On 21 August 1961, Patsy Cline arrived at Nashville's Quonset Hut studio on crutches, with bruised ribs, to attempt her first session for what would become her signature hit "Crazy". The session came just over two months after a near-fatal car crash left her with severe injuries, underlining her determination to keep working despite still recovering physically.

The head-on collision on 14 June had thrown Cline through the windscreen, causing a deep facial cut, a broken wrist, a dislocated hip and bruised ribs, and doctors initially feared she would not survive. Producer Owen Bradley, alongside musicians including pianist Floyd Cramer and vocal group the Jordanaires, spent much of the four-hour session working out an unwritten arrangement for Willie Nelson's unconventional, jazz-influenced composition, but Cline's pain prevented her from singing it properly, forcing Bradley to send her home. She returned three weeks later, on 15 September, and recorded the vocal in a single take; "Crazy" was released on 15 October and went on to become a major crossover success.