More than 60 years after her tragic death, country music legend Patsy Cline still has more to share with the world after never-before-released recordings of the iconic star were discovered in a basement.
A limited-edition, two-LP set, “Imagine That: The Lost Recordings (1954-1963),” which includes 48 songs from live concerts and radio and TV appearances, was released on Saturday for Record Store Day by Elemental Music/Deep Digs. A two-CD set will also be available on April 18.
Two of the oldest recordings, discovered in a basement where they’d been stored for 30 years, were found on their original acetate disc recorded at the old WARL radio station in Arlington, NBC Washington reported. Many of the tracks were recorded in D.C. or Virginia.
Cline, originally from Winchester, Virginia, only recorded a few studio albums before she died in a plane crash at 30 years old.
“It’s just like she’s alive again,” her daughter, Julie Fudge, told NBC Washington. “It is really very personal. And I’m just so impressed with the work that these people did and so glad that we trusted them to do this.”
The compilation spans Cline’s career from the start of her professional work in the early 1950s to the peak of her popularity before her death in 1963, according to Elemental Music.
Fudge said the never-before-released recordings of her mother’s performances evoke a different listening experience than her previous albums.
“She’s in her early 20s and she’s singing in front of people live,” Fudge told NBC Washington. “It really does have a personal feel when you listen to it. It’s like sitting in a room and talking to somebody.”
Marc Zitelman found the relic WARL disc in a box of records sitting in his basement, though it is not immediately clear when the recordings were rediscovered.
“There’s an A side and a B side,” Zitelman said while showing it to NBC Washington. “As you can see in the label, it was just typed up in the front office while the engineer was recording this from a live presentation.”
Zitelman’s father kept the box of records in his downtown restaurant, Bassin’s, which used to be a popular night spot. Zitelman believes the disc had been stored in the restaurant since 1954, though he was not sure how it ended up in his father’s hands.
“I think the thing is that it’s finally found its way into perpetuity,” Zitelman told NBC Washington. “So, I’m actually really thrilled that this is now in a place where forever it can be heard, and it’s something I don’t think was ever heard before.”
Listeners can hear new renditions of Cline’s most iconic tunes on the record, like “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces.” The traditional gospel song “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” also appears, recorded just weeks before Cline’s death. It is one of her last known recordings.
