Today in 1962, Patsy Cline hit the top of the country charts with “She’s Got You.”

According to the Ellis Nassour biography Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline, writer Hank Cochran remembers calling Cline and telling her that he’d just written her next number 1 hit. She told him to come over to her house with a bottle of liquor and play it on the guitar for her and friend Dottie West who was visiting that afternoon. Cline was emotionally moved by its lyrics and loved the song so much that she learned it that night, calling up her manager and producer to sing it to them over the phone. At her next session, she recorded it. This was a rare instance, as Cline and her producer, Owen Bradley, often disagreed with each other’s choice of material. This time, they both agreed they had a hit.

The theme of the song revolves around material possessions of a lost love:

I’ve got the records, that we used to share
And they still sound the same, as when you were here
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got the records … she’s got you.

“She’s Got You” was written as Cline’s follow-up single to her two previous big hits of the previous year, “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy”. “She’s Got You” was released on January 30, 1962, and immediately went to No. 1 on the Hot C&W Sides country chart, and to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also went to number three on the Easy Listening chart. “She’s Got You” marked her first hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 43. “She’s Got You” later became classic and was one of the songs to help jump-start Cline’s career. The hit led to an appearance on American Bandstand with Dick Clark that February and led to Cline having her own show in Las Vegas in the following November. “She’s Got You” was followed by a few other minor hits that year, including “Imagine That”, “When I Get Thru’ With You”, “So Wrong”, and “Strange”. On August 6, 1962, Cline’s third album Sentimentally Yours was released, featuring “She’s Got You”.

“She’s Got You” has been recorded by numerous artists, such as Dean Martin (He’s Got You), Rosanne Cash, Ricky Van Shelton, LeAnn Rimes, Timi Yuro, Jimmy Buffett, Lee Ann Womack, Cat Power, Elvis Costello, Loretta Lynn and Rhiannon Giddens.

In 1977, the Loretta Lynn remake was a No. 1 country hit, when her tribute album to Cline called I Remember Patsy was released.

The song was covered by Don McLean on his 1987 compilation Greatest Hits Then & Now as “He’s Got You”. McLean’s version peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

Source: Wikipedia