Personnel: Patsy Cline (vocals); Hank Garland, Randy Hughes, Grady Martin (guitar); Ben Keith (steel guitar); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Floyd Cramer (organ); Harold Bradley, Bob Moore (bass); Doug Kirkham, Buddy Harman (drums). The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker, Hoyt Hawkins, Ray Walker, Neal Matthews, Jr. (background vocals). Includes chronology and liner notes by Jay Orr and Don Roy. Also available with SENTIMENTALLY YOURS on 1 cassette. In a world of endless Patsy Cline greatest hits packages, SHOWCASE is a rarity: a reissue of an actual Patsy Cline LP, one of the few actually released in her lifetime. Of course, in 1961 an album was still essentially a collection of hits, or rather a way to sell a few hits again along with some other singles and b-sides. "I Fall To Pieces" signaled the beginning of the second phase of her career when she signed to Decca in 1960 (her prior recordings, from 1955 to 1960, were made under contract to the Four Star company) and her resulting emergence as a crossover phenomenon. As the liner notes by Jay Orr and Don Roy wryly observe, the original artwork simply featured three small photos of Cline. In the aftermath of her tragic plane crash, the label used the more sophisticated shot of the singer (seen on the CD reissue as well), and gave the Jordanaires album-cover billing. You can hear the difference just listening to the new version of "Walkin' After Midnight," in which the Jordanaires smooth background crooning has replaced the hard-driving honky-tonk of the original.
