, and the Crazy, and then lesser hits like She’s Got You, and Leavin’ on Your Mind. Sadly, at the height of her popularity, Cline was killed in a plane crash in March of 1963 that also killed Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawking, and her manager Randy Hughes.
FACTOID CORNER:
Patsy Cline was the first female country star to perform at Carnegie Hall
KELLY’S REVIEW:
Once again we have a super iconic song that I’ve heard a bunch of times! I think the first time I heard this song it was part of a commercial for falling prices (maybe Walmart?). I can’t believe this isn’t considered a country song – I thought Patsy was considered a country pioneer? And that twangy guitar? Anyway, Patsy has a lovely voice – not too sweet, just a nice pleasant lady-crooner kind of voice. The band and backup singers are waaaaaay in the back, to the point where sometimes you can only really hear Patsy and the snare drum. The song itself is good – a good and relatively interesting melody, also very recognizable. The lyrical content is a good rendition of the old ‘it hurts me when I see you out and about because you broke my heart’ theme. It’s a good little song – nothing that particularly stands out for me, it just exists. It’s fine. Good, not great.
HOLLY’S REVIEW:
Ok, so I feel like everyone knows this song. I also feel surprised that this is NOT considered a country song. Cline’s voice sounds country, as do the guitar interjections. That being said, I really like Cline’s voice. It sounds like she could do a lot more with it than this song allows, but it’s strong, and rounded, and it sounds like she could comfortably make it stronger, or gentler depending on the need. The band parts aren’t particularly innovative, but I like that the melody is unique and that there is no clear delineation between the verses and the chorus. Or is it one verse and a few choruses? I also like how tasteful Cline is with her melody. It really suits the song and never crosses over into campy or cheesy territory. After really listening to this song, it’s still not really my cup of tea, but I definitely liked it more than I thought I would!
Average mark out of 10:
Holly: 7/10
Kelly: 7/10
Other notable versions of this song:
Linda Ronstadt goes full country:
Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood……
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