Honky Tonk Angel (33 page)

“I know most of Loretta’s association with Patsy,” Teddy claimed. “What made the illuminous bond between them was when the girl singers got up in arms over Doyle getting Loretta so many Opry guest shots. There were about eighteen in a row, probably more than any artist in history. The girls who stood idly by waiting for their opportunity planned a meeting to put a stop to it. There were only a few regular female singers—Kitty Wells, Jean Shepard, Doyle Wilburn’s [then] wife Margie Bowes, Skeeter Davis, and Patsy. Others, such as June Webb, who sang with Roy Acuff, worked with groups but weren’t presented in a solo spot. Those with recording contracts, like Skeeter, Dottie, Jan, and Loretta, vied for guest spots, especially on weekends when the star girls worked the road. Ott Devine, the Opry general manager, would pull from the list.

“They got together, supposedly at Dottie’s, and planned to go to Ott and say if Loretta’s spots continued, they wouldn’t be available when they were needed. Doyle met with Ott and Loretta was quickly made a regular member.”

Loretta charged, “Different girls started calling and saying I ought to return to the West Coast. One asked who I was sleeping with to get on the Opry so fast. It hurt so much I cried day and night. Mooney said, ‘If you don’t quit crying, I’m gonna take you back to the West Coast and forget it.’ The girls called a party and
invited Patsy. They didn’t know me and Patsy was friends. There was about six of them, younger ones just coming up. I’m not saying who they were. Kitty Wells wasn’t one. She’s too good a person to do that. Patsy called and told me to get my hair done. She bought me a new outfit and made me go.”

When they arrived, Loretta said, there were Cadillacs all around the house. “We went in there, and they didn’t say a word. That ended their plan. Patsy put the stamp of approval on me, and I never had any problems again. They’re all my friends now.”

“I’m a very straightforward person,” stated Jean, “and what I’m going to say contradicts Loretta. She heaped a lot of crap in that book of hers. I won’t lie. I don’t know where she or that meeting was. My feelings are hurt because
I
wasn’t invited! I don’t know a thing about it, and I was one of the successful girl singers on the Opry. None of the girls—Dottie, Jan, Skeeter, Pearl, Goldie [Hill]—know a thing about it. This has been embarrassing. A fan came up to me and asked, ‘Jeanie, is it true all you women singers tried to keep Loretta off the Opry?’ I asked, ‘What are you talking about?’ And she told me and I replied, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’”

“Who of the women had time for that kind of garbage?” Del Wood said. “We were on the road an average of three weeks out of five. All the singers were individuals with unique styles. Nobody sang like Kitty and nobody sang like Jeanie. Nobody could sing like Patsy and no one wanted to sing like Skeeter. There I go trying to be funny again. Patsy had lots of friends, but few intimates. When you get to know someone backstage, you feel you know them to a certain extent but don’t call them your closest friend.”

Dottie defended herself: “Rumor has it that the famous meeting was not only instigated by me but was also held at my house. If any such meeting took place, it
didn’t
take place at my house, nor was I invited. Jeanie told me it was in Loretta’s book and I said, ‘Oh, my goodness, that’s terrible!’ Jeanie said, ‘It was supposed to have been at your house.’ I yelled, ‘What?’ She asked, ‘Don’t you know about it?’ and I replied, ‘No.’ She said, ‘Neither does anybody else.’ Sorry to say, it’s legend now. It’s not in my heart to do that kind of thing.”

Jean suggested asking Charlie. “He’s a truthful person. If something took place, even if it made him look bad, he’ll tell you.”

Charlie declaimed knowledge of a meeting. “I worked nights then. I wouldn’t have known unless Patsy told me, and she wouldn’t since I wasn’t big on gossip. I heard about it from Loretta. If she said it happened, it happened. I asked Loretta where it took place and she won’t tell me.”

Regarding the meeting and recriminations, Loretta stated: “I don’t remember no formal meeting at anyone’s house. I got a call from a man—I won’t say who he was—who told me what the girl singers were planning. I didn’t give names in my book and, if I was gonna tell, I would’ve said it then. It was a jealousy thing. But do you know any singer who comes to town and doesn’t have the same thing happen? It weren’t no big deal. Who made it a big deal? It’s all blown out of proportion.”

Loretta’s reminiscences with Loudilla Johnson, co-president of the Loretta Lynn Fan Club, about her friend are poignant: “Patsy was my best buddy. She
gave me clothes ’cause I didn’t have anything. Many times when she bought something, she’d buy me the same thing. I still have the dresses in my closet. Patsy gave me rhinestones. I thought they were diamonds. She gave me a pair of panties I wore for three years. She used to kid me that they were holier than I was. She always seemed disappointed I didn’t drink and carry on.

“Patsy was a star, but she promoted me with the radio stations. When I wasn’t making any money, she offered to pay me just to go out on the road with her to keep her company. She was never a phony. Some people found her harsh ’cause she’d say what she thought. Patsy’d do anything in the world to help you if she liked you. She’d known hard times, and I saw her go from nothing to the top. I knew her when she was having it rough and when she had everything. The things I remember most are little everyday things. We’d talk, sharing our happy and sad times. We shopped. She taught me how to get the best for my money.

“She was a real pretty girl, much prettier than any of her pictures. Patsy loved pretty things in her home and beautiful clothes. She liked to embroider. It kept her from being nervous, especially after the accident Patsy was a great cook. She enjoyed cooking shrimp and would invite me and Mooney for supper. She loved rabbit and Mooney’d go hunting and bring some home. Then Patsy’d come to our place and we’d eat together. And, like me, she loved bologna. More than anything, Patsy loved her babies. The thing she hated most about the road was leaving those young‘uns. We had that in common. Patsy gave me pointers on how to start and end my shows. She said, ‘Give it a lot at the end.’ I liked the way she opened her shows with ‘Come On In.’ Right away, it made the audience feel close to her.”

Patsy was amused in the hospital one evening while listening to her radio. Before spinning her record, a Nashville disc jockey intoned, “Here’s a gal who did just what her song says to make it a hit! Here’s Patsy Cline singing ‘I Fall to Pieces.’ Patsy, you didn’t have to go that far! We love you. Keep those cards and letters coming to Patsy in Madison Hospital.”

“Mail by the sackfuls arrived,” noted Dr. Evans. “Patsy was overjoyed. She kept saying, ‘Ain’t it wonderful that so many care. I’ve got to send thank-you notes and I’m gonna answer every single one of them letters.’”

In little more than a week after her surgery, Patsy proved true to her word. The nurses were constantly stopping by the post office for stamps and putting her letters in the mail. On June 23 she wrote Louise:

As a result of her accident and near death, extraordinary changes came about in Patsy’s persona. She virtually became a new woman. When she’d complain about her aches, bruises, and assorted injuries, she’d add, “But, as the Lord knows, there’re no gains without pains.”

She told her mother, “You don’t appreciate home till you leave it and, let me tell you, you can’t appreciate life till you’ve almost left it. Some people hope and die with their song still in them. Oh, how I want to sing. But the pain’s so unbearable sometimes I thank God when I go to sleep. And when I can’t, I still thank Him that I’m alive to be awake. This ole gal used to think happiness resulted when my earnings matched my yearnings. Not anymore!”

Singer Billy Walker lived in Madison and stopped by the hospital regularly. Raised on a ranch, he started singing as a child. He was managed by Randy, and occasionally he and Patsy worked together. “Patsy had a unique personality and we got to be close. But we weren’t too friendly right off the bat. She kind of had an overzealous spirit. Some wives, especially my [then] wife Boots [Sylvia Dean], didn’t take to that, so I kept my distance. Patsy was misunderstood; she wasn’t after the husbands, she wanted to be one of the guys. I was embarrassed by her language, but that only egged her on. She got the biggest kick out of that. The easiest way to spot a lonely person is in a crowd. That was true of her. When Patsy was accepted as a member of the Opry, I got to know her more serious side.

“Boots and I visited, but we also did a lot of praying. We’d stand around the bed and hold hands with Patsy and pray together. Sometimes Charlie’d be there and sometimes he wouldn’t. What I admired most about her was Patsy’s amazing faith and courage. Regardless of how desperate her situation got or how low she’d feel about what happened, she always had a cheery outlook and a joke to tell. She hadn’t been a particularly religious person but the accident brought Patsy a real depth of the Lord.”

The Reverend Jay Alford of the Madison First Assembly Church of God visited Patsy on his hospital rounds. “She talked about how much singing in her church choir as a child with her mother had meant to her,” Walker said, “and how she
felt at times because business pressures didn’t give her the time to be religious. She said, ‘Deep down in my heart, I know I want to please God.’

“One morning after we had prayed, Patsy took my hand and said, ‘Billy, 1 want to leave here and live a little bit better life than I’ve been living. I wish the demands of the business didn’t put so much pressure on me. More than anything, I’m fighting to keep my marriage together and make it work for the sake of my babies.’”

Patsy broke down and cried, “You don’t know how much it would mean if 1 could have a decent home life.”

Walker took Patsy’s hand. “Okay, Patsy, let’s ask God for His help. Let’s bow our heads and pray.” There was silence. “Patsy?”

“I’m in traction. You go ahead.”

Billy led and she followed, “Lord, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I together can’t handle. We want to thank You for breathing strength into this woman’s body. We ask that You watch over and nourish her through the healing process. Give a special blessing to her wonderful family so that, together, they might find the peace and happiness they deserve.”

He asked if there was anything Patsy wished to add.

“Dear God,” Patsy beseeched, “I been lying and forgetting the faith 1 have. I know I’m not worthy, but I need You so. Help me turn back on the right path if it’s not too late. And, Lord, please let these Seventh Day Adventists get some meat in this damn hospital. I’m tired of eating all this grain! That’s enough praying for today. Amen!”