Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline

by Loretta Lynn, Patsy Lynn

Overview

Discover the "important and inspiring" and never-before-told complete story of the remarkable relationship between country music icons Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn (Miranda Lambert).
 
Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline are legends—country icons and sisters of the heart. For the first time ever Loretta tells their story: a celebration of their music and their relationship up until Patsy's tragic and untimely death.

Full of laughter and tears, this eye-opening, heartwarming memoir paints a picture of two stubborn, spirited country gals who'd be damned if they'd let men or convention tell them how to be. Set in the heady streets of the 1960s South, this nostalgia ride shows how Nashville blossomed into the city of music it is today. Tender and fierce, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music indelibly—and a meditation on love, loss and legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781549127427
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	06/23/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	994,187
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter whose groundbreaking career spans almost sixty years, with such famous hits as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" and "Coal Miner's Daughter," as well as a biographic film New York Times bestselling book of the same name. With more than forty-five million albums sold worldwide, multiple gold albums, and numerous awards and accolades, Loretta is the most awarded female country recording artist and the only female ACM Artist of the Decade. She's known not only for her still-incredible voice, but also for her down-to-earth quality, quick wit, and humor.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Writing My Feelings 1

Sitting Up with the Dead 6

That Girl's Gonna Be Somebody 10

A Couple of Good Breaks out West 17

Nashville Boys 21

Jumping Right In 27

That's Show Business 34

Officially a Country Music Songwriter 40

The Accident 42

Here You Are! 45

Destined to Be a Star 50

They Work for You 55

The Cline's Doin' Just Fine 58

Hello, Little Gal 60

The Henhouse Brigade and a Mini-Breakdown 64

Crazy 69

Leave It to the Professional 72

It Was Just a Razor 76

Like a Sister 81

Stickin' It to the Haters 87

Carnegie Hall 89

Dirty Old Men 91

Homewreckers 97

Bad Detectives 103

Man of the House 107

Working Moms 110

Dream Home 116

Nice Things 118

Happy Thirtieth Birthday 121

The Cadillac Bitches 123

Member of the Grand Ole Opry 127

Driving Lessons 131

Turning Up the Heat 136

Vegas Headliner 145

Happy Anniversary to Me 149

Finally, a Day Off 158

The Last Recording Session 161

Last Day Together 164

The Day Patsy Died 168

March Chills 172

Twins in the Family 178

Writing My Way Through 180

Girls with Guts 183

Breaking Up with the Wilburn Brothers 186

If You Want to Keep Your Teeth 190

I Remember Patsy 193

Coal Miner's Daughter, the Movie 195

Losing Doo 197

Ghosts 202

Epilogue 204

P.S. 208

Acknowledgments 211

Index 213

Editorial Reviews

Occasionally, audiobook listening experiences are to the ears what that first flute of icy cold, frothy, and effervescent glass of Sunday brunch bubbly is to the mouth. This is such an experience. Country singing legend Loretta Lynn details her close friendship with the superstar entertainer Patsy Cline. Patsy Lynn Russell, named for Cline, assists her mother in the writing and on her own provides an effective narration. Much like the writing, her performance is down-home, Southern inflected, and warm and sincere. Lynn and Cline shared many things, especially an outsized sense of humor, which the storytelling demonstrates. Cline’s much too early death marks the end of this celebration, but the friendship’s impact still lasts today. Listeners will enjoy two musical legacies and their points of intersection. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

MAY 2020 - AudioFile

02/24/2020

A crackling good storyteller, Grammy Award–winning songwriter and singer Lynn reminisces on her friendship with country music legend Patsy Cline (1932–1963) in this humorous and loving memoir. Holding nothing back, Lynn (Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter) shares stories of Cline’s generosity—she sewed curtains for Lynn’s first house—and her fierce way of speaking her mind. By the time the two met in 1961, Cline was already a star, while Lynn’s career was just beginning. When Lynn signed with Decca Records that year, she felt like just one of many singers trying to make it in country music, and it never crossed her mind that she could become famous. After she learned that Cline was nearly killed in a car accident, Lynn performed at the Grand Ole Opry and sang a song Cline had just released titled “I Fall to Pieces.” When Cline heard Lynn on the radio, she sent for Lynn, and they soon discovered how much they had in common: they were the same age, they both grew up poor, and both had to grow up too fast. Over the course of their friendship, Cline taught Lynn how to handle grabby men like bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, as well as how to take control of her own business affairs, how to drive, and, ultimately, how to stand up for herself. Recalling Cline’s death in a 1963 plane crash, Lynn writes, “Reliving all the times Patsy and I had together for this book has been good, but it’s also reopened that feeling of empty sadness.” As in her songwriting, Lynn imbues her tribute with honesty and tenderness. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Loretta and Patsy had a bond that set the standard for ladies in music today. They taught us to support each other and to life each other up. I have been in a band with two other women (Pistol Annies) for almost a decade, so I understand that sisterhood more than ever. It's important and inspiring."—Miranda Lambert

"I've always admired the friendship that Loretta and Patsy had. Two "girl singers" breaking ground and changing the times for women in country music together. They got it right. Instead of sizing each other up as competition, they became allies and friends. They paved the way for the rest of us."—Trisha Yearwood

"Patsy and Loretta are two women who can teach us so much about life, especially how to stand up for yourself and how to deal with being a woman in the world of Country Music today because they had to do it in THEIR day. The biggest difference is, these days, we have huge numbers to face that situation together. They didn't have that security. They fought for it. They came together when they both needed a friend most, and reading this book makes you want to have that same bond with a friend. I think they would encourage you, the reader, to find that special friend in your life. Priceless."—Reba McEntire

"Lynn reveals her sincere, heartfelt emotions throughout the narrative, giving readers a true sense of the depths of their friendship as well as the haunting pain of Cline's death. A touching memoir filled with the emotional highs and lows of a deep bond."—Kirkus

"A crackling good storyteller, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and singer Lynn reminisces on her friendship with country music Patsy Cline in this humorous and loving memoir."—Publishers Weekly

"Lynn's fans will absolutely adore this as much for her typical no-holds-barred style as for her country warmth and the loving description of a deeply missed friendship."—Booklist (starred review)

"Lynn, with her daughter Patsy, has written a beautiful, heartbreaking valentine to Cline, who was a mentor and passionate and devoted friend-all of which is manifestly conveyed through Lynn's uniquely distinct eastern Kentucky voice and seemingly endless cascade of stories."—Library Journal (starred review)

"[In] Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust, Loretta chronicles her friendship with Patsy before her tragic passing in 1963. And fans of her classic 1976 memoir, Coal Miner's Daughter, know that nobody tells a story quite like Loretta Lynn."—Southern Living

"Even if Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn weren't two of the most influential artists in country music, this story about the bond between them as they rose to the top of their fields would be a touching meditation on friendship, loyalty, and loss. But playing out against the rise of Nashville and the price of fame, it becomes something even more absorbing."—Town & Country

"Lynn is, above all, a great storyteller, and this book is filled with warm and funny stories, as heartfelt and true as any of her songs. But underneath the folksy veneer is an unvarnished view of what it took for her and Cline to make it to the top."—Associated Press

"With an outstanding Foreword by Dolly Parton, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust delivers enjoyable short chapters jumping in and out of stories from Loretta Lynn's heart, written in Loretta's own, unedited, authentic, rural mountain voice."—New York Journal of Books

"The book offers unimaginable only-in-Nashville anecdotes... Each story is told with an unflinching touch of love and honesty, two things Lynn knows best." —Nashville Tennessean

"[A] quick and illuminating read. . . [Loretta Lynn] offers a heartfelt and often rollicking remembrance of her friendship with the late Patsy Cline."—The Wall Street Journal

"[A] heartfelt appreciation of how one great singing star lent her hard-won wisdom to another."—USA Today

"A great storyteller, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and singer Lynn reminisces about her friendship with country music legend Patsy Cline in this humorous and loving memoir."—Jacksonville Journal Courier

From the Publisher

03/20/2020

When Lynn, the octogenarian Queen of Country Music, moved to Nashville in 1959, she was a 27-year-old mother of four who had been married for 12 years. Two years earlier, living in Washington State, she had watched Patsy Cline sing "Walkin' After Midnight" on TV. Watching Cline perform what would become one of her signature standards, Lynn was transfixed; it was as though Cline were singing only to her. The intuitive connection Lynn felt that night would soon be actualized in Nashville. The two met when Cline, in the hospital following an automobile accident, asked Lynn to visit her after hearing her sing a cover of Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" on the radio. This meeting changed Lynn's life and has been documented numerous times and in various media. Now Lynn, with her daughter Patsy, has written a beautiful, heartbreaking valentine to Cline, who was a mentor and passionate and devoted friend—all of which is manifestly conveyed through Lynn's uniquely distinct eastern Kentucky voice and seemingly endless cascade of stories. A foreword by Dolly Parton will further endear this work to country and western fans. VERDICT Add this to Lynn's longer-than-a-country-mile list of accomplishments, and, while you're at it, add it to your collection.—Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

Library Journal

2020-02-09
Country music legend Lynn shares personal moments about her friendship with Patsy Cline (1932-1963), another musical icon.

Lynn has sold more than 45 million albums worldwide and has earned countless accolades. But as she reveals in this warm memoir, if she hadn’t had the support and friendship of Cline, who died tragically in a plane crash in 1963, her rise to stardom might have been a lot harder to achieve. Lynn was a talented singer and songwriter when she first arrived in Nashville in 1959, but she was naïve in many ways: about show business; men, and husbands in particular; and elements about her own body, such as how to shave her legs or have an orgasm. But thanks to Cline’s forthright advice and tutelage, Lynn was able to navigate it all. She learned how to dress and wear makeup for her performances, how a piece of lingerie could keep her philandering husband at home, and why another woman’s sincere friendship was and is one of the most valuable assets a woman can have. “[Patsy] came into my life and changed everything,” writes the author. “And I know I meant a lot to her, too. She’ll always be a part of me. That’s what real friendships do. We made each other better.” Written in her hearty, straightforward, authentic voice—Lynn is a storyteller and country singer, not necessarily a prose stylist—the author shares an inspiring story of working in Nashville and on stages across the country that’s interwoven with moments spent with Cline where each encouraged the other to keep moving forward toward yet another successful album and achievement. Lynn reveals her sincere, heartfelt emotions throughout the narrative, giving readers a true sense of the depths of their friendship as well as the haunting pain of Cline’s death.

A touching memoir filled with the emotional highs and lows of a deep bond.

Kirkus Reviews