March 5th will mark the 47th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
Returning to Nashville from Kansas City where they'd participated in a benefit for the survivors of a recently expired Kansas City DJ named Cactus Jack Call, the stars were heading east aboard a Piper Comanche four-seater. In the pilot seat was Randy Hughes, Patsy Cline's manager and Cowboy Copas' son-in-law. Shortly after 6PM, the aircraft went down after being pummeled by high winds and powerful storms. The crash site (a marker was finally erected in 1996) is just outside Camden, Tennessee - about 90 miles west of Nashville.
WFMU's Radio Thrift Shop proprietress Laura Cantrell visited the site of the crash and recounted the experience for Vanity Fair, in a piece published last year about this time.
Today, we'll commemorate the three fallen stars with a trio of mournful and tear-inducing tribute records.
Rusty Adams - Angels From The Opry (2:55)
Dick Heil - Three Country Stars (3:08)
Sammy Masters - On Tour In Heaven (3:08)
Bonus: Rusty Adams went whole hog; both sides of his record pay tribute to the deceased Grand Ole Opry stars. Dateline Disaster gets downright weird, with a DJ explaining the spooky events he experienced in the broadcast booth when he learned of the disaster in the midst of an air shift.
I like this YouTube clip from "Country Style USA" that features a young Jean Shepard and her future husband Hawkshaw Hawkins.
Posted by: twitter.com/Gatorrock786 | February 24, 2010 at 06:11 PM
I will be sitting in the local brewery shortly with someone who actually knew Patsy. Another acquaintance was a caretaker for Owen Bradley's wife and is friendly with Owen's daughter - Patsy. Nashville is so amazing for that little bit of who know who closeness.
Posted by: Noshville | February 25, 2010 at 03:58 PM
Don't Forget Lost on a Mountain with Tommy Dee and Bonnie Owens on the Pike Label
Posted by: Red Neckerson | February 27, 2010 at 09:20 PM