Crazy (Willie Nelson song)

"Crazy"
Single by Patsy Cline
from the album Showcase With the Jordanaires
A-side	"Crazy"
B-side	"Who Can I Count On?"
Released	October 16, 1961
Format	45 rpm
Recorded	August 21, 1961[1]
Genre	Country, traditional pop
Length	02:41
Label	Decca
Writer(s)	Willie Nelson
Producer	Owen Bradley
Patsy Cline singles chronology
"I Fall to Pieces" "Crazy" "She's Got You"

"Crazy" is a ballad composed by Willie Nelson. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably by Patsy Cline, whose version was a #2 country hit in 1962.^[2]

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.

Origin

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, but Walker turned it down. 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, who was already a country music superstar and working to extend a string of hits, 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 and 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 #85 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[3]

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 to a faster tempo than what Cline later recorded as a ballad. Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, loved the song and arranged it as the ballad it was recorded as. Still recovering from a recent automobile accident that nearly took her life, Cline had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song at first due to her broken ribs, so she came back the next day to record the vocal, which she did in one take. Another story has it that Cline tried to record the song for hours one night with no success. After visiting Willie Nelson and listening to how he would have sung it she made it within a few attempts the next recording session.

Loretta Lynn remembers the first time Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry on crutches, she received three standing ovations. Barbara Mandrell remembers Cline introducing the song to her audiences live in concert saying "I had a 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 its 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."

Chart performance

Chart (1961)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	2
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	9
U.K. Singles Chart	14
Irish Singles Chart	14
Australian Kent Music Report	56

LeAnn Rimes version

"Crazy"
Single by LeAnn Rimes
from the album LeAnn Rimes
Released	December 28, 1999
Format	CD, digital download
Recorded	1998
Genre	Country
Label	Curb
Producer	Wilbur C. Rimes
LeAnn Rimes singles chronology
"Big Deal" (1999) "Crazy" (1999) "I Need You" 2000

Country singer LeAnn Rimes recorded "Crazy" for her self-titled covers 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. This cover has also appeared on Rimes' Greatest Hits, and her international CD: The Best of LeAnn Rimes.

Track listing

Europe Single

1. Crazy
2. How Do I Live (Extended Mix)
3. Blue

Chart

Chart (1999)	Peak position
UK Singles (The Official Chart Company)[4]	36

Other versions

Notable versions include those recorded by The Kills, Linda Ronstadt (No. 6 US country), Julio Iglesias (hit in Netherlands, UK & New Zealand)), Kenny Rogers, Dottie West, Kidneythieves, LeAnn Rimes, Don McLean 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, composd of Free Dominguez and Bruce M. Sommers on their LP Trickster via Push Records in 1998 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.

In the media

• In 1992, Ross Perot used the song during his political campaign for president.^[5]
• Willie Nelson's own version of "Crazy" can be heard in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fictional radio station K-Rose.
• The song and album are a central image in as well as helping to name the 2005 Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y.

Notes

1. ^ "A Tribute to Patsy Cline". http://www.patsy.nu/. Retrieved 2007-08-04. 
2. ^ Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music's All-time Greatest: 100 Songs. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group. pp. 157–159. ISBN 1-57297-072-3. 
3. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/1. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 
4. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=27644
5. ^ Ross Perot Biography (Business Personality/Political Figure) — Infoplease.com

External links

• Listing of known covers of "Crazy"