Columbia Studio A Nashville, TN

09/11/2026

ON THIS DAY in 1971, Barbara Mandrell’s debut album, ‘Treat Him Right’ was released, featuring a cover of the Tammy Wynette song, “He’ll Never Take the Place of You” written by Billy Sherrill, Bob Johnston and Charlie Daniels - TeamCDB

09/11/2026

09/11/2026

Lynn Anderson

On September 10, 1970, Lynn Anderson recorded her Signature hit "Rose Garden" over the objections of husband Glenn Sutton.

09/07/2026

Buddy Holly on his (born Charles Hardin Holley September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959) 🙏
Photo Courtesy: Redferns/Getty

08/31/2026

08/22/2026

On this day (August 21) in 1961, Patsy Cline entered the legendary Quonset Hut studio in Nashville for the first of two sessions that resulted in “Crazy.” The session took place just over two months after she was in a car accident that left her with life-threatening injuries. When she walked into the studio for the session, she did so on crutches with multiple bruised ribs.

On June 14, Cline and her brother were in a car accident. They were headed back to her home after an afternoon of shopping when another car hit them head-on. The impact threw her into the windshield, which caused a large cut across her forehead, a broken wrist, a dislocated hip, and bruised ribs. Hospital staff didn’t expect her to survive. Six weeks later, she was on the Grand Ole Opry stage. She was still healing when the time came to record the follow-up to her hit single “I Fall to Pieces.”

Before the 1960s, recording sessions were relatively simple. It was not unusual for an artist to cut three or four songs in a single afternoon. Things were changing by 1961, though. The Nashville Sound was developing, arrangements were becoming more intricate, and sessions were getting more complicated. Cline’s producer, Owen Bradley, was heavily involved with the development of this new style. “Crazy” allowed him to experiment.

Musically, “Crazy” mirrored the ongoing changes in country music. “Willie [Nelson] wrote and was writing, at that time, early ’60s, very different songs from typical country music fare,” genre historian Paul Kingsbury told NPR. “Instead of the usual three or four chords that were just major chords and sevenths, he was writing ‘Crazy’ with jazzy minor sevenths, major sevenths, minors,” he explained.

Bradley had lined up the Jordanaires for the session. He also brought in the up-and-coming session pianist Floyd Cramer. At the same time, there was no sheet music for “Crazy.” As a result, Bradley, seven musicians, and a group of backing vocalists were working out the arrangement on the fly. This took up the bulk of the four-hour session that took place on August 21.

Cline was in so much pain that she couldn’t hit the right notes. Eventually, Bradley told her to go home and rest.

Three weeks later, on September 15, Patsy Cline walked into the studio and laid down the vocal track for “Crazy” in a single take. On October 15, it was on its way to being a massive crossover hit.

08/12/2026

In January 1957, Patsy Cline performed “Walkin’ After Midnight” on “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.” The tune, produced by Paul Cohen (right) with help from Owen Bradley (left), climbed to No. 2 on the country chart and No. 12 on the pop chart.

Cline's success came at a pivotal time. Her recording contract with Bill McCall’s 4 Star Records was becoming a hindrance to her career. Cline alleged that McCall swindled her out of record earnings and gave her substandard material to record. Her debut single, “A Church, a Courtroom and Then Goodbye,” sold poorly after its release in July 1955 on Decca’s Coral subsidiary (by lease arrangement between McCall and Decca A&R man Cohen), and her next three singles didn’t take off, either.

But the “hillbilly with oomph” act Cline developed on local TV and in personal appearances had earned her regional fame, and she had recorded “Walkin’ After Midnight” in the fall of 1956. When “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” called, Cline was finally poised to land at the top of the charts.

Cline became the most popular female country singer in recording history. She was the first woman elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1973.

Read more: https://countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/patsy-cline