Maps of Music

Love Is the Foundation (1973)

Where the lyrics of Love Is the Foundation take you, and where it was really made.

The album went to No. 1 on the US Hot Country LP chart, but on the wider Top LP & Tape chart it reached only No. 183.

Key places

Recording sessions at Bradley's Barn (1973)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — Recording sessions for the album took place at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, starting March 5, 1973, with further sessions on March 27 and 28 and an extra session on May 31. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Love Is the Foundation: twenty-third solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released August 13, 1973 by MCA Records
• Recorded at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Credited personnel include producer Owen Bradley and a group of Nashville session players

Background

• Released during Lynn's long run of solo albums, this one was her twenty-third studio album
• Its first single, Love Is the Foundation, reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• Second single Hey Loretta followed in October 1973
• The track list includes Kristofferson's Why Me and Shel Silverstein's Hey Loretta

Recording

• Recording sessions took place at Bradley's Barn on March 5, 27 and 28, 1973
• One additional session followed on May 31
• Five Fingers Left, a song Lynn wrote herself, was recorded earlier, on December 8, 1969, for the album Loretta Lynn Writes 'Em and Sings 'Em
• Harold Bradley and Billy Linneman played bass, Buddy Harman and Willie Ackerman drums, Lloyd Green and Hal Rugg steel guitar
• Charlie McCoy played harmonica and vibes, and The Jordanaires sang background vocals

Cover

• Photography credited to Lawrence Fried

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, in its August 25, 1973 issue, said: "For the never-ending stream of Loretta Lynn fans, here's another fine album to add to her never-ending string of good ones."
• Billboard named What Sundown Does to You, Hey Loretta and You're Still Lovin' Me as the best cuts
• Cashbox, in its August 25 issue, said: "This is the sort of album you put on the turntable and walk away."
• Cashbox called What Sundown Does to You a heavy mover and described Satin Sheets as a case where Lynn's vocals pull the listener in
• Cashbox called Five Fingers Left a very strong personal statement

Records

• US Billboard Hot Country LP chart: No. 1
• US Billboard Top LP & Tape chart: No. 183
• Love Is the Foundation: No. 1 on the US Hot Country Singles chart
• Hey Loretta: No. 3 on the US Hot Country Singles chart
• Love Is the Foundation: No. 1 on the RPM Country Singles chart in Canada
• Hey Loretta: No. 1 on the RPM Country Singles chart in Canada

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Five Fingers Left, written by Lynn herself, was recorded in 1969, about four years before this album came out
• Hey Loretta is a Shel Silverstein song that appears on the album
• Lynn also recorded Kristofferson's Why Me for this album
• The album's first single hit No. 1 on the US country singles chart, while the second single reached No. 3 there and No. 1 in Canada

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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