Cross-posted at The Daily Music Break. Visit to hear great music, regardless of era or genre.
Loretta Lynn a place in the broader culture during a time when country music had far less general appeal than it has today with the success of the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter," which was based on her autobiography. The 1980 film stared Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones and Levon Helm, who apparently could do anything well that he put his mind to.
Lynn was a true queen of country music. Here is part of her profile at AllMusic:
Loretta Lynn is one of the classic country singers. During the '60s and '70s, she ruled the charts, racking up over 70 hits as a solo artist and a duet partner. Lynn helped forge the way for strong, independent women in country music. As told by her song (and movie and book), Loretta Lynn is a coal miner's daughter, born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, in 1932. As a child, she sang in church and a variety of local concerts. In January 1949, she married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn. She was 13 years old at the time. Following their marriage, the couple moved to Custer, Washington, where they raised four children. (Continue Reading...)
Lynn didn't shy away from speaking--or singing--her mind, however. Wikipedia's profile suggests that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind:
Lynn focused on blue-collar women's issues with themes about philandering husbands and persistent mistresses, and pushed boundaries in the conservative genre of country music by singing about birth control ("The Pill"), repeated childbirth ("One's on the Way"), double standards for men and women ("Rated "X""), and being widowed by the draft during the Vietnam War ("Dear Uncle Sam"). Country music radio stations often refused to play her music, banning nine of her songs; but Lynn pushed on to become "The First Lady of Country Music". In 1980, her best-selling 1976 autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter was made into an Academy Award-winning film, Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones. Her most recent album, Van Lear Rose, released in 2004, was produced by fellow musician Jack White; it topped the country album charts. Lynn and White were nominated for five Grammys and won two. (Continue Reading...)
Above is "Coal Miners Daughter" and below is another hit, "You're Lookin' at Country." Here are a fan's top ten songs.