“This thoroughly researched book manages to capture the raw elements that went into
making Cline the entertainer she was . . . It provides insight into a woman, the hayseed
Judy Garland, who was certainly one of the most unusual and talented performers to
come out of country music . . . Excels in its accurate recreation of the 1963 plane crash
and its impact . . . A tribute to her powerful talent, indomitable spirit and unconquerable individuality.”
Billboard
"A tribute to an amazing talent, whose life and career was tragically much too brief . . .
An entertaining biography of an astonishing, larger than life woman. Her life makes for
a fascinating, inspiring and very funny read."
Garth Brooks
“Done with great respect and humor and just enough down-and-dirty detail.”
New York Daily News
“Patsy Cline is the undisputed queen of Hillbilly Heaven . . . Poignantly chronicles her
journey from planet Earth all the way to the Pearly Gates . . . A fascinating trip and a
fascinating read.”
Marty Stuart
"Ellis Nassour’s Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline
does not just paint an image of the Patsy Cline I knew and loved.
What emerges is a poignant tribute to one of our greatest singing
legends . . . Patsy put her stamp on everything she did because she
sang from the heart. One of the things she taught me, besides some
colorful words, was how to sing direct to the audience, then no
translation is necessary."
Brenda Lee
"A well-researched and deeply enjoyable read of the life and loves of one of the most
popular and ground-breaking entertainers of the 20th Century."
Variety
"Patsy Cline's struggle to make it to the top is beautifully brought to life . . . Crisp,
exciting and thoroughly researched. First rate . . . Gripping in its shattering impact."
Washington Post
“This memorable biography of one of country music's most enduring legends is a
totally new and bold spin on the author's original biography of the country music
legend Patsy Cline [Patsy Cline: An Intimate Portrait, 1981] . . . Bold and ambitious,
she was a free-living, earthy performer whom producers sometimes found difficult
to work with. She apparently had few close friends, but she showed generosity to
any number of people, particularly talented young women singers such as Dottie
West and Loretta Lynn. Although Cline died in a plane crash 30 years ago, her
musical influence has persisted in no small thanks to this excellent telling of her
life and career struggles and ultimate rise to fame.”
Publishers Weekly
“Gazes unflinchingly at its subject . . . An extremely well-researched biography
filled with poignant memories and amazing detail . . . The book to read.”
Nashville Tennessean
"Nassour captures all the aspects of this truly remarkable woman and innovator
of her time . . . Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking . . . An emotional roller
coaster of a read."
Gayle King, CBS This Morning
"Ellis Nassour manages to show the struggle Patsy Cline went through to make it to the
top, from her high school days in Winchester VA to her too early death at 30 in a crashed
airplane in Tennessee. Lovers of good music who can sing every note of every Cline song, and
mimic each break in that unique voice, will learn she grew up collecting Kay Starr records, worked
her way around the VA-WV-MD fraternal club circuit, wasn't always popular in her home town and
cut a wide path for female country singers to follow. She was a country singer when country was
country. But she was also the first to use strings and when Owen Bradley added Floyd Cramer's
piano to those famous recording sessions, the real Patsy Cline sound matured in the style still heard around the world today. Well documented, good photos, immensely readable."
Amazon.com reviewer Jack Canfied
“Ellis Nassour traces the story of one of the most adored female singers of our
time, a true rags-to-riches story . . . Patsy Cline had a kind heart and golden voice,
but broke hearts, enraged producers and delighted fans . . . The author’s insights
are particularly effective in dealing with her incredible zest for life even during
difficult times . . .Exciting . . . Touching.”
Book List
"This is one of the most compelling biographies . . . Written with great skill and the
cooperation of [Patsy Cline's] family and friends . . . Dottie West, Loretta Lynn,
Brenda Lee, Roger Miller, and Faron Young are only a few who relate their memories . . .
[It] conjures up the period perfectly."
Northern Echo (U.K.)
"A worthy entry into the ranks of entertainment biographies . . . Cline was a woman of
great passion, prone to her own style of sexual braggadocio, and Nassour gives us all the
earthiness of this most sublime singer.”
Phoenix Gazette
“A powerful story, beautifully and poignantly told...Patsy Cline belongs shoulder-to-
shoulder with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.”
Elvis Costello
"Ellis [Nassour]'s book [Honky Tonk Angel] brought back some wonderful memories
of the times Patsy Cline and I toured. Patsy was often two handfuls and always filled
with the spirit of life - qualities that really come through in the book. God, is she missed!"
George Jones
“Honky Tonk Angel brings home the fact that Patsy was an original in her cowboy outfit
with red boots and western hat singing her butt off, singing her soul at you. There’s been
no one quite like her."
Roger Miller
"This best-selling biography of Patsy Cline, the earthy, sexy, and vivacious woman who
brought the Nashville sound to the rest of the nation, Honky Tonk Angel offers an
amazingly powerful and intimate detailing of the legendary singer's colorful and
poignant life and tragic death."
FlipKart.com
"I can't put [your book] down. It's not only a handsome edition, but it's filled with
|good 'stuff,' some of it rather strong. Unfortunately for Patsy's husband, Charlie, it's
all true. If you had not included this in this update of Patsy's story, you would be
doing her a disservice. You've been absolutely fair with your depictions; in fact, you've
acted as a responsible biographer by putting the information -- the good, the bad, the
ugly -- out there for the reader to examine.”
Guy Cesaro, Patsy Cline fan website
"Your book is such a great piece of Patsy Cline history . . . I've thanked you many
times for writing it, and I thank you once again. I've been reading it since the third
grade, and have read it 50 times since. Every time I read it, I discover something new."
Stephanie Seonbuchner, Patsy Cline fan
"Nassour's riting is eloquent and intelligent . . . He seems to have interviewed everyone
who ever came into Patsy's presence. There're so many different views of Patsy, which
help to understand what she was like . . . [He] conveys the powerful affect she had, and
still has, on audiences . . . I understand so much better what was behind that voice of
hers and how she transports listeners to another time."
Si Sissler, Patsy Cline fan
"No Patsy Cline fan on this planet does not own Ellis Nassour's biography of Patsy
Cline. It was the first and will always be considered THE definitive biography about
her long after we are all gone, and it is one of the prime reasons Patsy's legacy will
continue . . . Truth will always win out. Patsy's music will live forever, but new fans
who hear her will always seek out more information about her. We have Ellis to
thank for providing it."
Lisa Flood, founder, Patisfied.com
Hollywood made it [Sweet Dreams]: embellished, out of context, and sometimes very
inaccurate. Ask anyone who knew Patsy Cline or read Ellis Nassour's bestseller,
Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline and you'll see a much more
beloved, complex Patsy Cline than what director Karel Reisz offers . . . The film is
40% accurate and her family and friends seem all but supportive of the film's story.
Instead of showing the triumphant side of Cline - the woman who fought from an
early age to leave her humble beginnings and realize her dream as a singer (and
would become “one of the best voices” of all time) - it focuses on the tragedy of her
life . . . Read Ellis Nassour's biography . . . Sweet Dreams only scrapes the surface of
the woman she was. You see a side of Patsy Cline that even Hollywood could never
portray. They tried, and failed."
VideoNear.com |
