Week ending 4/10/10: #1 albums this week in country music history

1965: Buck Owens – I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail (Capitol)

1970: Johnny Cash – Hello I’m Johnny Cash (Columbia)

1975: Olivia Newton John – Have You Never Been Mellow (MCA)

1980: Kenny Rogers – Kenny (United Artists)

1985: Alabama – 40 Hour Week (RCA)

1990: Ricky Van Shelton – RVS III (Columbia)

1995: John Michael Montgomery – John Michael Montgomery (Warner Brothersl)

2000: Dixie Chicks – Fly (Sony)

2005: Trace Adkins – Songs About Me (Liberty)

2010: Lady Antebellum – Need You Now (Capitol)

Classic Rewind: Hank Williams – ‘Cold Cold Heart’

Classic Rewind: Loretta Lynn (with the Wilburn Brothers) – ‘Put It Off Until Tomorrow’

Album Review: Loretta Lynn – ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough’

Loretta’s sixth studio album was released on Decca in September 1966. It marks a significant advance in her career, as her first album to hit #1 on the country album chart. Produced by Owen Bradley, there is no doubt that this record is solid country from the first note to the last. Loretta wrote half the twelve tracks, mostly without assistance.

The title track is one of Loretta’s classic hits, a confident rebuttal to a woman making moves on Loretta’s husband, and one of my personal favorites, as she firmly declares:

Sometimes a man’s caught lookin’
At things that he don’t need
He took a second look at you
But he’s in love with me

This song strikes the perfect attitude, balancing awareness of male frailty with faith in love, and like many of Loretta’s best songs, drawn from real-life experience (although not directly autobiographical – it was inspired by a couple at one of her shows). It was the only hit from the album, but it was a significant one, reaching #2.

Equally assertive is a sassy country cover of Nancy Sinatra’s then-current pop hit ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’, written by Lee Hazlewood. Loretta’s own ‘Keep Your Change’ is a cheerfully assertive up-tempo riposte to an ex wanting to crawl back; it is not as good as the title track but still entertaining and full of attitude as Loretta tells the guy she doesn’t want him back, and asks witheringly,

What happened to the scenery
That looked so good to you?
Did you get tired of the change you made -
Or did she get tired of you?

Not everything is assertive. The B-side of ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough’ was the hidden gem ‘A Man I Hardly Know’ (covered a few years ago by Amber Digby). This song has a honky tonk angel as the protagonist, a woman seeking refuge from her heartbreak in the arms of strangers.

‘God Gave Me A Heart To Forgive’, which Loretta wrote with Bob and Barbara Cummings (her only co-write on the album), shows a more vulnerable side to Loretta as she plays the long-suffering wife of a husband who stays out all night leaving his wife lonely at home, with the attitude of the title track sadly wanting; the protagonist of this song is more of a doormat:

You brought me every misery that there is
But God gave me a heart to forgive

You hurt me as much as you can
Then you tell me that you’re just weak
Like any other man
Still you’re the only reason that I live
And God gave me a heart to forgive

Although it wasn’t written by Loretta, Bobby Harden’s ‘Tippy Toeing’ (about getting a restless baby to sleep) feels autobiographical for the mother-of-six, and has a bouncy singalong nursery rhythm perfectly suited to the subject matter.

An interesting inclusion is Loretta’s take on the then unknown Dolly Parton’s plea to a lover planning to leave, ‘Put It Off Until Tomorrow’, which is rather good, with Loretta’s voice taking on more vibrato than usual. This may be one of Dolly’s first cuts as a writer. Dolly’s own version of the song was released as a single in 1966 (and appeared on her debut album the following year), but failed to chart. Loretta’s ‘The Darkest Day’ is a less memorable look at a woman left by her man.

Another fine song with a classic feel is ‘Talking To The Wall’, about a woman who leaves the man she believes is not happy with her, and is trying not to admit she regrets it:

But I might as well be talking to the wall
When I tell myself I’m not missing you at all

It was customary for country artists to record covers of current and recent hits by other artists in the 1960s, and the songwriter Warner Mack had his own hit with the song in 1966 (#3 on Billboard). Loretta also chose to cover one of his older hits, the pained ‘Is It Wrong (For Loving You)’, which was a top 10 hit in 1957.

‘It’s Another World’ is a not very memorable perky love song, a cover of a hit for Loretta’s mentors the Wilburn Brothers (#5 in 1965), with double tracked vocals retaining the duo feel of the original. A much better Wilburn Brothers cover is their 1966 top 10 hit ‘Someone Before Me’, a classic style lovelorn ballad here given a gender switch in the lyrics so that it is about a woman loving a man still hung up on his ex, which is another one I like a lot. It was a top 10 hit for the Wilburn Brothers in 1966, but Loretta’s version is superior:

Someone before me still turns you inside out
When we’re together she’s all you talk about
You’re always wanting me to do the things she used to do
Someone before me sure left her mark on you

I’ve tried to get inside your heart but I don’t have a chance
Now I can see she’s still on your mind with every little glance
You’re living on old memories
My love can’t get through to you
Someone before me sure left her mark on you

The Osborne Brothers recorded a beautiful version the following year for their album Modern Sounds Of Bluegrass Music.

Loretta at her peak has the reputation of being more of a singles artist than an albums one, but this classic album is pretty solid throughout and one which I really enjoy. It has been re-released in its entirety on a budget CD and is also available digitally.

Grade: A-

ACM Rewind: Ray Price – ‘For The Good Times’

‘For The Good Times’ won the ACM Song of the Year award back in 1971 for its writer Kris Kristofferson.

ACM Awards: My Kind Of Country’s predictions

It’s award time again, with the Academy of Country Music due to hand out its trophies for achievements during 2009 on Sunday April 18. Here are our predictions of the likely winners:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
This category is fan-voted this year (as it has been for the last couple of years). This year, though, the number of nominees has been substantially increased.

Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Taylor Swift: our unanimous pick
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band

Occasional Hope: Fan-voted. No further comment required.
Razor X: Since this is a fan-voted award, the only two serious contenders are Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. Underwood won last year, and since Swift has had a more successful year, I’m going to predict that the momentum is in her favor.
J.R. Journey: I think she’s ahead of the pack in this race by a large enough margin to safely call her the early winner. With it being fan-voted yet again, Taylor’s younger, internet-savvy fan-base would give her the edge even if she didn’t already have it.
Meg: Taylor will get it due to fan voting, and it’s not as though she hasn’t worked equally hard as the other nominees, or harder.

TOP MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley: J.R., Meg
Darius Rucker: Occasional Hope
George Strait: Razor X
Keith Urban

Meg: Brad’s got this one. He’s come into his own as a performer, writer, and entertainer with great musicianship and great vocals.
J.R.: Major tours, a critically acclaimed album and an impressive run of chart-topping singles are just Brad’s commercial qualifications for his victory here. When he wants to be, he’s also a mighty fine statesman and torch-bearer for traditional country.
Razor: After three consecutive wins in this category for Brad Paisley, I’m guessing that the Academy will want to give this award to someone else this year. Urban is the only serious competition.
OH: If Darius wins it will be seen as a surprise victory, but I think he just could get it. He does have an interesting tone, has scored some big radio hits, and sold exceptionally well. And it all seems to be about commercial impact these days. Plus, you need at least one surprise at any award show.

Classic Rewind: Emmylou Harris – ‘Blue Kentucky Girl’

Album Review: Loretta Lynn – ‘Greatest Hits’

Loretta Lynn’s success in the 1970s was so great that it somewhat overshadowed the equally worthwhile music that she made in the 1960s. Her first Greatest Hits collection, released by Decca in 1968, provides an excellent sampler of her early work. Though the hits are not presented in sequential order, the album shows her progression from long-suffering wife to outspoken feminist.

The earliest track on the album is 1962′s “Success”, which was her first Top Ten hit. Written by Johnny Mullins, the song tells the story of a couple for whom fame and fortune come at the expense of their relationship.  Rock singer Sinead O’Connor covered the song thirty years later.  Lynn’s next chart hit from 1963 features her in a rare role as “The Other Woman”. Usually Loretta is the wronged wife who confronts the woman who is trying to steal here husband, but in this instance, she’s on the opposite side of the fence, trying to justify her behavior:

But you gave him the right to seek that other woman
And you know who was first to cheat on who
I just accepted love from him you never wanted
The other woman didn’t steal from you

Peaking at #13, “The Other Woman” is the only song in this collection that didn’t reach the Top 10.

1965′s “The Home You’re Tearin’ Down” is an interesting example of Loretta’s work before she truly found her niche.  Like “The Other Woman”, it was written by Betty Sue Perry, who penned several of Loretta’s early hits.  She is clearly playing the victim here, as she attempts to send her husband’s mistress on a guilt trip by extending an invitation for her to meet the wife and children:

Once some happy faces would have met you at the door,
But since their daddy’s gone so much, they don’t smile anymore.
There’s shattered parts of broken hearts, just scattered all around,
Come over anytime and see the home you’re tearin’ down.

I’ll dry all my tears and have the coffee hot,
‘Cause I can’t sleep a wink no more, time’s all I’ve got
You’ll see the price I’m paying for happiness you’ve found,
Come over anytime and see the home you’re tearin’ down.

Just one year later, Lynn revisited the theme of a conversation between a wife and the other woman, but this time in a self-penned composition that shows her feistier side:

You’ve come to tell me somethin’
You say I ought to know
That he don’t love me anymore
And I’ll have to let him go
You say you’re gonna take him,
Oh, but I don’t think you can,
‘Cause you ain’t woman enough to take my man

“You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man” was Loretta’s biggest hit up to that time, reaching #2 on the Billboard country singles chart. It marks the beginning of the more assertive Loretta that we would see many times in the years to come. It is probably her best remembered hit after “Coal Miner’s Daughter”.

In a similar vein, Lynn’s next single was “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”, her first #1 hit which she wrote with her sister Peggy Sue Wells. In this tune, Loretta is an angry wife who confronts her drunken husband as he returns from a night on the town. It’s a theme she’d visited earlier, with 1963′s “Wine, Women and Song”, another honky-tonk number written by Betty Sue Perry, and would visit again in 1968 with “Your Squaw Is On The Warpath”, which is not included in this collection.

My favorite song in this collection is 1965′s “Blue Kentucky Girl”, which was written by Johnny Mullins and later covered by Emmylou Harris. It features Lynn as a young woman who is faithfully awaiting the return of her boyfriend and possible fiance who has gone out into the world to seek his fortune. It stands in stark contrast to “If You’re Not Gone Too Long”, in which Loretta promises her love that “I’ll be true to you honey, while you’re gone — if you’re not gone too long.”

Another noteworthy song from this collection is a #4 hit from 1966, “Dear Uncle Sam.” It was largely overshadowed by the bigger hits that followed it, but was recently rediscovered in the wake of the U.S’s wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s been somewhat misrepresented as an anti-war protest song by those who opposed these military involvements, but its lyrics are totally apolitical. Its final verse is one of the most dramatic and effective performances of Loretta’s career. She speaks the lyrics as a bugle plays “Taps”:

Dear Uncle Sam,
I just got your telegram
And I can’t believe that this is me,
Shaking like I am
For it said, I’m sorry to inform you …

There are more comprehensive compilations of Loretta’s work available, but for those who are specifically interested in her 1960s material, this one is the best. It is currently out of print, but inexpensive new and used copies can be purchased from third-party sellers on Amazon.

Grade:  A

Classic Rewind: Loretta Lynn – ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough’

Changing the face but not the name

Gary Nichols

This week’s news that the great bluegrass-based group the SteelDrivers have changed lead singers after one acclaimed album from the distinctive sound of songwriter Chris Stapleton (who wants to return to a life concentrating on writing) to former Mercury artist Gary Nichols was a little disappointing. Musicians would probably disagree with this, but to me the lead singer is the most distinguishing feature of any band’s identity – and changing the face at the front seems to change the dynamic for better or worse.

One-time hitmakers Lonestar have a new album out soon with a new lead singer, but do not seem to be attracting much attention with it. They in fact started out with two lead singers (John Rich and Richie MacDonald), and when John Rich left to try a solo career (which flopped, leading to his finding success as half of Big & Rich) that did not cause any problems for the band, who went on to release their biggest hit, ‘Amazed’. But when Richie left the band a couple of years ago, the group had already passed its commercial peak. Richie’s solo career has not been particularly successful, and although I haven’t heard Lonestar’s material with their new lead singer yet, I would be surprised if it brought them back to the top.

One band to have gone through various changes of personnel, but for whom real success was associated with the original lead singer was Highway 101, a favorite of mine from the late 80s. Fronted by Paulette Carlson, the group released three fine albums and a string of top 10 hits including several #1s between 1987 and 1990. Paulette then decided she wanted to go it alone, and released a solo album. This proved to be a bad move for her as her new record was a complete flop. The band meanwhile recruited a new lead singer, Nikki Nelson who had a strong, commercial voice, but one with less personality than Paulette’s. The new line-up had a few hits in the arly 90s, but ones which peaked lower on the charts than their earlier material. In 1996 Paulette rejoined the group and they released the appropriately entitled Reunited, but their time had passed and they could not reignite the flame of their glory days. They split again, and the band tried with a third lead singer, with even less success. I understand they are currently performing with Nikki Nelson again. This was a case study where the original combination of lead singer and band was the magical one, and subsequent reinventions just didn’t work.

Chris Stapleton

Sometimes switching the lead singer works out. The Dixie Chicks’ early records featured two lead singers (Laura Lynch and Robin Lee Macy) who were both eventually discarded. It was only when Natalie Maines joined that the band got their major label deal, and proceeded to mass success in the late 90s. Even today, after they have fallen from grace with country radio, the Court Yard Hounds side venture of sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, the founder members of the Chicks, without Natalie, seems unlikely to attract the same level of support of their most recent album with her. Since the other two own the rights to the name, it is interesting that they decided to drop it for this project.

These last two cases do involve someone with a particularly distinctive voice which served to mark the band out. A similar case involving a less successful group is Trick Pony and its lead singer Heidi Newfield. When Heidi left to go solo, the band initially tried to find a new lead singer, but Heidi’s replacement Aubrey Collins left before any new music could be released, and the surviving band members eventually called it a day. In this case some lead vocals had been taken by one of the guys in the band, but Heidi was the dominating presence at the center of the group.

In previous generations, however, changes of personnel were less disruptive. The Statler Brothers replaced Lew De Witt with Jimmy Fortune, and the Oak Ridge Boys have been going since 1945 with many changes. However, these cases did not involve changing a sole lead singer. The pioneering Carter Family consisted of A P Carter, wife Sara and sister-in-law Maybelle in the 1930s; later on Maybelle continued the group with her daughters. Bluegrass groups seem generally to be formed around an inspirational instrumentalist rather than the singer, and have frequently featured changes in lead vocalist. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have changed personnel over the years, but retained a strong musical identity regardless.

Which of today’s groups could survive a new face at the front?

Classic Rewind: Keith Whitley – ‘I’m No Stranger To The Rain’

Single Review: Loretta Lynn – ‘I’m A Honky Tonk Girl’

After paying dues in the West Coast honky tonks of Washington, Oregon, and northern California, Loretta Lynn was offered a spot on Buck Owens’ syndicated television show.  This performance was seen by wealthy Canadian Norm Burley.  He offered to help the Lynns jump-start Loretta’s fledgling career by forming his own record label, Zero Records, and pressing some 3,500 copies of her first record.  Mr. Burley also paid for the recording session, financed a promotional road-trip for the couple, and even offered to let her out of the contract if she was offered a major label deal.  The world could use more men like Norm Burley.

In Hollywood, Loretta recorded four of her own compositions: ‘Heartache Meet Mr. Blues’, ‘New Rainbow’, ‘I’m A Honky Tonk Girl’, and ‘Whispering Sea’.  The latter two would be the A and B-side to her first single record.  Loretta says she was inspired to write the song after seeing a woman in a Washington club, drowning her sorrows in the booze.  The song tells the story of a heartbroken woman, alone now that her man has left her.  Penned by Loretta, ‘I’m A Honky Tonk Girl’ would make it all the way to #14 on the Country Singles chart, propelled by the couples self-promotion.  The two greenhorns didn’t know anything about the music industry and it wasn’t until they made it all the way to Nashville that Mooney picked up a copy of Cashbox magazine and found out Loretta had the #14 song in the nation.

The story of Loretta Lynn and her husband Mooney promoting her very first single is the stuff of country music legend.  Their tireless efforts took them from the California coast all the way to Tennessee with the couple stopping at every radio station that programmed country music along the way. Having already mailed out the single to every country station, complete with a one-page biography on Loretta and the now-famous photo of Loretta taken by Mooney in their living room, they would chat up the disc jockeys and ask them to play Mrs. Lynn’s record.

Driven by the pedal steel playing of Speedy West, the track finds Loretta delivering the lyric with a bit of heartache in her twangy vibrato.  They probably didn’t know it at the time, but the session players were creating what would become the signature sound of one of country music’s most influential figures in history.  And even though Owen Bradley and his Nashville Sound are most commonly associated with Loretta Lynn’s success, it was this track that gave Loretta her first minor-hit and the style that would define her music for the next decade.

Grade: B

‘Honky Tonk Girl’ is available on several Loretta Lynn collections. It served as the title track to her 1994 box-set and is available for purchase as a single mp3 download at all major retailers, including amazon.

Easter Rewind: Loretta, Dolly, and Tammy

Happy Easter, everyone. Here are a few selections from the Honky Tonk Angels. Enjoy!

Week ending 4/3/10: #1 singles this week in country music history

1950: Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy — Red Foley (Decca)

1960: He’ll Have To Go — Jim Reeves (RCA)

1970: The Fightin’ Side of Me — Merle Haggard (Capitol)

1980: I’d Love To Lay You Down — Conway Twitty (MCA)

1990: Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart — Randy Travis (Warner Bros.)

2000: How Do You Like Me Now — Toby Keith (DreamWorks Nashville)

2010: A Little More Country Than That — Corbin Easton (Mercury)

Week ending 4/3/10: #1 albums this week in country music history

1965: Buck Owens – I Don’t Care (Capitol)

1970: Johnny Cash – Hello I’m Johnny Cash (Columbia)

1975: Olivia Newton John – Have You Never Been Mellow (MCA)

1980: Kenny Rogers – Kenny (United Artists)

1985: Alabama – 40 Hour Week (RCA)

1990: Ricky Van Shelton – RVS III (Columbia)

1995: Garth Brooks – The Hits (Capitol)

2000: George Strait – Latest Greatest Straitest Hits (MCA)

2005: Miranda Lambert – Kerosene (Sony)

2010: Lady Antebellum – Need You Now (Capitol)

Classic Rewind: Loretta Lynn – ‘Wine, Women And Song’

Classic Rewind: Jim & Jesse – ‘Walking My Lord Up Calvary’s Hill’

Some bluegrass gospel for Good Friday:

Spotlight Artist: Loretta Lynn (Part 2)

The 1970s were Loretta Lynn’s most productive and most successful decade. She opened the decade by releasing her signature hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “After The Fire Is Gone”, the first of a long string of successful duets with Conway Twitty. In 1972, she won her second Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association. She’d previously won in 1967; Tammy Wynette took the trophy home for the next three years, and in 1971 it was awarded to Lynn Anderson. Conway and Loretta also took home the Vocal Duo of the Year trophy in 1972, but the icing on the cake that year was when Loretta Lynn became the first female artist to become the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year. To commemorate the occasion, her label released an album in 1973 called Entertainer of the Year, which produced another #1 hit, “Rated X”. It was Loretta’s first release on the MCA label, which had purchased Decca and absorbed its artist roster. In 1973 she also became the first country artist to grace the cover of Newsweek.

The hits kept coming; it was during this period that Loretta released “One’s On The Way”, “I Wanna Be Free”, “You’re Lookin’ At Country”, and “Love Is The Foundation”, among others. In 1975 she released “The Pill”, her most controversial record, completely eclipsing the controversy that had surrounded “Rated X” two years earlier. Believed to be the first song about birth control, “The Pill” was considered very risque and was banned by many radio stations. Nevertheless, it managed to crack the Top 5.

During the early part of the 70s, Loretta severed her ties with the Wilburn Brothers. As her song publishers, they owned the rights to all of her compositions and Loretta saw very little in financial renumeration. While the matter was being fought out in court, Loretta stopped writing songs altogether, rather than to continue lining the Wiburns’ pockets. As a result, the music she released in the latter part of the 70s had a more polished, pop influenced sound in comparison to her earlier work.

In 1976, Loretta published her autobiography, Coal Miner’s Daughter, which became a New York Times bestseller. A film based on the book was released in 1980, earning some high-profile mainstream attention for Loretta, and an Academy Award for Sissy Spacek for her portrayal of the country star. Tommy Lee Jones co-starred as Mooney. As the 70s came to a close, she was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music.

The 1980s were marred by the beginnings of a career decline and personal tragedy. It was the age of the Urban Cowboy, and Loretta’s style of country had begun to fall out of favor with country radio. Her records continued to chart, but she was no longer consistently making the Top 10 with her solo efforts. “I Lie” became her final Top 10 solo hit in 1982. She fought with her label, which wanted to push her in a more pop direction. She refused to renew her contract; MCA eventually relented, but by that time it was clear that Loretta’s reign at the top of the charts was over. She racked up her final Top 20 hit, “Heart Don’t Do This To Me” in 1985, and in 1988 she released her final album for MCA. That same year she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

A few years earlier, in 1984, Loretta’s 34-year-old son, Jack Benny Lynn drowned in a river near the family ranch. In her second book, Loretta says that she believes she suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of this tragedy, but she did not receive any medical treatment for it. She became less focused on her career, and although she continued to tour, she recorded less frequently.

Loretta spent most of the 1990s out of the spotlight. She no longer had a record deal and she stopped touring for the most part in order to care for Mooney, whose health had begun to fail. In 1993 she collaborated with Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette for the Honky Tonk Angels album. Though it received virtually no radio airplay, the album reached #6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and earned gold certification. In 1995 she did a brief series for TNN called Loretta Lynn & Friends. Mooney Lynn died in 1996 from complications from diabetes.

In 2000, Loretta released her first solo album in twelve years, titled Still Country. It was produced by Randy Scruggs and released on the Audium label. The lead single, “Country In My Genes”, on which she was joined by half of Nashville on the chorus, received enough airplay to reach #72 in Billboard. The subsequent singles, which included “I Can’t Hear The Music”, which she’d written as a tribute to Mooney, did not chart. Despite being largely ignored by country radio, the album was generally well received by critics. However, it was her next album, 2004′s Van Lear Rose, that is considered her true comeback. Produced by Jack White of the White Stripes, it was an interesting fusion of country and alternative rock and a radical departure from her previous work. At nearly 70 years of age, Loretta Lynn was suddenly hip again. Van Lear Rose earned her two Grammy Awards in 2005: one for Best Country Album, and one for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Portland, Oregon”, a duet with producer Jack White.

In between Still Country and Van Lear Rose, Loretta found time to publish a second autobiography, Still Woman Enough in 2002. In 2001, CMT ranked her at #3, behind Patsy Cline (#1) and Tammy Wynette (#2) on their 40 Greatest Women of Country Music special. She was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 2003, and in 2008 she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010.

At age 75, Loretta is showing no signs of slowing down. She remains a concert draw and is reportedly working on two new albums which will tentatively be released later this year, though no dates have been announced.

The term legend is used much too freely these days, but Loretta Lynn truly belongs to an elite inner circle of performers, without whom it is difficult to imagine what country music would have been like. We hope that you will enjoy our look back at the life and career of a woman who has become an American icon, and who is arguably the most important female artist in the history of country music.

Classic Rewind: Alison Krauss and Union Station: ‘Foolish Heart’

Spotlight Artist: Loretta Lynn (Part 1)

Our look back at the legends of country music continues as we turn the spotlight on Loretta Lynn.

The story of her hardscrabble origin and subsequent rise to fame is well known. She was born in Van Lear, Kentucky, on April 14 in 1934 or 1935. (There is conflicting information about the year of her birth, but most evidence points to 1934 being the correct year). The second of eight children, she grew up in extreme poverty, “in a cabin on a hill” without electricity or running water. Her father was a coal miner. When she was only 13 years old, she married Oliver “Mooney” Lynn (always referred to as “Doolittle” or “Doo” by Loretta), and gave birth to four of her six children before she was 19.

A year after their marriage, in an effort to break away from poverty-stricken Kentucky, Mooney relocated his young family to Washington State, breaking a promise he’d made to Loretta’s father not to take her too far from home. Mooney’s shortcomings as a husband and father were considerable; however, it was he who recognized Loretta’s potential and practically forced her into the music business. He bought her a $17 guitar for her eighteenth birthday and told her to learn how to play it. She did, and soon was singing in honky-tonks on weekends for $5 a night. Eventually she earned a guest spot on Buck Owens’ television show, which originated from Tacoma, Washington. A wealthy Canadian businessman named Norm Burley saw the show and offered to finance Loretta’s career. He formed a label called Zero Records, and signed Loretta, promising to release her from her contract if she ever managed to secure a deal from a major label.

The Lynns traveled to Los Angeles for Loretta’s first recording session, where she recorded her own compositions “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl” and “Whispering Sea”, which became the A and B sides of her first single. The Lynns themselves mailed out 3,500 copies of the record to radio stations, and traveled by car down the west coast to promote it, visiting radio stations along the way. By July 1960, “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl” had reached #14 in Billboard, and Loretta Lynn was on her way to Nashville.

In October 1960, Loretta made her debut appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and was such a hit with the both the audience and the Opry management, she was invited back for 17 consecutive weekends. She would become an Opry member in 1962. She signed a songwriting and management contract with the Wilburn Brothers, who offered her a spot on their syndicated television show. They also took a demo recording of one her songs to Owen Bradley and secured a six-month contract with Decca Records. Bradley wasn’t initially interested in signing Loretta; he felt she sounded too much like Kitty Wells, who was already on the Decca roster. Bradley was interested in the song on the demo, but the Wilburns would not allow him to have it unless he offered Loretta a contract. Bradley relented and signed Loretta to Decca. The song on the demo, “Fool #1″ went on to become a smash pop hit for Brenda Lee.

Loretta’s first release for Decca, “I Walked Away From The Wreck” did not chart, but her next release, Johnny Mullins’ “Success” reached #6. The vast majority of her subsequent releases reached the Top 20, and most of those reached the Top 10. She hit the #1 spot for the first of 16 times in 1966 with “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”, which she co-wrote with her sister Peggy Sue Wells. The album of the same title became the first by a female country artist to earn gold certification from the RIAA.

In 1970, Loretta released the autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, which became her signature hit. Unlike anything she’d previously recorded, it told the story of her humble origins in Kentucky. It became her fourth #1 single and second gold album. Also that year she recorded a duet with Conway Twitty called “After The Fire Is Gone”, which also went to #1 and earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Her partnership with Twitty was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, duos in country music history.