Walkin' After Midnight [Rhino Flashback]

Performer: Patsy Cline
Producer: Mark Pinkus (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA Strategic Marketing

Notes: Personnel: Patsy Cline (vocals). Liner Note Author: Julee Stover. WALKIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT compiles cuts from the first part of Cline's career during the time she was signed to Four Star Records. All of her work was produced by Owen Bradley, from her start in 1955, through her Decca recordings made from 1960, until her death in a tragic plane crash in 1963. Early on, however, Four Star exerted a degree of control over the kind of material she was allowed to record, while she and Bradley were trying all kinds of things to see what would hit with the general public. "Walkin' After Midnight" was her first hit, after she sang it on the Arthur Godfrey television show, but even though that tune was straight-up honky-tonk, Bradley continued to try her out on anything from R&B and rockabilly to the smooth pop. Eventually, of course, the pop stylings became her signature. When she signed with Decca, she could record whatever she wanted, and Bradley emphasized the strings, the backup vocals, and standards, as well as new tunes by the hottest Nashville songsmiths. WALKIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT offers as good an introduction as any to Cline's early work, but lacks even the most basic documentation and liner notes.

In an era when female country music stars were few and far between, Patsy Cline not only took the country world by storm but also redefined the genre. Her tremendous popularity opened the door through which a legion of followers poured, while her gorgeous, sophisticated vocals and lush instrumental settings helped drag country music out of the mountains into the city. Cline died in a 1963 airplane crash, cutting short what would no doubt have been a long and extremely successful career.

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