Maps of Music

I Like 'Em Country (1966)

Where the lyrics of I Like 'Em Country take you, and where it was really made.

Loretta Lynn wrote only one of the twelve songs on this country album, which is built mostly from other artists' hits.

Key places

Recording began at Columbia Studios in Nashville (1965)

Recording site Nashville — Recording for the album began on November 15, 1965 at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Two more sessions followed on January 6 and 13, 1966. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I Like 'Em Country is the sixth solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released March 28, 1966 by Decca Records
• The album has twelve tracks, six on side A and six on side B
• Only one song on the album was written by Lynn: "Dear Uncle Sam"
• The rest are covers of other artists' hits

Background

• Covers include Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" and Johnny Cash's "Cry, Cry, Cry"
• The first single, "The Home You're Tearin' Down", was released in July 1965
• The second single, "Dear Uncle Sam", was released in December 1965 and became Lynn's own song on the record
• The album combines new recordings with songs taken from earlier sessions

Recording

• Recording began on November 15, 1965 at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
• Two more sessions followed on January 6 and 13, 1966
• Three songs came from sessions for earlier albums: "Go On and Go" (February 26, 1964, for Before I'm Over You), "The Home You're Tearin' Down" (March 4, 1965, for Blue Kentucky Girl), and "Today Has Been a Day" (October 15, 1964, for Songs from My Heart)
• Owen Bradley produced the album
• Session players included Grady Martin, Floyd Cramer, Harold Bradley, and Buddy Harman, and The Jordanaires sang backing vocals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.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 its April 9, 1966 issue
• Billboard said "Dear Uncle Sam" had been a big hit for Lynn and that this album, which contains the song, should leap onto the Hot Country Albums Chart
• Billboard praised the stereo sound
• Billboard said Lynn comes through in fine style on country standards, naming "Jealous Heart", "It's Been So Long, Darling", and "Your Cheatin' Heart"

Records

• Debuted at No. 27 on the US Billboard Hot Country Albums chart dated April 23, 1966
• Peaked at No. 2 on the chart dated June 4
• Spent 29 weeks on the chart, 14 of them in the top 10
• The first single, "The Home You're Tearin' Down", was released in July 1965 and peaked at No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• The second single, "Dear Uncle Sam", was released in December 1965 and peaked at No. 4

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Dear Uncle Sam" is the only song on the album written by Lynn, and it was also released as the second single.
• Three songs on the album were taken from sessions for earlier albums rather than recorded for this one.
• "Go On and Go" dates from a February 26, 1964 session for the album Before I'm Over You.
• "Today Has Been a Day" dates from an October 15, 1964 session for the album Songs from My Heart.
• "The Home You're Tearin' Down" was recorded on March 4, 1965 for Blue Kentucky Girl and became the first single from this album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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