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Willie Nelson & Patsy Cline’s Husband, Charlie Dick, Woke Her Up In The Middle Of The Night To Hear The “Crazy” Demo: “Forever Grateful For A Perfect Rendition”
A very important day in the history of country music.
It’s the day one of the most beloved, recognizable songs in country music got recorded by Patsy Cline, when she went into the studio on this date in 1961 and laid down her one-of-a-kind vocals at Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville.
Of course, “Crazy” was originally written by the one and only Willie Nelson, and you’d be hard-pressed to point to a more classic, meaningful song within the genre of country music other than that one.
It was released later in 1961 by her record label Decca, and Patsy’s husband, a promoter named Charlie Dick, famously took Willie to their house in the middle of the night to wake his wife up to listen to it, because he knew “Crazy” was a hit from the first time he heard it. The story goes that Willie wrote it in less than in hour, and it was originally titled “Stupid.”
How Patsy Fell In Love With “Crazy”
In his 1988 book Willie: An Autobiography, he admitted that it was it was hard to find artists interested in recording it due to its use of several chords, instead of the standard three used for country music compositions at the time. Patsy’s husband, Charlie Dick, who was a record promotor for Starday Records at the time, had previously brought her Willie’s song “Night Life,” but she hated it and told him not to bring her anymore Willie Nelson songs, because she didn’t want to sing about the vulnerability of topics like love and loss.
But in a 2010 interview with Mass Live, Willie told the whole story about how Charlie ended up getting Patsy to record what would ultimately become her signature song. It also started at the historic Broadway bar, Tootsie’s:
“I first met her one night back there in Tootsies Bar, drinking a little beer and her husband Charlie Dick was there and we were talking, listening to some songs that I’d just brought up from Texas.
I had Tootsie put a couple of 45s on her jukebox. One of them had ‘Crazy’ and ‘Night Life.’ And Charlie Dick just really loved ‘Crazy’ and wanted to play it for Patsy.”
He clearly had the ear for it, because Charlie knew instantly that it was a hit, though I don’t think he could’ve ever predicted just how iconic it would become… he made Willie leave the bar with him in the middle of the night to go wake Patsy up and play it for her.
Keep in mind, this was way before Willie was even close to being known as the legend he is today, and was a largely-unknown writer, with no solo career yet, who was just scraping by trying to make something happen however he could:
“We went over to his house and he wanted me to go in and meet Patsy and I wouldn’t do it. I said ‘No it’s late and we’re drinking, I don’t want to wake her up.’ He said ‘Aw she’ll be fine.’ I didn’t go in. He went in and then she came out and got me and made me go in.”
To Willie’s surprise, Patsy welcomed him with open arms, making everybody coffee as Willie taught her how to sing the song she was eager to record, and they went on to become great friends, even touring together some at the time:
“She was a wonderful person, fixed us coffee, was just a great gal. I got to know her real well, we toured some together and she was just great.”
He went on to add that he believes she’s the greatest country female vocalist of all time, and knows that no one will ever sing his stunning song quite the way she did:
“Well, she was the greatest female vocalist maybe all around ever, but for sure, for country, that I ever heard. There’s this joke. After Patsy Cline did ‘Crazy’ and everyone else has tried it, and this joke is really not meant to hurt anybody else’s feelings but when they say ‘How many girl singers does it take to sing ‘Crazy’ and they answered ‘All of them.’
But as Patsy Cline nailed it, who else since then, it’s like Ray Charles singing ‘Georgia.’ I had enough nerve to cover him but I never thought I did as good a job on it as he did.”
I’m convinced that all the great country classic we love so much have a wild story like this behind them. Though the industry, and the world, has clearly changed a lot since the 1960’s, it’s so cool to hear things like this about mega stars like Willie and his early days trying to make it in country music.
The Recording Process
But as Willie recalled in his 2015 memoir It’s a Long Story: My Life, Patsy was “so taken” with the way he recorded the demo that she tried to follow his phrasing… which was a big mistake, he says:
“No one should try to follow my phrasing. My phrasing is peculiar to me. I’ll lay back on the beat or jump ahead.
I’m always doing something funny with time because, to me, time is a flexible thing. I believe in taking my time. When it comes to singing a song, I’ve got all the time in the world.”
The recording process was far from smooth in the beginning, and though the producer of the song, Owen Bradley, would probably beg to differ on that philosophy, and he lost patience quickly in the studio trying to do it that way, and told Patsy she needed to forget how Willie sang it and make it her own.
Bradley was an architect of the “Nashville sound” in the 1950’s and 60’s in Music City, and is a legendary name who also worked with the likes of Kitty Wells, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn and even Buddy Holly. He told Patsy to “screw Willie Nelson and his screwy sense of meter,” and I guess that’s what it took to get her to figure out her version of it:
“‘Screw Willie Nelson and his screwy sense of meter,’ Owen was said to say. ‘Forget how Willie sings it. You sing it your way.’ But it’s his song,’ Patsy protested. ‘Okay, but now it’s time to make it your song.’”
Of course, she did just that, and Willie adds:
“Her version of ‘Crazy’ became one of the best-selling songs of all time. Of all the versions of my songs covered by other artists, it’s my favorite. She understood the lyrics on the deepest possible level.
She sang it with delicacy, soul and perfect diction. She didn’t overdo it or underdo it. Patsy did the song proud. She did me proud I’m forever grateful for what I consider a perfect rendition.”
Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
It was meant to be her song, but let’s be really honest… Patsy would’ve been crazy not to record it, and I think she was well-aware of that fact herself. Just a work of art, to put it simply. “Crazy” is a genre-defining song that almost anyone, even people who have barely ever listened to country in their life, know and love, and of course, it all comes back to the brilliantly honest, poetic songwriter, Mr. Willie Nelson.
“Crazy”
Willie later recorded his own version of of “Crazy” for his debut album …And Then I Wrote, which was released in 1962:
The post Willie Nelson & Patsy Cline’s Husband, Charlie Dick, Woke Her Up In The Middle Of The Night To Hear The “Crazy” Demo: “Forever Grateful For A Perfect Rendition” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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