Maps of Music

I Wanna Be Free (1971)

Where the lyrics of I Wanna Be Free take you, and where it was really made.

The album's only single went to No. 1 on Canada's RPM Country Singles chart but reached only No. 94 on the US Hot 100.

Key places

Bradley's Barn, where the sessions began (1970)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — Recording sessions for I Wanna Be Free began on November 25, 1970 at Bradley's Barn studio in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Two more sessions followed on March 29 and 30, 1971. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I Wanna Be Free: seventeenth solo studio album by American country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released May 3, 1971 by Decca Records
• The album's only single, "I Wanna Be Free", was released in February 1971
• The title track was a current country hit when the album came out

Background

• The single peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• The single peaked at No. 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart
• In Canada, the single peaked at No. 1 on the RPM Country Singles chart

Recording

• Recording sessions began on November 25, 1970 at Bradley's Barn studio in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Two additional sessions followed on March 29 and March 30, 1971
• Four songs were recorded during earlier sessions for other albums
• "I'm One Man's Woman" was recorded on May 14, 1969 for Woman of the World/To Make a Man
• "Drive You Out of My Mind" was recorded on October 2, 1969 for Wings Upon Your Horns
• "If I Never Love Again (It Will Be Too Soon)" was recorded on April 9, 1970 for Coal Miner's Daughter
• "When You Leave My World" was recorded on July 14, 1970 for Coal Miner's Daughter
• Owen Bradley is credited as producer
• Musicians include Harold Bradley (electric bass), Buddy Harman (drums), Grady Martin (guitar), Hal Rugg (steel guitar) and The Jordanaires (background 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 (May 22, 1971 issue) said the album "spotlights her current country hit", the title single
• Billboard named versions of "Help Me Make It Through the Night", "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Rose Garden" as excellent
• Billboard named "Drive You Out of My Mind" and "I'm One Man's Woman" as standouts among the originals
• Cash Box (May 15, 1971 issue) said the album was likely to rise to the top of the country charts as fast as the single
• Cash Box said maintaining popularity through records and live appearances is the hardest task for a popular recording artist, and said Lynn had found it no task at all
• Cash Box listed "Me and Bobby McGee", "When You're Poor", "See That Mountain" and "Put Your Hand in the Hand" among the tracks

Records

• US Billboard Hot Country LP chart: peaked at No. 5
• US Billboard Top LP's chart: peaked at No. 110
• Single "I Wanna Be Free": No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• Single "I Wanna Be Free": No. 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart
• Single "I Wanna Be Free": No. 1 on the RPM Country Singles chart in Canada

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's Italian track listing credits "Me and Bobby McGee" to Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster; it was recorded on March 29, 1971 at Bradley's Barn
• The LP side listing shows six tracks on side A and five on side B, eleven tracks in total
• Teddy Wilburn is credited with the liner notes for the original release
• Two of the four earlier-session songs were recorded for Coal Miner's Daughter, a 1971 album

Sources: it.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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