Download Instrumental On Feb. 5th, 1963, Patsy Cline sat sobbing in a Nashville recording studio. She didn’t want violins in a song called “Sweet Dreams” because she was sure her fans would hate the idea. It just wasn’t the conventional country arrangement of three guitars and a drum set. But when she heard the playback, she could tell the raw emotions she had poured into the song were further enhanced by the strings. She loved it! And burst into tears. There’s no explaining the intricacies of a woman’s mind and heart. A month later she would die in a plane crash.
Country songwriter Don Gibson originally recorded “Sweet Dreams” in 1955, but his version was eclipsed by Faron Young’s rendition. Don had stupidly given recording rights to Young (until today, I couldn’t have told you one song that Faron Young recorded). Gibson recorded it again in 1960 and managed to get it into the “Top Ten”. Patsy Cline covered it in ’63 and most people to this day associate the song with her. However, a swamp pop musician from Louisiana named Tommy McLain scored the biggest hit with “Sweet Dreams” in 1966. What’s swamp pop, you might ask. It’s a genre of music that combines New Orleans rhythm and blues with country western and Cajun influences. Sounds like a rollicking good time to me!
There was a party that night after Patsy Cline finished recording this tune. At one point, they were all listening to her sing “Sweet Dreams”, which was going on her latest album Faded Love. Patsy listened intently, then held up her very first album and pointed to the newest tracks playing in the recording booth – she laughed and said, “Well, here it is… the first and the last”. And so it was. Sweet dreams, Patsy.
The story of her life and death on the link below:
Stageworthy Backing Tracks by Dave Zobrist 