Louise Seger circa 1980 

Patsy headlining Vegas. Her gown was handmade by her mother, and has over 3000 hand sewn beads. This gig paid for Patsy dream house. 

Singing at Carnegie Hall Nov. 1961 

Listen Here Hoss

Just some general information you should know...

Name: Virginia "Ginny" Patterson Hensley
Mother: Hilda Patterson Hensley
Father: Sam Hensley
Siblings: Samuel Lawrence "John" Hensley, Sylvia Mae "Sis" Hensley, Randolph "Randy" Hensley (half brother), and Tempie Glen Hensley (half sister).
Husbands: Gerald Cline and Charlie Dick
Children: Julie and Randy "Little Randy"
The Gal Group: Brenda "Little Sister" Lee, Dottie West, and Loretta Lynn

Here are some websites for you guys to look at:
www.patsified.com
www.patsyclinetribute.com
www.patsy.nu.
www.patsycline.com
www.singinchicks.com/patsy_cline.htm
www.patsyclinehta.com
www.patsycline.info/

You can still slightly see the scars on her forehead from the automobile accident of '62 

Ginny's Chronology

1932
*Born Virginia Patterson Hensley, on September 8, at Winchester Memorial Hospital, Winchester, Virginia.

1946 - 1947
*Virginia Auditions For Disc Jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy at Radio Staion WINC, Winchester. She Wins A Regular Spot On McCoy's Saturday Broadcast.

1948
*Virginia Catches the Ear of Wally Fowler When Fowler Brings His Oak Ridge Quartet To the Palace Theater In Winchester. Fowler Invites Virginia to Audition For WSM In Nashville.
*The Hensley's Travel To Nashville. Virginia Auditions For Opry Talent Manager, Jim Denney, But Does Not Receive An Immediate Offer For Employment. She Returns To the Clubs and Taverns Around Winchester.

1952
*Virginia Begins Working With Bill Peer and His Melody Boys at the Moose Lodge In Brunswick, Maryland. At Peer's Urging, Virginia Adopts the Stage Name "Patsy,"
Derived From Her Middle Name of Patterson.
*Patsy Meets, and Begins Dating, Gerald Cline, From Frederick, Maryland

1953
*Patsy Marries Gerald Cline On March 7, Officially Becoming Patsy Cline

1954
*Patsy Wins First Prize at the National Country Music Championships, Held In Warrenton, Virginia, Sponosored By Washington, DC Promoter, Connie B. Gay. She Later Joins Mr. Gay's Radio Broadcast, Town and Country Time.
*On September 30, Patsy Signs Her First Recording Contract With Four Star Music Sales. The Fine Print of the Contract Would Be A Sticking Point In Patsy's Career For the Next Several Years.
*Four Star Negotiates A Leasing and Distribution Arrangement With Decca Records.
Decca Secures Control of the Recording Sessions and Choice of Producer.

1955
*On June 1, Under the Supervision of Owen Bradley, Patsy Has Her First Recording Session In Nashville
*On July 1, Patsy Makes A Guest Appearance With Ernest Tubb On the Ralston-Purina Portion of the Grand Ole Opry. Many Guest Spots Follow.

1956
*Patsy Separates From Gerald Cline
*Patsy Meets, and Begins Dating, Charlie Dick, From Winchester
*Patsy's Father, Samuel Hensley, Passes Away At Age 67

1957
*Patsy Appears On the January 21 broadcast of Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. The Audience Responds Enthusiastically To Her Performance of "Walking After Midnight,"
and Patsy Wins The Contest.
*"Walking After Midnight" Is Released On February 11. It Becomes A
#2 Country Hit and A #12 Pop Hit.
*Decca Releases Patsy's First Album, Patsy Cline, On August 5
*Patsy and Gerald Divorce
*Patsy Marries Charlie Dick On September 15

1958
*Patsy Gives Birth To A Daughter, Julie, On August 25

1959
*Charlie, Patsy and Julie Move To Nashville
*Patsy Signs A Management Contract With Randy Hughes

1960
*Patsy Becomes A Member of the Grand Ole Opry On January 9
P*atsy's Contract With Four Star Comes To An End, and She Signs With Decca
*On November 16, In Her First Recording Session Under the New Decca Contract,
Patsy Records "I Fall To Pieces"

1961
*Patsy Gives Birth To A Son, Randy, On January 21
*Decca Releases "I Fall To Pieces" On January 30. The Song Begins A Slow Climb
Up The Charts.
*On June 14, Patsy Is Critically Injured In A Car Accident Near Her Home In
Madison, Tennessee. She Remains Hospitalized For A Month.
*While In The Hospital, "I Fall To Pieces" Becomes Patsy's First #1 Country Hit
*Patsy Performs Her First Post-Accident Concert at the Cimarron Ballroom In
Tulsa, Oklahoma On July 29
*During An Eight Day Period In August, Patsy Records "Crazy," Along With Tracks
For Her 2nd Decca Album
*Patsy Introduces "Crazy" at the Grand Ole Opry On October 14. She Receives
Three Standing Ovations.
*Decca Releases "Crazy" On October 16. It Becomes A #2 Country Hit and A #9 Pop Hit.
*Decca Releases Patsy's 2nd Album, Patsy Cline Showcase, on November 27
*Patsy Is Named Favorite Female Vocalist By Major Industry Publications, Including Billboard and CashBox
*Patsy Performs at Carnegie Hall, In New York City, On November 29 As Part of A
Grand Ole Opry Show To Benefit the Musicians Aid Society
*Patsy Records "She's Got You" On December 17, Then Takes the Final Two Weeks
of the Year To Rest and Relax

1962
*Decca Releases "She's Got You" On January 10. It Becomes Patsy's 2nd #1 Country Hit, Spending Five Weeks At the Top of the Chart. The Song Also Becomes A #14 Pop Hit As Well As Patsy's First Entry On the British Charts.
*Other Singles Released During The Year Include "When I Get Through With You" (#10 Country, #21 Pop), "So Wrong" (#14 Country, #85 Pop) and "Heartaches" (#73 Pop)
*Patsy Joins "The Johnny Cash Show" As the Mainstay Vocalist. The Tour Includes A Performance at the Hollywood Bowl On June 15.
*Patsy Purchases Her "Dream Home" On Nella Drive In Goodlettsville, Tennessee
*Decca Releases Patsy's 3rd Album, Sentimentally Yours, on August 6
*For the 2nd Year In A Row, Industry Publications Name Patsy Favorite Female Vocalist
*Patsy Performs A 35 Day Engagement, November 23-December 28, At the
Mint Casino's Merri-Mint Theater In Las Vegas, Nevada

1963
*A Last Minute Addition, Patsy Performs at A Benefit Concert In Kansas City On March 3. Randy Hughes Flies Patsy, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins To Kansas City
In His Piper Comanche.
*After Being Delayed By Bad Weather, Patsy, Randy, Cowboy and Hawkshaw Depart For Nashville On the Afternoon of March 5. Dodging the Weather Along the Flight Path, They Make A Refueling Stop In Dyersburg, Tennessee. Departing Dyersburg at 6:07pm, the Plane Encounters Turbulent Weather and Crashes Near Camden, Tennessee at Approximately 6:30pm. There Were No Survivors.
*Patsy Scores Several Posthumous Hits, Including "Sweet Dreams (of You)," #5 Country and #44 Pop, and "Faded Love," #7 Country and #96 Pop. Decca Releases Patsy's 4th Album, A Deluxe Two Record Retrospective Entitled The Patsy Cline Story, On June 10.
*For the 3rd Consecutive Year, Patsy Is Named Favorite Female Vocalist By Leading Industry Publications. Daughter Julie Accepts the Awards at the Country Music
Festival Ceremonies In November.

1964 - 1969
*Decca Continues To Release Patsy Cline Singles, With Several Registering On the Charts, Including "He Called Me Baby" (#23 Country, 1964) and "Anytime" (#73 Country, 1968).
*Decca Releases Patsy's 5th and 6th albums A Portrait of Patsy Cline and That's How A Heartache Begins. Decca's Budget Subsidiary, Vocalion, Releases the Albums Here's Patsy Cline and Country Great.
*Decca Releases Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits On March 13, 1967. The Album Goes On To Become the Biggest Selling Hits Collection By A Country Female Artist.

1973
*Patsy Becomes the First Female Soloist Elected To the Country Music Hall of Fame

1985
*Sweet Dreams, A Feature Length Film Biography, Is Released

1995
*Patsy Is Given the Lifetime Achievement Award From the National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences (NOTE: The Lifetime Achievement Award Is Presented By the Recording Academy's National Trustees To Performers Who, During Their Lifetimes, Have Made Creative Contributions of Outstanding Artistic Significance To The Field of Recording.)

1998
*Gerald Cline Passes Away At Age 73
*Patsy's Mother, Hilda Hensley, Passes Away At Age 82

1999
*Patsy Receives A Star On the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Picture of Patsy backstage of the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Missouri; Sunday March 3, 1963. Even though she had the flu, she sang at the benefit for radio disc-jockey "Cactus" Jack Call. This was to be her last performance.  

"The Cline" musically...

Patsy Cline
b. Winchester, Virginia, September 8, 1932; d. March 5, 1963
Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame 1973

The most popular female country singer in recording history, Patsy Cline has achieved icon status since her tragic early death at age thirty in 1963. Cline is invariably invoked as a standard for female vocalists, and she has inspired scores of singers including k. d. lang, Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, and Wynonna Judd. Her brief career produced the #1 jukebox hit of all time, “Crazy” (written by Willie Nelson) and her unique, crying style and vocal impeccability have established her reputation as the quintessential torch singer.

Cline’s short life reads like the heart-torn lyrics of many of the ballads she recorded. Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia, in the midst of the Depression, she demonstrated musical proclivity at an early age—a talent inherited from her father, an accomplished amateur singer, whom Cline later confessed sexually abused her as a child. The family moved nineteen times around the state of Virginia before “Ginny,” as she was known in her youth, reached age fifteen. A perpetual outsider, Cline dropped out of school at age fifteen to support her family after her father deserted them. They settled in Winchester, the Shenandoah Valley town with which she would grow to have a love-hate relationship.

Haunted by her early experiences, the teenaged Cline directed herself toward a career as a singer with unbending single-mindedness. She sang in juke joints in the Winchester area and did a nightclub cabaret act a` la Helen Morgan, the tear-stained pop chanteuse of the 1920s said to be one of Cline’s primary influences (along with Kay Starr, Kate Smith and Charline Arthur). She also appeared in amateur musicals, talent shows, and on local radio station WINC.

By age twenty Cline connected with local country bandleader Bill Peer, an association that nurtured her desire to become a country music star. She adopted the name “Patsy” after her middle name, Patterson, possibly in a nod to singer Patsy Montana, whose feisty cowgirl persona anticipated both Cline’s spunk and early stage costuming. She married her first husband, staid Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953, but she found the relationship unfulfilling and they divorced four years later.

During this period Cline made inroads into the thriving Washington, D. C., country music scene masterminded by country music’s “media magician,” Connie B. Gay. Beginning in the fall of 1954, Gay spotlighted Cline as a featured soloist on his Town & Country regional TV broadcasts, which included Jimmy Dean as host, along with Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV, Billy Grammer, Dale Turner, and Mary Klick. Through her web of Washington contacts Cline landed her first recording contract in September 1954, with Bill McCall’s Pasadena, California-based Four Star Records, an association that lasted six years and was to become the single greatest hindrance to her career. Cline alleged that McCall swindled her out of record earnings and gave her substandard material to record.

Cline’s debut single, the country weeper “A Church, a Courtroom and Then Goodbye,” sold poorly when released in July 1955 on the Decca label’s Coral subsidiary (by lease arrangement between McCall and Decca A&R man Paul Cohen). Cohen turned production over to his protégé and eventual successor, Owen Bradley, who became Cline’s guiding light for the duration of her recording career.

Cline’s first four singles flopped, but the “hillbilly with oomph” act she developed on TV and in personal appearances earned her regional fame. Her recording stalemate ended when she made her national TV debut on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts show on January 21, 1957, singing “Walkin’ After Midnight,” which hit #2 country and #12 pop. Cline rode high on the hit for the next year, doing personal appearances and performing regularly on Godfrey’s weekly CBS broadcast Arthur Godfrey and Friends and on ABC’s Country Music Jubilee, but there were no follow-up hits. Her September 1957 marriage to second husband Charlie Dick resulted in a tumultuous relationship glamorized in Sweet Dreams, the 1985 film of Cline’s life, starring Jessica Lange. By the end of 1957 Cline had retreated into semi-retirement.

After giving birth to a daughter (Julia) in August 1958, Cline moved to Nashville and signed with manager Randy Hughes, who attempted to revive her stone-cold career by booking one-nighters across the country and helping her ride out her Four Star contract. Back to working $50 gigs, she was at the nadir of her career when the Grand Ole Opry belatedly made her a member on January 9, 1960. That summer she signed with Decca, and Bradley began to direct her towards becoming a leading exponent of the emergent Nashville Sound, beginning with her recording of the Harlan Howard-Hank Cochran tune “I Fall to Pieces.” Cline initially fought Bradley’s lush arrangements, which featured backings by the Jordanaires.

Cline gave birth to a son (Randy) in January 1961 and survived a near-fatal car accident in June as “Pieces” slowly started its climb up the charts, reaching #1 country in August and #12 pop eight months after its release. Cline maintained her chart momentum with the Top Ten hits “Crazy” and “She’s Got You” and with albums like Patsy Cline Showcase and Sentimentally Yours. Other highlights included appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Cline joined “The Johnny Cash Show” as the touring group’s star female vocalist in January 1962, and over the next fourteen months she played about fifteen or twenty dates with Cash’s “family,” which then included Don Gibson, George Jones, Carl Perkins, June Carter, Barbara Mandrell, Gordon Terry, and Johnny Western.

Cline related premonitions of her death to close friends Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, and June Carter as early as September 1962. Her last public performance was a benefit in Kansas City, March 3, 1963. Returning home, she was killed in a plane crash that also took the lives of pilot Randy Hughes and fellow Opry stars Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Released posthumously, Cline’s singles “Leavin’ on Your Mind” and “Sweet Dreams” both charted Top Ten. Numerous new recordings have appeared since her death, and she has remained one of the MCA label’s most consistent sellers. The subject of both Sweet Dreams and the hit 1990s play Always . . . Patsy Cline, she was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.

Patsy circa 1956 

Louise's Obit.

I found this on Louise Seger.


LOUISE SEGER ZURBUCHEN (NEE EVERETT) passed away October 28, 2004 at her home on Lake Conroe, in Willis, TX. She is survived by her husband Ed Zurbuchen, daughter Donna Walter of Marble Falls, her step-granddaughters, Erin Curry and Megan Shook both of Austin, grandaughter Stacy and her husband Brett Mangold and great-grandaughter Riley Louise Mangold of Austin.

Ms. Zurbuchen was pre-deceased by her son David Seger of Malibu, CA., her son-in-law David Walter of Marble Falls, and her children's father Rex Seger of Houston. Ms. Zurbuchen was born May 31, 1932 to Fred and Ruby Everett in Jackson, Mississippi. After her father's death in 1941, her mother married Dick Alexander, a popular Gulf Coast musician and band leader, who fostered in her a life long love of music. In 1949, at age 17, Ms. Zurbuchen was voted Miss Biloxi.

As part of the prize, she toured with the Louisiana Hayride where she became friends with country star Little Jimmy Dickens. Louise moved to Houston after graduation from Hinds Junior College in Raymond, Mississippi. Her first marriage was to Rex Seger of Houston. Among the companies Ms. Zurbuchen worked for were Mandrell Industries, Petty-Ray Geophysical, and Aramco. At times, she was involved in dance, singing, modeling and as a nightclub owner in the Houston area.

An escapade as a young, divorced mother of two resulted in a friendship with legendary country and pop vocalist Patsy Cline, with whom she maintained a lengthy correspondence and series of phone calls. This aspect of Ms. Zurbuchen's life was documented in the biographies Patsy Cline: An Intimate Biography and Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline by Ellis Nassour, and became the basis of the international music revue "Always, Patsy Cline," which premiered at Houston's Stages Repertory and went on to become a show business phenomenon. As a result, Ms. Zurbuchen gained a legion of fans from around the world.

She will be missed by her devoted family and friends.

Patsy in full Honky Tonk Angel regalia 

Hello Honky Tonk Angels!!

Well here is where it starts girls. I have created this little website so that over the next few months it will be easy for us to keep in touch about the show and everything that is going on. I have started indepth research about the show, and I am going to try my best to keep you all abreast of my finds over this website. I also hate to break it to you, but these roles are also going to involve some homework for the both of you. Granted it will be the fun kind (reading, listening to songs, and watching clips) BUT homework nonetheless.
Over the Easter holiday I had the chance to sit down and read Ellis Nassour's biography Honky Tonk Angel; the Intimate Story of Patsy Cline. I am suggesting that both of you find this book (they have a copy at the library which I currently have) and read it, or buy it off of Amazon ($6) so that you can jot down notes in the sidelines. That is what I am going to do, and then re-read it for actual facts (I just read it for fun this weekend). There are a few other biographies out there, but supposedly this is the most thorough. I did find out from this book that the relationship between Patsy and Louise is in fact a TRUE story. You will both be able to read the book for backstory on your characters. Over the next week I am going to try and do some research over the internet about the relationship of both women, and see if more information on Louise Seger exsists. I will be catching you up with that over the next week.
In regards to the recording... listen to and begin to learn it backwards and forwards. I have gotten to the point that I play it about 5 times a day at work, and begin to go through withdrawl if I do not hear it at least once. Patty, begin to get familiar with that music that the actress sings, but do not depend on that CD for you phrasing etc. Although her impression is fine... a Patsy Cline she is not. I will begin recording you the copies of my CDS, and try to get them to you this week. I will do the same for you Neesie, because as Louise says *in regards to knowing Patsy's music*, "Why yes ma'am I do (know the music)...every word and every beat!" We need to know her backwards and forwards. We also need to find clips of her singing to get down her movements. Supposedly she could never sit still on stage, and in fact had the gracefulness of a dancer onstage. It is funny, but the more I read about her this weekend, the more excited I got about you playing this part Patty. It is gonna take some kick ass acting (even though you speak very little) BUT I think it will come easily for you. We do have the good fortune of being able to also watch the movie that they did about her with Jessica Lange (Sweet Dreams). Her friends discussed how well she did at capturing the role so that is a good start. I would love to find clips of her on Ed Sullivan or Dick Clark to watch her showmanship. Also, there is an ever elusive movie of the show Always Patsy Cline, Patty has like 15 minutes of it on VHS. WE ALL NEED TO BEGIN SEARCHING FOR THAT!!
I will post thoughts on characterization as the show progresses. Something to think about Denise as you begin to get familiar with Louise is thoughts on her accent. I love the accent that the actress uses on the CD. Her readings are very Holly Hunter or Sandy Dennis a la Mona in Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy, Dean Jimmy Dean. She talks like she has a mouthful of gravel in her mouth... with very hard R's... like a "rah" instead of an "are"... which is all very Texan.
Costuming and makeup are going to play a big part of the show also. Patty I am thinking that we will have 3 different costumes for you character in the show. It makes mention of the pink suit in the stage version, and then in the book it discusses the actual outfit Patsy was wearing the day her and Louise went to KIKK and talked to Hal Harris. I am not sure if we are going to go dramaturgically correct, or if we are going to just try to show some Patsy style. I am sure it will depend on budget. I know one of the outfits will for certain be her trademark western girl skirt and blouse with fringe, cowgirl hat, and boots. I would love to show off one of Patsy's New York style sophisticated looks, but we shall see what happens later on. This will involve a few different wigs, and lots of her trademark RED lipstick (which means we are going to have to create some lips on you Patty). As I see it now you will begin the show in your cowgirl outfit for the Opry, change into the Pink suit for the meeting of Louise, and change a third time when you all get to the hotel and are about to catch a plane. If we are dramaturgically correct you will actually being wearing the exact outfit Louise describes in the play but in a different color, OR we could make it funnier with you coming out all dolled up in her New York style which is a bigger contrast to what Louise describes herself as wearing. Think on it. As for Louise I am not sure how I am going to go with your costumes in regards to changes. It is a slippery slope when you begin to block this show because you have to decide how much interaction you want the women to have, and how much the story is just a recollection and all a memory for Louise. I want to find a happy medium... and therefore it will involve at least one costume change for you but possibly more. Both of you should begin to look for at least one good pair of boots. I am telling you this now so that anytime you are out and about you can stop buy a thrift store and try to find something cheap. I would love fringe on them... but will settle for whatever can be found. We will talk more indepth about costuming later on, but just wanted you to know where I was headed on the issue.
Otherwise I think mostly I just want you both to know that I am meeting with Karen tomorrow night. We are going to set budget, and talk of the particulars for the show. I will post all that information for you both then. If you have any comments or questions you can post them on this site also. The three of us, Karen, and possibly set director and musical director will have the ability to post on this site.... meanwhile everyone involved with the show and the board will be able to access it to see our progress here.