Maps of Music

Entertainer of the Year (1973)

Where the lyrics of Entertainer of the Year take you, and where it was really made.

The album takes its title from an award Loretta Lynn won the year before, and three of its songs were recorded in sessions held years earlier.

Key places

Bradley's Barn, Mount Juliet (1973)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — The album's recording sessions took place on August 21 and December 12, 1972, at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The marker shows the site at the coordinates of the place. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Entertainer of the Year: 22nd solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released February 26, 1973 by MCA Records
• Lynn's first album with MCA after Decca was consolidated into the MCA label
• Titled after the Entertainer of the Year award Lynn received from the Country Music Association the previous year
• Lynn became the first woman to win that award

Background

• The title comes from the CMA award of the previous year, which made Lynn the first woman to win it
• The album was Lynn's first release on MCA following Decca's consolidation into MCA

Recording

• Recording sessions held August 21 and December 12, 1972, at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Three songs were recorded during earlier sessions
• "Hanky Panky Woman" was recorded August 19, 1970, for Coal Miner's Daughter (1970)
• "Rated X" comes from the August 24, 1971, session and is the only one of the three songs ever released
• "Legend in My Mind" was recorded April 25, 1972, for Here I Am Again (1972)
• Owen Bradley produced the album
• The Jordanaires sang background vocals
• Charlie McCoy played harmonica and vibes

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 (March 10, 1973 issue): said the album remarkably shows Lynn as a blues singer, with superb blues on a few cuts
• Billboard named "Hanky Panky Woman", "I'm All He's Got", and "Possessions" as the best cuts
• Cashbox (March 17 issue): said Lynn could claim to be the entertainer of any year, continuing her tradition of recording the best country material
• Cashbox named "Rated X", "Legend in My Mind", "Hanky Panky Woman", and "Possessions" as highlights
• Cashbox called the album a sure-fire winner

Records

• Peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country LP chart
• Only single "Rated X" released November 1972, peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• "Rated X" also peaked at No. 1 in Canada on the RPM Country Singles chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Of the three songs recorded in earlier sessions, only "Rated X" was ever released
• "Legend in My Mind" was recorded April 25, 1972, during a session for Here I Am Again (1972)
• "Hanky Panky Woman" was recorded August 19, 1970, during a session for Coal Miner's Daughter (1970)
• The album's single "Rated X" was released November 1972 and reached the top of the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• Main recording sessions took place at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact