A-side "Crazy" Released October 16, 1961 | B-side "Who Can I Count On?" Recorded August 21, 1961 | |
Format 45 rpm, 12-inch 45 maxi, 33 rpm, cassette single, download Genre Country, traditional pop | ||
"Crazy" is a ballad composed by Willie Nelson. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably by Patsy Cline, whose version was a No. 2 country hit in 1962.
Contents
- Origin
- Patsy Cline version
- In Popular Culture
- LeAnn Rimes version
- Track listing
- Other versions
- In the media
- References
Partly due to the genre-blending nature of the song, it has been covered by dozens of artists in several genres over the years; nevertheless, the song remains inextricably linked with Cline. Nelson's own version appears on his 1962 debut album ...And Then I Wrote.
Origin
With some help from a friend named Oliver English, Nelson wrote the song in early 1961; at the time he was a journeyman singer-songwriter who had written several hits for other artists but had not yet had a significant recording of his own. Nelson originally wrote the song for country singer Billy Walker who turned it down for the same reason Roy Drusky turned down "I Fall to Pieces" the previous year - that it was "a girl's song". The song's eventual success helped launch Nelson as a performer as well as a songwriter.
Musically the song is a jazz-pop ballad with country overtones and a complex melody. The lyrics describe the singer's state of bemusement at the singer's own helpless love for the object of his affection.
Patsy Cline version
Patsy Cline was already a country music superstar and looking for material to extend a string of hits. She picked it as a follow-up to her previous big hit "I Fall to Pieces". "Crazy", its complex melody suiting Cline's vocal talent perfectly, was released in late 1961, immediately became another huge hit for Cline and widened the crossover audience she had established with her prior hits. It spent 21 weeks on the chart and eventually became one of her signature tunes. Cline's version is No. 85 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
According to the Ellis Nassour biography Patsy Cline, Nelson, who at that time was known as a struggling songwriter by the name of Hugh Nelson, was a regular at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Nashville's Music Row, where he frequented with friends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller, both unknown songwriters at that time. Nelson met Cline's husband, Charlie Dick, at the bar one evening and pitched the song to him. Dick took the track home and played it for Cline, who absolutely hated it at first because Nelson's demo "spoke" the lyrics ahead of and behind the beat, about which an annoyed Cline remarked that she "couldn't sing like that".
However, Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it in the ballad form in which it was later recorded. On Loretta Lynn's album I Remember Patsy, Bradley reported that as Cline was still recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, she'd had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song on the original production night due to her broken ribs. So after about four hours of trying – in the days of four songs being recorded in three hours – they called it a night. A week later she came back and recorded the lead vocal in one take.
In the same interview, Lynn remembers the first time Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry on crutches, and received three standing ovations. Barbara Mandrell remembers Cline introducing the song to her audiences live in concert saying
All my recent hits have come true in my life. I had a hit out called Tra-La-La Triangle and people thought about me and Gerald and Charlie. I had another hit out called 'I Fall to Pieces' and I was in a car wreck. Now I'm really worried because I have a new hit single out and it's called 'Crazy'.
Willie Nelson stated on the 1993 documentary Remembering Patsy that Cline's version of "Crazy" was his favorite song of his that anybody had ever recorded because it "was a lot of magic".
In Popular Culture
This song was used as an ending theme music from 1995 Filipino film Anabelle Huggins Story and Ruben Ablaza Tragedy - Mea Culpa
LeAnn Rimes version
Country singer LeAnn Rimes recorded "Crazy" for her self-titled cover album, released in 1999. It was released as the second and final single from the album. She also performed this song at the White House for President George W. Bush and particularly for Laura Bush, who said it was one of her favorite songs.
Track listing
Europe Single
- Crazy
- How Do I Live (Extended Mix)
- Blue
Other versions
Notable versions include those recorded by Linda Ronstadt who reached #6 on Billboard's Country chart with her version in 1977, Julio Iglesias (hit in the Netherlands, UK and New Zealand), Kenny Rogers (Kenny Rogers version is a completely different song he wrote himself), The Kills, Dottie West, Kidneythieves, LeAnn Rimes, Shirley Bassey, Guy Lombardo, Chaka Khan, Don McLean (Don McClean's is also a completely different song titled, "Crazy Eyes") and The Waifs. (Rogers also wrote and recorded another song with the title "Crazy", which topped the charts in 1984 and shouldn't be confused with this one). In 2007, the song was covered by English alternative band Apartment. Willie Nelson himself has also recorded several versions of the song over the years including a trio version with Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. Additionally, it was covered by the Kidneythieves and co-released on the Bride of Chucky soundtrack.
In 1980 "Crazy" was part of the soundtrack for the Loretta Lynn biography Coal Miner's Daughter and was sung by Beverly D'Angelo who was portraying Patsy Cline.
Canadian country music singer Colleen Peterson covered the song in 1993. Her version peaked at number 29 on the RPM Country Tracks chart.
Australian singer Gina Jeffreys covered the song on her album, Old Paint (2010).
Canadian musician Neil Young released a cover of this song on his 2014 album A Letter Home.
Melinda Schneider and Beccy Cole covered the song on their album Great Women of Country (2014).
Slim Richey recorded a version of "Crazy" with Jitterbug Vipers in Austin, Texas in 2015.
Hayden Panettiere recorded two versions of "Crazy" for Nashville as her character Juliette Barnes (who portrays Patsy Cline in a biopic), one in 2014 heard in the episode "That's Me Without You," and the other in 2015 as a duet with Steven Tyler (playing himself) in the episode "Can't Let Go."
Canadian singer Brigitte Boisjoli recorded a version of "Crazy" on the album Patsy Cline, on which all songs are from the well-known country musician.
Influential 90s Emo band, Mineral, recorded a version in 1996 for the Band Crazy Vol. 1 compilation from Bzar records. The cover also appeared as a bonus track on the band's 2014 release, Mineral 1994-1998 The Complete Collection, on the second disc for the remastered re-release of &Serenading, the band's second full-length album.