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Still Country

Additional Information
Original Release:	2000
Description:	Performer/Country/Nashville Sound
Engineer:	Ron "Snake" Reynolds; Bob Bullock
Producer:	Randy Scruggs; Randy Scruggs
Pieces in Set:	1
Rec/Edit/Dub:	n/a
Recorded In:	Stereo
Studio/Live:	Studio

Biography

b. Loretta Webb, 14 April 1935, Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, USA. Lynn is a coalminer`s daughter, being the second of the eight children of Ted and Clara Webb. She is one-quarter Cherokee and her name came from her mother`s fondness for movie star Loretta Young. She was raised in a small shack during the Depression and was attracted to country music as an 11-year-old, when the family acquired a radio and she heard the singing of Molly O`Day. Her autobiography tells of her makeshift wardrobe and how, at the age of 13, she married a serviceman, Oliver Vanetta Lynn (b. 27 August 1926, d. 22 August 1996), known to his friends as Doolittle or Mooney (short for Moonshine). He took her to Custer, Washington, and she had four children and several miscarriages by the time she was 18. They had six children in all and Lynn was a grandmother at the age of 29. Mooney, recognizing her talent, encouraged her to sing in local clubs and her band, the Trailblazers, included her brother, Jay Lee Webb (b. Willie Lee Webb, 12 February 1937, Van Lear, Kentucky, USA, d. 1 July 1996), on guitar.
Lynn`s talent was recognized by Don Grashey of Zero Records, who took her to Los Angeles in February 1960 where she recorded four of her own songs. Zero had no money for promotion so she and Mooney promoted `I`m A Honky Tonk Girl` themselves, the song taking its style from Kitty Wells` `It Wasn`t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels`. Mooney said that `they drove 80,000 miles to sell 50,000 copies`, but it reached number 14 in the US country charts and enabled her to appear regularly on the Grand Ole Opry. Many female singers were jealous of her success, but Patsy Cline sprang to her defence and they became close friends (Lynn released a tribute album to her in 1977). When they moved to Nashville, she became a regular on a weekly television show with the Wilburn Brothers, who also managed her. Wells and Cline were two of her major influences and she was pleased to be assigned to their producer, Owen Bradley, by USA Decca Records. `Success`, her second country hit, peaked at number 6 in 1962, and she had further hits with `Before I`m Over You` and `Blue Kentucky Girl`. She then developed a hard-hitting persona as the wife who stood no nonsense from her rivals (`You Ain`t Woman Enough`, `Fist City`) or her husband (her first country number 1, `Don`t Come Home A-Drinkin` (With Lovin` On Your Mind)` from 1966, `Your Squaw Is On The Warpath`). Her best-known record, the autobiographical `Coal Miner`s Daughter`, was a US country number 1 in 1970. Shel Silverstein, ironically a Playboy cartoonist, wrote `One`s On The Way` in which she was harassed by her children and an insensitive husband. She answered Tammy Wynette`s `Stand By Your Man` in 1975 with the double standards of `The Pill`, which was banned by several US radio stations. By way of contrast, she subsequently had a country hit with `Pregnant Again`.
Although her first duets were with Ernest Tubb, Lynn formed a regular team with Conway Twitty and the combination of the two distinctive voices worked well, especially in `After The Fire Is Gone`, `As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone`, `The Letter` and the amusingly-titled `You`re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly`. When she fell out with the Wilburn Brothers, she formed United Talent Inc. with Twitty. As the brothers still owned her publishing, she was reluctant to record her own material, although subsequently she was elected to the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame. In 1972, Lynn was the first woman to become the Country Music Association`s Entertainer Of The Year and she also shared the Vocal Duo Of The Year award with Twitty. In 1973, she made the cover of Newsweek and was the first woman in country music to become a millionaire. However, she met with little UK success and some of her UK releases sold less than 200 copies. Her bestselling autobiography, Coal Miner`s Daughter, showed how the human spirit could combat poverty and sickness, but also illustrated that the problems of endless touring could be as traumatic. Lynn`s musicians call her `Mom` and share their problems with her.
Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her portrayal of Lynn, which included reproducing her singing, in the 1980 movie Coal Miner`s Daughter; which also featured Tommy Lee Jones as her husband and Levon Helm of the Band as her father. Her country music success includes 16 number 1 singles, 60 other hits, 15 number 1 albums and numerous awards, but she has never sought pop success. Her last Top 10 single was `I Lie` in 1982. She owns a huge ranch 70 miles outside of Nashville, which has the whole town of Hurricane Mills in its grounds. Another part of the property, the Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch, is a tourist attraction with camping facilities.
Despite her prolific output from the 60s through to the late 80s, little was heard of Lynn in the 90s, although she teamed up with Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton for 1993`s Honky Tonk Angels album. To quote Roy Acuff, `A song delivered from Loretta is from the deepest part of her heart.` She received the Legend Award at 1996`s 3rd Annual Country Music Awards, the same year that Mooney passed away. Lynn returned to songwriting to quell her grief, and recorded her first new album in over 12 years, Still Country, with long-time friend Randy Scruggs. She teamed up with Jack White of the White Stripes to record the excellent 2004 follow-up, Van Lear Rose, Lynn`s first entirely self-written album.
DISCOGRAPHY: Sings (Decca 1963)***, Before I`m Over You (Decca 1964)***, Songs From My Heart (Decca 1965)****, Blue Kentucky Girl (Decca 1965)****, Hymns (Decca 1965)**, with Ernest Tubb Mr. And Mrs. Used To Be (Decca 1965)****, I Like `Em Country (Decca 1966)***, You Ain`t Woman Enough (Decca 1966)****, A Country Christmas (Decca 1966)**, Ernest Tubb & Loretta Lynn Singin` Again (Decca 1967)****, Don`t Come Home A-Drinkin` (Decca 1967)***, Singin` With Feelin` (Decca 1967)***, Who Says God Is Dead (Decca 1968)***, Fist City (Decca 1968)***, Your Squaw Is On The Warpath (Decca 1969)***, A Woman Of The World/To Make A Man (Decca 1969)***, with Tubb If We Put Our Heads Together (Decca 1969)****, Here`s Loretta Singing `Wings Upon Your Horns` (Decca 1970)***, Loretta Writes `Em And Sings `Em (Decca 1970)***, Coal Miner`s Daughter (Decca 1971)****, I Want To Be Free (Decca 1971)****, You`re Lookin` At Country (Decca 1971)***, with Conway Twitty We Only Make Believe (Decca 1971)****, with Twitty Lead Me On (Decca 1971)***, One`s On The Way (Decca 1972)***, God Bless America Again (Decca 1972)***, Alone With You (Decca 1972)***, Here I Am Again (Decca 1972)***, Entertainer Of The Year (MCA 1973)****, with Twitty Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man (MCA 1973)***, Love Is The Foundation (MCA 1973)***, They Don`t Make `Em Like My Daddy (MCA 1974)***, with Twitty Country Partners (MCA 1974)***, with Twitty Feelins` (MCA 1975)***, Back To The Country (MCA 1975)***, Home (MCA 1975)***, When The Tingle Becomes A Chill (MCA 1976)***, Somebody Somewhere (MCA 1976)***, On The Road With Loretta And The Coal Miners (MCA 1976)**, with Twitty United Talent (MCA 1976)***, I Remember Patsy (MCA 1977)***, with Twitty Dynamic Duo (MCA 1977)***, Out Of My Head And Back In My Bed (MCA 1978)***, with Twitty Honky Tonk Heroes (MCA 1978)***, Greatest Hits Live (K-Tel 1978)***, with Twitty Diamond Duet (MCA 1979)***, We`ve Come A Long Way Baby (MCA 1979)***, Loretta (MCA 1980)***, Lookin` Good (MCA 1980)***, with Twitty Two`s A Party (MCA 1981)***, Making Love From Memory (MCA 1982)***, I Lie (MCA 1982)***, Lyin`, Cheatin`, Woman Chasin`, Honky Tonkin`, Whiskey Drinkin` You (MCA 1983)***, Just A Woman (MCA 1985)***, with Twitty Making Believe (MCA 1988)***, Who Was That Stranger (MCA 1989)***, with Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton Honky Tonk Angels (Columbia 1993)***, Still Country (Audium 2000)***, Van Lear Rose (Interscope 2004)****.
COMPILATIONS: Loretta Lynn`s Greatest Hits (Decca 1968)***, Here`s Loretta Lynn (Vocalion 1968)***, The Ernest Tubb/Loretta Lynn Story (MCA 1973)****, Greatest Hits Volume 2 (MCA 1974)***, with Twitty The Very Best Of Conway And Loretta (MCA 1979)****, Great Country Hits (MCA 1985)***, Golden Greats (MCA 1986)***, 20 Greatest Hits (MCA 1987)***, The Very Best Of Loretta Lynn (Platinum 1988)***, The Country Music Hall Of Fame: Lorette Lynn (MCA 1991)****, Coal Miner`s Daughter: The Best Of ... (Music Collection 1993)***, Honky Tonk Girl: Collection 3-CD box set (MCA 1994)****, The Very Best Of Loretta Lynn (Half Moon 1997)***, The Best Of Loretta Lynn: The Millennium Collection (MCA Nashville 1999)****, The Best Of Loretta Lynn Volume 2: The Millennium Collection (MCA Nashville 2001)***, All Time Greatest Hits (MCA 2002)****, The Gospel Spirit (MCA 2004)**, The Definitive Collection (MCA Nashville 2005)****, Gold (MCA Nashville 2006)****, Chronicles (Mercury Nashville 2006)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Live (MSD 1988), Loretta Lynn (Telstar Video 1992).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Story Of Loretta Lynn, Robert K. Krishef. Loretta Lynn`s World Of Music: Including An Annotated Discography, Laurence J. Zwisohn. Coal Miner`s Daughter, Loretta Lynn with George Vecsey. Still Woman Enough: A Memoir, Loretta Lynn with Patsi Bale Cox.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright 2007 by Muze Inc.; all rights reserved.

Additional Notes

Personnel: Loretta Lynn (vocals); Loretta Lynn; Randy Scruggs (guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, banjo); Lloyd Maines (guitar, steel guitar); Dan Dugmore (electric guitar, steel guitar); Steve Gibson (electric guitar); Glen Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); John Hobbs (mandolin, piano, synthesizer); Glenn Worf (upright bass, acoustic bass guitar, electric bass, bass guitar); Ron Reynolds (percussion); Chris Young, Curits Young, Carolyn Dawn Johnson (background vocals); Earl Scruggs (banjo); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Dennis Wilson , Matraca Berg, Liana Manis (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Ron Reynolds.
Recording information: SCruggs Sound Studio, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Peter Nash.
Loretta Lynn`s first album in 12 years found her using music as a catharsis for the tragedies she`d been dealing with at the time, including the deaths of her son and husband. Produced by Randy Scruggs, STILL COUNTRY finds Lynn in fine voice as she pours herself into the Scruggs-penned `On My Own Again,` and the equally pathos-soaked `Table for Two,` which both allude to the 1996 passing of husband and mentor Mooney. But it`s on the poignant `I Can`t Hear the Music` where Lynn can be heard openly grieving.
Balancing out the sad songs are those in which Lynn displays her spunk. The best examples are the first single, `Country in My Genes` (an update of her 1960 breakthrough smash `I`m a Honky Tonk Girl`), featuring fellow country legend Earl Scruggs (Randy`s father) on banjo, and an equally upbeat version of Rhonda Vincent`s optimistic `The Blues Ain`t Workin` on Me.` Other highlights include a bright and shiny cover of John Prine`s `Somewhere Someone`s Falling in Love,` and the high lonesome twang of the autobiographical `God`s Country,` penned by Lynn herself.