The 500 - #235 - The Ultimate Collection - Patsy Cline

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #235
Album Title: The Ultimate Collection
Artist: Patsy Cline
Genre: Country
Recorded: 1955-1961

Released: October, 2000
My age at release: 36
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #229, Moving up 6 spots since 2012.
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: If You've Got Leavin' On Your Mind

For many years, I have used the first season of the 2004 television series Lost as a cross-curricular learning unit with my middle-year students. It was actually the basis of my Masters of Education research, which focused on the engagement for pre- and early- teenage brains. The series taps into an adolescent's penchant for mystery. Their riveted investment in the plot, dialogue and character motivations is incredibly gratifying for an educator. They are quick to discuss and eager to write about the varied theories, philosophical constructs and rich vocabulary provoked by each cliffhanging episode.

There is a scene, in the third episode. featuring a flashback story focused on the character, Kate. Unusual circumstances (no spoilers) put her in a farmer's truck in Australia. Patsy Cline's If You've Got Leavin' On Your Mind is playing on the radio when the farmer, Ray Mullen, turns to her and asks:

"Do they like Patsy Cline up in Canada?"

Kate smiles and replies: "They like Patsy Cline everywhere."

Lost characters Kate and Ray in his truck.

Invariably, students will want to know a little more about Patsy Cline. Some believe her 1963 death in a plane crash at the age of 30 is a clue to the mysteries unfolding on Lost; others are keen to hear more of her music. I'll play her hits in the classroom during work periods and, unfailingly, her haunting, contralto voice  wins over a few students. Kate is correct. "They like Patsy Cline everywhere".

Everywhere, but not everyone. As I played her music in my classroom prior to student arrivals last week, I learned that the teacher candidate (student teacher) assigned to me, is not a fan. "I just find her voice whiney," she remarked.

And then there is Jeff "The Cease" Charron, my friend of 40-plus years. He made it clear to me when we were in high school that he "hates Patsy Cline's music". Furthermore, with a tinge of seriousness and humour, he informed me I was not to play Patsy in my car anymore or he would "liberate" the cassette tape from the tape deck.

Patsy Cline's 12 Greatest Hits was the cassette I owned.

One night, during the winter of 1992, Jeff was visiting me and my future wife in our first apartment on the 22nd floor of a building in Brampton, Ontario. We'd had a few beers and were playing Scrabble and listening to music. While he was in the bathroom, I slotted the Patsy Cline cassette into my stereo system. I winked at my future wife (who knew about Jeff's proclivity) and whispered, "I'll bet he doesn't even notice.

My stereo in my Brampton Apartment (1992)

We sat at the table, confident of "pulling one over on the Cease", assuming he would have forgotten his years-ago denunciation of Ms. Cline’s music.

Dead wrong. He emerged from the washroom and went directly to the cassette player, removed the offending cartridge, opened the sliding glass balcony door and, with a defiant flick of his wrist, it sailed off into the Brampton night, never to be seen again. He turned to us and said, "I'll give you $5 for that...but I warned you. I hate Patsy Cline."

The Brampton apartment, Scrabble table in background.

The story has become the stuff of comedic legend among our friends, but in fairness to Jeff I sought him out these many years later, wondering if his harsh appraisal of Patsy had diminished. He informed me by text that he still “dislikes her music”. I suppose it is a win that we have moved away from the word “hate”. 

Cline remains one of the most influential singers of the 20th century, not just in country music but in pop as well. She was the first country artist to make the successful crossover between the two genres and, despite her short and difficult life, she cemented herself as an entertainment titan. Her life has been powerfully documented in numerous books, musicals and films, including the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams, featuring Jessica Lange as Patsy.

The Ultimate Collection offers 32 of her greatest hits, and I enjoy her voice now as much as I did in high school. Not even a detractor like “Cease” can "liberate" a Spotify stream and, after listening to the anthology in preparation for this post and chatting with friends and family about it, I stand in solidarity with the fictional Kate from Lost. "They (still) like Patsy Cline everywhere." Undiminished by time.