Crazy

The first attempt to record "Crazy" ended abruptly. On August 21, 1961, Patsy Cline arrived at Owen Bradley's Quonset hut Studio B still bruised from a recent car accident, and after four hours the session had to be halted because her injured ribs left her unable to reach the notes required to match Willie Nelson's phrasing. Bradley used the time to work out arrangements with the musicians, recording the instrumental track with the Jordanaires on background vocals, pianist Floyd Cramer, bass guitarist Bob Moore, drummer Buddy Harman, and Harold Bradley's electric guitar.

Cline came back three weeks later once her ribs had healed. During the September 15 session she cut her vocal in a single take, singing slightly behind the beat in the manner Nelson had demonstrated when he taught her the song at her house. Bradley had encouraged her to abandon Nelson's singing style and use her own instead.

The song itself had been written by Nelson while he lived in Houston, during a period when his three jobs could not support his wife and three children. He originally titled it "Stupid" and completed it in less than an hour, drawing the opening intonation from Floyd Tillman's "I Gotta Have My Baby Back". Released by Decca Records in October 1961, the single reached number two on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and crossed over to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cline's only top 10 pop hit.