Loretta
Lynn was born in Butcher Hollow, KY, on April 14, 1934. The second of
eight children born to Ted and Clara Webb, Loretta was welcomed with open
arms by the young couple. With her parents blessing and encouragement,
young Loretta soon found her voice and a place where it would be appreciated.
During the first twelve years of her life, she sang in churches and at
a variety of local concerts.
At age thirteen, Loretta married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn. Within
the first few months of marriage, Mooney and Loretta's brother, Jay
Lee Web, Jr., hitchhiked to Washington looking for work. Thirteen year
old pregnant Loretta stayed behind until Mooney sent money and a train
ticket several months later.
Settled into a new state, fourteen year old Loretta gave birth to her
first child, Betty Sue, in Custer, WA. As a young mother and housewife,
Loretta stopped singing publicly, and shared her passion for music with
her young daughter, singing to her regularly.
By the time she was seventeen, Loretta had four children. Inspired by
his wife's vocal abilities, Mooney bought his wife a guitar on her eighteenth
birthday, and Loretta began to teach herself to play. Within a few months,
Loretta was writing her own music and with her husband's encouragement,
she began singing "Honky Tonk" with a local band on the weekends.
Loretta's big break came when Mooney entered her in a local talent contest.
Not only did she win, but she also received a personal invitation from
Buck Owens to perform on his television show. Her performance was well
received and caught the attention of Zero Records, who immediately contacted
her and offered a recording deal. Loretta flew to LA in 1960, and recorded
one of her own songs, "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl." Zero Records
was a small firm and didn't have the money to promote Loretta's new
single, so Mooney decided to do it himself. He and Loretta began mailing
the record across the country, where it landed in the hands of radio
station owners and disc jockeys. Mooney then packed the family and headed
for Nashville, where he hoped he and Loretta could plug the record at
local radio stations. The song was hit even before they reached Nashville.
The single eventually climbed as high as number fourteen on the charts.
Loretta's first single attracted the attention of the Wilburn Brothers,
who hired her to tour with them in 1960. After pleading with her to
relocate to Nashville, Loretta and family moved to the city in 1960.
A year later, she became a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry, had
a number one hit album, and gave birth to twin girls.
It didn't take long for Nashville to grab on to the rising star. Loretta
was offered a record deal with Decca Records, and accepted. "Success,"
Loretta's first single with Decca Records was released in 1962, and
climbed all the way to number six. For the next decade, Loretta released
honky tonk hit after hit, all of them reaching the Top Ten List.
In 1966, longing for her own sound, Loretta strayed from Honky Tonk,
and began recording singles that she had written. Over the course of
the next four years, Lynn pulled in 13 Top Ten hits, and was hailed
the best country music lyricist ever.
In 1970, Loretta became the first ever female country artist to receive
a gold album. Conway Twitty and Loretta formed a partnership and released
5 successful hit songs. They were awarded Duo of the Year by the Country
Music Association, and released seven more Top Ten hits.
In the mid 1970s, Loretta put pen to paper, writing the autobiography,
"Coal Miner's Daughter." Six years later, in 1976, Loretta's
book became a New York Times best seller. The book would eventually
be adapted to the screen in 1980, and become a critically acclaimed
hi,t with Sissy Spacek winning an Oscar for her performance. While the
movie and the movie's theme song climbed the charts, Loretta became
the only female country to to appear on the cover of Newsweek, in 1973.
Despite her immense popularity as a result of the movie, Lynn's never
regained her popularity in the music world. Her concerts were well attended,
but record sales were down. She had two Top Ten hits in the he 1980s
and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, but still made the
decision to back away from the recording studio, so that she could focus
her efforts on performances.
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