That's How a Heartache Begins

AMG Review of That's How a Heartache Begins

Eugene Chadbourne
All Music Guide

A certain level of consistency marks all the Patsy Cline recordings for Decca, many of which were recycled in their entirety by MCA when it bought out the older company's catalog. This is business as usual for the supreme country songstress, mixing up some Tin Pan Alley material with hardcore country and a few choices out of left field, some of which are a bit unfortunate, such as "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home." It is true that this is a singer who could rend emotion from the label under a sofa, but these albums go by quickly and the best of the bunch are the ones with the highest quotient of classic songs. The high point here has to be her version of "Lovesick Blues," in which the supposedly carved-in-stone association with Hank Williams quickly crumbles as the sassy, honky tonk-with-class arrangement sets in. There's also some good material from Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran, but in summation there are other albums in this series that Cline collectors might want to grab first.