Maps of Music

Country Christmas (1966)

Where the lyrics of Country Christmas take you, and where it was really made.

Lynn's first Christmas album charted nowhere, and she did not make another Christmas album until 2016.

Key places

Recording sessions at Bradley's Barn (1966)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — The album was recorded in sessions on July 7, 13, and 15, 1966, at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The point marks the town, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Country Christmas: eighth solo studio album and first Christmas album by Loretta Lynn
• Released October 17, 1966 by Decca Records
• Discogs lists the original Decca release (DL 4817) with a date of October 10, 1966
• Includes four original compositions by Lynn
• Also includes popular holiday songs such as Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, White Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman
• Reissued on CD by MCA Records in 2005 as part of the 20th Century Masters series, under the title The Christmas Collection: The Best of Loretta Lynn, with modified cover art

Background

• Lynn's next Christmas album did not arrive until 2016, with White Christmas Blue, 50 years later
• The album appeared during the period when Lynn was recording as a solo country artist with Decca

Recording

• Recording sessions took place on July 7, 13, and 15, 1966
• Sessions were held at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Owen Bradley produced the album
• Session players listed in the Decca records include Harold Bradley, Fred Carter Jr., Floyd Cramer, Buddy Harman, Junior Huskey, Grady Martin, Hal Rugg, Jon Corneal, and The Jordanaires as background vocalists

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · fr.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 reviewed the album in the issue dated October 29, 1966
• Billboard praised the album's beautiful songs, including the title track and Away in a Manger, calling them great programming material for country music stations
• Billboard said the album would create high sales
• Billboard said the Manger tune deserved a single
• Billboard called it possibly Lynn's best effort to date

Records

• The album did not appear on any music charts
• The only single, To Heck with Ole Santa Claus, was released in November 1966 and did not chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lynn's next Christmas album came 50 years later, in 2016, with White Christmas Blue
• The Italian album notes credit Mae Boren Axton with the liner notes of the original album
• The Discogs credits list Doug Schwartz as the remastering engineer for a later release, done at Mulholland Music
• The album's sessions were split across three July 1966 dates, with different songs recorded on each day

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · it.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact