The Patsy Cline Museum is a museum that opened on April 7, 2017 on the second floor of the Johnny Cash Museum building on Third Avenue South in Nashville, Tennessee. It is home to an extensive collection of Patsy Cline memorabilia as well as real-life artifacts once owned by the country singer, who died in a plane crash in 1963 at the age of 30. [1]
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley, Patsy Cline recorded three studio albums and had two number one songs on the country music chart before her untimely death, but death didn't actually stop her rise to fame. Her recorded music continued to chart, and her fan base continued to grow in the decades following her death, and she became the first female inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame – 10 years posthumously. [1] [2] [3]
Shannon and Bill Miller, who also founded the Johnny Cash Museum, wanted to create a similar museum for Patsy Cline. They had the opportunity to do so after Charlie Dick – Patsy Cline's husband – died in 2015, leaving behind a collection of his and Patsy's belongings that he had previously kept hidden away. [4] [3]
The 4,000-square-foot museum is located in the SoBro (South of Broadway) neighborhood on Third Avenue South in Nashville. It is open daily, with exceptions for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is free for children under age 6, and children 6 to 15 pay reduced admission prices. Limited parking is available nearby on the surrounding streets. [5] [6]
The Patsy Cline Museum focuses on the relatively modest life Cline and her family led, in spite of her growing success and fame. Her husband, Charlie Dick, saved a lot of her personal possessions, including the sewing machine used by Cline's mother, Hilda Hensley, to sew the signature cowgirl costumes she wore early in her career, a custom cigarette lighter, and her salt and pepper shaker collection. He also kept the telegram he received from Colonel Tom Parker – Elvis Presley's manager – offering condolences after Cline's death. [7] [1] [6]
The halls in the museum include several exhibits that focus on specific stages in Cline's life. For example, one exhibit includes the sign, a wooden booth, and a milkshake maker from the pharmacy – Gaunt's Drug Store – where she worked during her teen years in Winchester, Virginia. Visitors can also see the porch seat from her childhood home in that same town. A recreated version of the dining room in the home she later shared with Charlie Dick in Nashville includes her Filter Queen vacuum cleaner and the canceled check she used to buy it. A replica of the home's rec room includes a hi-fi console and record player, various vinyl LPs, and a reel-to-reel tape player along with a black and white TV playing Cline's performances and a Norge refrigerator that still works. The red padded faux leather bar in the room has "Patsy & Charlie" printed on it. [1] [6] [3]
Interactive stations allow visitors to listen to Cline's music, watch clips of her performances, and read full copies of some of her handwritten letters. Many recognizable stage costumes, such as the sequined dress from her series of shows at Mint Casino in Las Vegas in 1962, are on display throughout the museum. Some of the costumes were designed by Cline herself and sewn by her mother. [5] [1] [6] [3]
Various mementos are on display in the museum, including a large number of items that personally belonged to Cline and a few that tend to have an emotional impact, such as the Elgin watch – a gift from her husband – worn by Cline at the time of her death, her silver engraved wedding ring, the ID bracelet (with photos inside) that she gave to Charlie Dick, and the handkerchief used by her mom at her funeral. An AMI jukebox commemorates Cline's two songs that are on the list of Top 20 Jukebox Hits of All Time: #1 "Crazy" and #17 "I Fall to Pieces". [1] [3] [2]
Other exhibits include:
The exhibits in the museum are arranged in chronological order, with the last one featuring the costumes designed by Cline that she asked Nudie Cohn – a famous designer who created rhinestone-studded "Nudie suits" for many stars – to make for her. She sent her request along with measurements to Cohn on February 28, 1963. His reply agreeing to do the job arrived after she died less than a week later on March 5, 1963. Decades later, Cohn's granddaughter completed the costumes for the exhibit. [1] [3]
Patsy Cline was an American singer. She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical musical film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay written by Tom Rickman. It follows the story of country music singer Loretta Lynn from her early teen years in a poor family and getting married at 15 to her rise as one of the most influential country musicians. Based on Lynn's 1976 biography of the same name by George Vecsey, the film stars Sissy Spacek as Lynn. Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm are featured in supporting roles. Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl make cameo appearances as themselves.
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Dorothy Marie Marsh West was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists. West's career started in the 1960s, with her top-10 hit, "Here Comes My Baby Back Again", which won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965, the first woman in country music to receive a Grammy.
Nuta Kotlyarenko, known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era. He also became famous for his outrageous customized automobiles.
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"Sweet Dreams" or "Sweet Dreams (of You)" is a country ballad, which was written by Don Gibson. Gibson originally recorded the song in 1955; his version hit the top ten of Billboard's country chart, but was eclipsed by the success of a competing version by Faron Young. In 1960, after Gibson had established himself as a country music superstar, he released a new version as a single. This version also charted in the top ten on the country chart and also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number ninety-three. The song has become a country standard, with other notable versions by Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris.
Showcase is a studio album by American country music singer Patsy Cline, recorded with The Jordanaires and released November 27, 1961. It was Cline's second studio album and her first since Patsy Cline in 1957.
Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits is a compilation consisting of American country pop music singer, Patsy Cline's greatest hits. The album consists of Cline's biggest hits between 1957 and 1963. It is one of the biggest-selling albums in the United States by any female country music artist.
Manuel Arturo José Cuevas Martínez Sr. is a Mexican fashion designer best known for the garments he created for prominent rock and roll and country music acts.
Patsy Cline is an EP released by American country music singer, Patsy Cline on January 29, 1962. It included four new songs from her recording sessions under Decca Records the previous year.
Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story is a 1995 television biopic about the life of country music singer Dottie West portrayed by Michele Lee. Bill D'Elia directed the film which was shot in Nashville, TN, between July 11 and August 4, 1994. The film first aired on January 22, 1995, on CBS.
The Patsy Cline Historic House at 608 S. Kent St., in a working-class neighborhood of Winchester, Virginia was the home from 1948 to 1953 of Virginia Patterson Hensley, who later became the country music star known as Patsy Cline. She moved out of the house when she got married at the age of 21 to Gerald Cline, but returned intermittently afterwards. The house was placed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and a Virginia State Historical Marker was placed there about the same time. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021.
The Johnny Cash Museum opened in April 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, to honor the life and music of the country superstar often referred to as the "Man in Black". It houses the world's largest collection of Johnny Cash memorabilia and artifacts, including a stone wall taken from his lake house in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and is officially authorized by Cash's estate.
Patsy & Loretta is a 2019 biographical drama television film directed by Callie Khouri. The screenplay by Angelina Burnett is based on the friendship between country singers Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. The cast is led by Megan Hilty, Jessie Mueller, Janine Turner, and Kyle Schmid.
Charles Allen Dick was an American Linotype operator who was best known as the widower of Patsy Cline.
"A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" is a song by American country music singer Patsy Cline. It was composed by Eddie Miller and W.S. Stevenson. It was released as Cline's debut single in July 1955 via Coral Records.
"Hidin' Out" is a song by American country music singer Patsy Cline. It was composed by Eddie Miller and W.S. Stevenson. It was released as the second single in Cline's career and second issued on Coral Records. It originally appeared on the album, Songs by Patsy Cline.
"Crazy Dreams" is a song first recorded by American country singer Patsy Cline. It was composed by Charles Beam, Charles L. Jiles and W.S. Stevenson. It was released as a single in 1960 and was produced by Owen Bradley. It was the last single released on Cline's contract with Four Star Records, which terminated in 1960.
Coordinates: 36°9′39.4″N86°46′32.7″W / 36.160944°N 86.775750°W