Maps of Music

Coal Miner's Daughter (1970)

Where the lyrics of Coal Miner's Daughter take you, and where it was really made.

The title song was first recorded for an earlier album, and the album title later named Lynn's best-selling autobiography and a 1980 Oscar-winning film.

Key places

Recording sessions at Bradley's Barn (1970)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — Most sessions for the album were held at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 1970. Some tracks were recorded at earlier sessions in 1969 for other albums. The point uses the building coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Coal Miner's Daughter: sixteenth solo studio album by American country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released January 4, 1971 by Decca Records
• The title song became Lynn's signature song
• The album and song title were later used for Lynn's best-selling autobiography
• The same title was used for the 1980 Oscar-winning movie starring Sissy Spacek
• Rolling Stone later ranked the album No. 440 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Background

• The album's only single was the title track, released in October 1970
• The title song reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• The song's story is about Lynn and her father, a coal miner in Kentucky
• Owen Bradley produced the album

Recording

• Sessions took place at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Session dates were April 9, July 14 and 15, and August 19, 1970
• Five of the eleven tracks were recorded during sessions for earlier albums
• The title song was recorded during the October 1, 1969 session for Wings Upon Your Horns (1970)
• It'll Be Open Season on You was recorded on May 28, 1969, for an earlier album session
• Three songs were recorded for Loretta Lynn Writes 'Em and Sings 'Em (1970), on December 22 and 23, 1969
• Lead vocals by Loretta Lynn; Owen Bradley credited as producer
• Musicians on the sessions included Grady Martin, Ray Edenton, Hal Rugg, Hargus Robbins, Harold Bradley, Buddy Harman and The Jordanaires

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, the oldest daughter in a coal miner's family.
• Married Oliver Vanetta "Doolittle" Lynn in 1948 at age 15; the marriage lasted almost 50 years until his death in 1996.
• Began singing in local clubs in the late 1950s and formed her own band, the Trailblazers.

Career

• Signed with Zero Records in 1960; her first release was "Whispering Sea" and "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl".
• Joined Decca Records through the Wilburn Brothers; joined the Grand Ole Opry on September 25, 1962.
• Scored a string of hits from the 1960s, including "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" and "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin'".
• Wrote songs on women's issues such as birth control ("The Pill") and double standards ("Rated 'X'"), many inspired by her own marriage.
• Recorded five No. 1 duets with Conway Twitty between 1971 and 1975.
• Her 1976 autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter became a bestseller and inspired the 1980 Oscar-winning film starring Sissy Spacek.
• Named Artist of the Decade for the 1970s by the Academy of Country Music, the only woman to win this honor.
• Released Van Lear Rose (2004), produced by Jack White, which won the Grammy for Best Country Album.
• Had a stroke in 2017 and broke her hip in 2018, which ended her touring after 57 years.
• Died on October 4, 2022, at age 90, at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard praised the album as a great package by Loretta Lynn, done in a distinctive style that keeps true country flavor
• Billboard named the title track, 'Less of Me' and 'The Man of the House' as typical of the set
• Cash Box called Lynn a writer as well as an interpreter of feelings and emotions
• Cash Box described the title track as the true story of Loretta and her father, a coal miner in Kentucky
• Record World praised the cover and singing and said the world needed an all-Loretta-penned album

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone placed the album at No. 440 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Records

• Peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot Country LP chart
• Peaked at No. 81 on the US Billboard Top LP chart
• RIAA certified Gold in 1983 for 500,000 copies shipped, Lynn's third Gold album
• The only single, the title track, released October 1970, peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• The title track reached No. 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the RPM Country Singles chart in Canada

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title song was recorded during the October 1, 1969 session for Wings Upon Your Horns, which came out in 1970.
• Five of the eleven tracks came from earlier album sessions rather than this one.
• Three songs came from sessions for Loretta Lynn Writes 'Em and Sings 'Em, recorded in December 1969.
• Cash Box described the title track as the true story of Loretta and her father, a coal miner in Kentucky.
• The album title later named Lynn's best-selling autobiography and the 1980 film starring Sissy Spacek.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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