{"id":22391,"date":"2020-04-13T22:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T04:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1820218"},"modified":"2020-04-13T22:03:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T04:03:04","slug":"loretta-lynn-eight-decades-of-honest-heartfelt-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/loretta-lynn-eight-decades-of-honest-heartfelt-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Loretta Lynn: Eight Decades of Honest, Heartfelt Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:691973?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\"> by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/morrise\/\" title=\"Posts by Edward Morris\" rel=\"author\">Edward Morris<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\"><br \/>\n4m ago<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span> <\/p>\n<p>Is there anyone in the English-speaking universe who doesn\u2019t know by now that singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn was born \u201cin a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler\u201d and that her father supported his large family as coal miner and hillside farmer? <\/p>\n<p>The date that Loretta Webb \u2014 the second of eight children \u2014 arrived in that Kentucky cabin was April 14, 1932. When her father\u2019s mining job enabled him to buy the family a radio, she became obsessed with listening to music, particularly that being made by Grand Ole Opry stars.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2iy5SRi45QE?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2iy5SRi45QE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>In January 1948, when she was 15, she married World War II veteran Oliver \u201cMooney\u201d Lynn. Soon after, the young couple moved to Washington state where Mooney had found work. It was here that she launched the career that would make her world famous. In celebration of Lynn\u2019s 88th birthday, CMT.com presents this decade-by-decade chronicle of her achievements and honors.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>1950s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By the time she is 22, Lynn has given birth to four children. She has also impressed her husband with her singing and songwriting. He buys her a guitar, which she learns to play on her own. Gradually she moves from just entertaining her family to singing at community events. She forms a band, Loretta and the Trailblazers, that plays at area venues. Her performances inspire a local businessman to finance the recording of her first single, after seeing her perform on Buck Owen\u2019s television show out of Tacoma, Washington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aLQw6I5VCac?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aLQw6I5VCac?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>1960s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 1960, Lynn records her own composition, \u201cI\u2019m a Honky Tonk Girl\u201d for the Zero label. Traveling with vinyl singles and publicity photos (which show Loretta dressed in cowgirl regalia), she and Mooney set out on a barebones promotional tour of country radio stations. Given its humble origins, the song is a smashing success, rising all the way to No. 14 on the <em>Billboard<\/em> country charts. (In Ken Burns\u2019 Country Music documentary, Merle Haggard said he loved \u201cI\u2019m a Honky Tonk Girl\u201d and judged it to be \u201cthe best thing she\u2019s ever done.\u201d) <\/p>\n<p>The Lynns move to Nashville in 1961 and Loretta signs to Decca Records, a move that links her with her most fruitful producer, Owen Bradley. Her first single for Decca, \u201cSuccess\u201d in 1962, goes No. 6. That same year, she joins the Grand Ole Opry. Beginning in 1964, she teams up with her mentor and fellow Opry star, Ernest Tubb, for three studio albums and a series of singles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EIBfJrR0q-k?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EIBfJrR0q-k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although she continues to chart in the Top 5s and Top 10s, Lynn does not score her first No. 1 until 1967 (the song entered the charts in late 1966) via \u201cDon\u2019t Come Home a Drinkin\u2019 (With Lovin\u2019 on Your Mind)\u201d which she co-wrote with Peggy Sue Wills. In 1966, Lynn signs a music publishing contract with the Wilburn Brothers\u2019 Sure-Fire Music. <\/p>\n<p>That same year, the Lynns buy a 1200-acre tract of land that includes the village of Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. In 1967, Lynn wins the Country Music Association\u2019s female vocalist of the year award. Two more No. 1s singles lie ahead in this decade: \u201cFist City\u201d (1968) and \u201cWoman of the World (Leave My World Alone)\u201d (1969).<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3EE20H7aZ3k?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3EE20H7aZ3k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s during this era that Lynn establishes herself as the voice of the common woman \u2014 overworked, underappreciated but fiery in protecting what is hers. Her lyrical vehicles, along with the menacing \u201cFist City,\u201d include such in-your-face declarations as \u201cYou Ain\u2019t Woman Enough\u201d (1966) and \u201cYour Squaw Is on the Warpath\u201d (1968).<\/p>\n<p><strong>1970s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This decade opens with Lynn scoring a No. 1 with the song that will become her signature hit, \u201cCoal Miner\u2019s Daughter.\u201d In 1971, she and Conway Twitty win a CMA vocal duo trophy and a Grammy for their first charting single, \u201cAfter the Fire is Gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jlDqj9W2HPU?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jlDqj9W2HPU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>She will record 10 albums with Twitty and, during the \u201970s, they rack up the No. 1 singles \u201cLead Me On,\u201d \u201cLouisiana Woman, Mississippi Man,\u201d \u201cAs Soon as I Hang Up the Phone,\u201d and \u201cFeelins\u2019\u201d (1975). She and Twitty snag the CMA best vocal duo award every year from 1972 through 1975.<\/p>\n<p>As a solo artist, Lynn wins the CMA female vocalist trophy again in 1972 and 1973 and the entertainer of the year prize in 1972. The Lynns open a dude ranch and camping ground on their Hurricane Mills property in 1974. With her plainspoken single \u201cThe Pill\u201d in 1975 (which she didn\u2019t write), Lynn becomes a de facto champion of birth control and, implicitly, the sexual freedom that goes with it. The song creates a furor at radio, with many stations refusing to play it. Despite the opposition, it soars to No. 5. <\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Y5i9WUwNOg?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Y5i9WUwNOg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/em>, an autobiography co-written with <em>New York Times<\/em> reporter George Vecsey is one of the bestselling titles of 1976. <\/p>\n<p>Lynn scores the last No. 1 of her long career in 1978 (it was released in late 1977) with \u201cOut of My Head and Back in My Bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>1980s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/em>, the movie, is released in March 1980, with Sissy Spacek in the title role and Tommy Lee Jones playing Mooney. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, it wins a best actress honor for Spacek. Lynn continues to release singles, but with less success than in the previous decade.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-APTsGjLy6I?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-APTsGjLy6I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even so, she maintains a strong chart presence with Twitty through such offerings as \u201cIt\u2019s True Love,\u201d \u201cLovin\u2019 What Your Lovin\u2019 Does to Me,\u201d and \u201cI Still Believe in Waltzes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In 1982, she lands the No. 9 solo hit, \u201cI Lie,\u201d her final Top 10 hit. She\u2019s elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>1990s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lynn all but disappears from the singles chart during the \u201990s, the sole exception being \u201cSilver Thread and Golden Needles,\u201d a Grammy-nominated (but low-charting) single from her <em>Honky Tonk Angels<\/em> album with Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. The video features would-be suitors such as Chet Atkins, Rodney Crowell, Diamond Rio, Little Jimmy Dickens, Grandpa Jones, Ronnie Milsap, Bill Monroe (clearly Loretta\u2019s choice), Carl Perkins, Ricky Skaggs, and Marty Stuart.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VO4SYPRa3pI?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VO4SYPRa3pI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 1998, \u201cCoal Miner\u2019s Daughter\u201d is chosen for the Grammy Hall of Fame. During this decade, she grieves the loss of three significant figures in her life and career: Conway Twitty in 1993, Mooney Lynn in 1996, and Owen Bradley in 1998.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>2000s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lynn begins the new century with the release of the album <em>Still Country<\/em>. Then, in 2003, she is presented a Kennedy Center honor. But the big news comes in 2004 when she teams up with rock star and producer Jack White of the White Stripes for <em>Van Lear Rose<\/em>, an album of new material with all the songs written by Lynn, except for two she co-authored with White. <\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/3mheNcbxiCqs3EcN5DcCye\">open.spotify.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>It goes to No. 2 on the country charts and to No. 24 on the <em>Billboard<\/em> 200 all-genres rankings, making it the most successful crossover album in Lynn\u2019s career. \u201cPortland, Oregon\u201d nets Lynn and White a Grammy in 2005 for best country collaboration and <em>Van Lear Rose<\/em> picks up a Grammy for best country album. However, the album yields no chart singles.<\/p>\n<p>In 2001, she releases <em>You\u2019re Cookin\u2019 It Country: My Favorite Recipes and Memories<\/em>. The next year, working with author Patsi Bale Cox, Lynn hits the bookstores with <em>Still Woman Enough: A Memoir<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>2010s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lynn wins a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2010. The compilation <em>Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn<\/em> appears that same year. Lynn releases another book in 2012, <em>Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics<\/em>. In 2013, President Barack Obama presents Lynn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dfZxnILzN4c?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dfZxnILzN4c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>She rolls out the album <em>Full Circle<\/em> in 2016, with recordings from the Cash cabin produced by John Carter Cash. It contains the duets \u201cEverything It Takes\u201d (with Elvis Costello) and \u201cLay Me Down\u201d (with Willie Nelson). Lynn follows it in 2018 with <em>Wouldn\u2019t It Be Great<\/em>, which consists entirely of Lynn\u2019s solo compositions and co-writes. The title track is rewarded with her 18th Grammy nomination.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2019, shortly before her 87th birthday, Lynn\u2019s music is celebrated at Nashville\u2019s Bridgestone Arena by an all-star lineup that includes Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, George Strait, Tanya Tucker, Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies, Alan Jackson, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Brandy Clark, Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, Martina McBride and Jack White, as well as her youngest sister, Crystal Gayle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q5exMg1Mx94?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q5exMg1Mx94?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>2020s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lynn releases the single \u201cI Fall to Pieces\u201d as part of the promotion for her new book, <em>Me &amp; Patsy: Kickin\u2019 Up Dust \u2014 My Friendship With Patsy Cline<\/em>, a memoir she co-wrote with her daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell. The single is co-produced by Russell and John Carter Cash. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI Fall to Pieces,\u201d which was Cline\u2019s first No. 1 hit (in 1961), was the song Lynn sang to honor Cline that year when she made her first appearance on Ernest Tubb\u2019s Midnite Jamboree radio show. At the time, Cline was in the hospital recovering from a serious car accident and heard the broadcast, then beckoned for Lynn to come visit. It was the beginning of Lynn and Cline\u2019s legendary friendship.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JnoIjYln018?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JnoIjYln018?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p>Loretta Lynn is more than an artist. She\u2019s a cultural archive \u2014 one of the rapidly disappearing memories of how life in rural Appalachia was before the coming of the roads and television and the suburbanizing of America. In her songs we find the amber preserved images, attitudes and passions that have enabled country music to stand distinct in an increasingly homogenized world. <\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n<div class=\"description\"> Edward Morris is a veteran of country music journalism. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a frequent contributor to CMT.com. <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1820218\/loretta-lynn-eight-decades-of-honest-heartfelt-music\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Edward Morris 4m ago Is there anyone in the English-speaking universe who doesn\u2019t know by now that singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn was born \u201cin a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler\u201d and that her father supported his large family as coal miner and hillside farmer? The date that Loretta Webb \u2014 the second of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 21:24:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}