Maps of Music

Wings Upon Your Horns (1970)

Where the lyrics of Wings Upon Your Horns take you, and where it was really made.

Five of the album's songs were recorded at earlier sessions, the oldest in January 1967, while the rest were cut in a three-day run in October 1969.

Key places

Recording sessions at Bradley's Barn (1970)

Recording site Bradley's Barn — The album's recording sessions were held here on October 1, 2, and 3, 1969, in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Wings Upon Your Horns, also known as Here's Loretta Singing "Wings Upon Your Horns"
• Fifteenth solo studio album by American country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn
• Released January 5, 1970 by Decca Records
• Its only single, "Wings Upon Your Horns", was released in October 1969

Background

• The title track was the album's only single and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart
• The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country LP chart

Recording

• Sessions took place on October 1, 2, and 3, 1969, at Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee
• Five tracks came from earlier sessions
• Big Ole Hurt was recorded on January 18, 1967, for the album Singin' with Feelin'
• This Stranger (My Little Girl) and I Only See the Things I Want to See were recorded on August 30 and November 19, 1968, for Your Squaw Is on the Warpath
• When I Reach the Bottom (You'd Better Be There) and You Wouldn't Know an Angel (If You Saw One) were recorded on April 2 and May 14, 1969, for Woman of the World/To Make a Man
• Owen Bradley produced the album
• Loretta Lynn sang lead vocals, with The Jordanaires providing background vocals
• Personnel details are adapted from the album liner notes and Decca recording session records

Sources: en.wikipedia.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 (January 24, 1970 issue): toil and jilted love are the main themes of nearly all the songs on the LP
• Billboard: names I'm Dynamite, When I Reach the Bottom, and This Big Ole Hurt as other strong tracks
• Billboard: notes Loretta Lynn wrote or helped write seven of the songs
• Cash Box (January 17 issue): calls the album up to the artist's perennially high standards
• Cash Box: says the album should do as well as, if not better than, her previous LP releases

Records

• Peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country LP chart
• Peaked at No. 146 on the Billboard Top LP chart
• Its only single, Wings Upon Your Horns, peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Five of the album's tracks were recorded at earlier sessions, the oldest on January 18, 1967.
• Discogs lists MCA Inc. as a record company alongside Decca Records.
• The album is also known as Here's Loretta Singing "Wings Upon Your Horns".
• The album's only single came out in October 1969, months before the album's release.
• Owen Bradley is credited as producer on the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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