The late Joe Edwards, who wrote for the Associated Press, described March 5, 1963, as the “Darkest Day in Country Music.”
Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and pilot Randy Hughes were killed when their Piper PA-24 Comanche crashed 90 miles from Nashville. Authorities said a watch Ms. Cline was wearing stopped at 6:35 p.m. The Grand Ole Opry stars had performed a benefit concert the day before at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Ks.
Grant Turner, the Dean of Country Music announcers, made the announcement the morning of March 6th over WSM Radio, the 50,000 watt voice in Nashville.
Turner said, “Ladies and gentlemen, in all my 30 years of radio this is the hardest job I’ve ever had to do. It pains me greatly to announce that Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Rughes were flying from Kansas City to Nashville and crashed in the Camden, Tennessee area. After an all-night search, in bad weather, the plane has finally been located and all aboard perished.”
Those words were echoed all across the United States when the Associated Press and United Press International ran the bulletin.
This writer was in shop at Kirkman High School repairing a radio when WFLI announcers Johnny Eagle and Dale Anthony broadcast the bulletin. The station's format was Top Forty but they interrupted their regular program and starting broadcasting the country artist’s recordings for the next few hours.
“Hello Chattanooga” by television news anchor David Carroll documents Patsy Cline making several appearances at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium and outdoor Lake Winnepesaukah stage.
In a WDOD radio broadcast, Charlie “Peanut” Faircloth said, Ms. Cline asked his band the “Hot Roasted Hillbillies” to back her at a Memorial Auditorium concert. Peanut said, “Ms. Cline would sneak up behind him and kiss his ear, I knew who it was immediately.”
Faircloth said, in 1961 he was one of the first DJ’s to play Ms. Cline’s “I fall to Pieces;” When it was released, it became an instant hit.” Faircloth said promoter Gene Goforth brought him an acetate of the recording before the single was sent to radio stations and distributed to record shops. The recording remained on the Billboard chart for 39 weeks. Ms. Cline was only 30 years old when she was killed.
In another WDOD radio interview, Grand Ole Opry star Bill Anderson said he performed two shows with Patsy Cline at Lake Winnepesaukah. Anderson said, “There was no dressing room and in those days we didn’t travel in buses, we traveled in cars. Patsy had to take her stage clothes and go dress in the locker room by the swimming pool; we both did to change into what we were going to wear on the shows. Patsy is in there putting on her finery and the teeny boopers were shaking the water off their bathing suits. That’s when I learned that Patsy had an extensive vocabulary of words you couldn’t use on the radio.”
Ray Hobbs had country radio programs on several Chattanooga Stations. Hobbs said he was first to announce the engagement of Hawkshaw Hawkins to another country singer, Jean Shepherd.
Hobbs remained good friends with both artists during his radio career.
“Hello Chattanooga” documents several Chattanooga performances by Cowboy Copas, including a Dec. 5, 1942 show labeled, “Happy Valley Jamboree.” Copas also sang during a 1954 Grand Ole Opry Show at the Memorial Auditorium with Webb Pierce, Martha Carson, and Audrey Williams, wife of the late Hank Williams.
Author Carroll also said Hawkshaw Hawkins performed at the Memorial Auditorium, Feb. 26, 1961, with a host of country singers. Hawkins scored a number one country song in 1963, “Lonesome 7-7203.”
Cowboy Copas went to the top of the charts in 1960 with his number one song, “Alabam.”
In addition to “I Fall to Pieces,” Ms. Cline’s hits included “Walkin after Midnight,’ “Crazy,” “She’s Got You,” “Leaving on your Mind,” and “Faded Love.”
Although Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves never recorded together, in the early 1980’s, studio engineers electronically put their voices together releasing a new version of “I fall to Pieces,” and “Have you ever been Lonely.”
According to “A Patsy Cline Collection,” a one-sided single of “Just a closer Walk” was released in 1965 by Kapp Records. Liner notes said this was Patsy Cline’s final recording and the musicians are unknown. It was said to have been Ms. Cline’s favorite Gospel song and recorded before a live audience at the Grand Ole Opry – Ryman Auditorium.
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