Maps of Music

Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be (1965)

Where the lyrics of Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be take you, and where it was really made.

The title song was released in June 1964, more than a year before the album came out, and it became the duo's biggest hit.

Key places

Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville (1965)

Recording site Nashville — The album was recorded over four sessions at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, starting March 10, 1964. The point marks the city centre, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be: the first collaborative studio album by American country singers Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn
• Released August 2, 1965 by Decca Records
• Produced by Owen Bradley
• Twelve tracks across two LP sides, Lato A and Lato B

Background

• Title single “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be” released June 1964, peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• Second single “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands” released May 1965, peaked at No. 24
• Album debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Albums chart dated October 9, 1965
• Album later peaked at No. 13 on the chart dated October 30
• Album spent a total of 10 weeks on the chart

Recording

• Recording took place over four sessions at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning March 10, 1964
• Three additional sessions followed on January 12, 18, and 19, 1965
• Credited musicians include Leon Rhodes, Jerry Shook, and Cal Smith on guitar
• Buddy Charleton on steel guitar, Bill Pursell and Jerry Smith on piano, Jack Drake on bass, Jack Greene on drums
• Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn share lead vocals on the album

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 (August 14, 1965 issue): called the album a pairing of two of country music's greatest names and predicted a great sales explosion
• Billboard singled out the title track as a real tearjerker, along with “A Dear John Letter” and “Just Between the Two of Us”

Records

• Billboard Hot Country Albums: debuted at No. 20 (October 9, 1965), peaked at No. 13 (October 30), 10 weeks on chart
• Billboard Hot Country Singles: “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be” peaked at No. 11, the duo's biggest hit
• “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands” peaked at No. 24

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title single came out in June 1964, more than a year before the album's August 1965 release.
• “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be” was the biggest hit the duo would achieve.
• The album's first recording session began March 10, 1964, at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville.
• The second single, “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands”, was released in May 1965 and peaked at No. 24.
• The Italian Wikipedia track listing divides the album into Lato A and Lato B, with each side listing songs and their recording dates.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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