Maps of Music

Hymns (1965)

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

Loretta Lynn's first gospel album reached No. 10 on the Billboard country albums chart, even though its only single never charted.

Key places

Recording site RCA Studio B — The album was recorded at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3, 7 and 8, 1965. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Hymns: fifth solo studio album by American country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
First gospel album of Lynn's career
Released November 15, 1965, by Decca Records
Contains 12 gospel and inspirational songs
Some songs were popular for years; others were written by Lynn for this album
Includes well-known Christian songs 'How Great Thou Art' and 'In the Sweet By and By'

Built from familiar hymns and new songs written for the record
Its only single, 'Everybody Want to Go to Heaven', came out in November 1965 and did not chart
Owen Bradley produced the album
Mae Boren Axton wrote the liner notes

Recorded June 3, 7 and 8, 1965, at RCA Victor Studio in Nashville, Tennessee
Loretta Lynn sang lead vocals
Session players included Floyd Cramer on piano, Grady Martin and Wayne Moss on guitar, and Buddy Harman on drums

1	Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven	2:23
2	Where No One Stands Alone	2:48
3	When They Ring Those Golden Bells	3:09
4	(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley	2:53
5	If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again	2:17
6	The Third Man	3:26
7	How Great Thou Art	2:57
8	Old Camp Meetin’ Time	2:06
9	When I Hear My Children Pray	2:34
10	In the Sweet Bye and Bye	2:22
11	Where I Learned to Pray	2:45
12	I’d Rather Have Jesus	2:39

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.

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.

Billboard reviewed the album in its issue dated November 27, 1965
The review said Lynn does whatever she does to perfection, and this program of heartfelt performances shows that
Billboard named 'Where No One Stands Alone' and 'Peace in the Valley' as two exceptional examples of the feel and tenderness she brings to this music
The review said the album was destined for a high spot on the LP chart

Debuted at No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot Country Albums chart dated January 22, 1966
Peaked at No. 10 on the chart dated February 12, 1966
Spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart
Its only single, 'Everybody Want to Go to Heaven', released in November 1965, did not chart

The album's tracks were recorded on three separate days in June 1965, not in one session.
'How Great Thou Art' is credited to Stuart K. Hine, and 'Where No One Stands Alone' to Mosie Lister.
Mae Boren Axton wrote the album's liner notes.
Buddy Harman, Junior Huskey and Owen Bradley are among the musicians and production credits listed for the sessions.
The single 'Everybody Want to Go to Heaven' came out a few weeks before the album and never reached the charts.