When you visit Loretta Lynn’s famous ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., it’s stunning how much it feels like home. That reflects Lynn, who despite her international success seems to dismiss the accolades that come her way, especially since last year’s tributes marking 50 years since the release of her first single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.”
“To make it in this business, you either have to be first, great or different,” she said. “And I was the first to ever go into Nashville, singin’ it like the women lived it.”
| Onstage |
| Loretta Lynn |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| Date: 7 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $55; 9:30.com; 800-955-5566 |
As anyone who is familiar with Lynn’s biography can tell you, she got her start with the support of her now-deceased husband Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, the guitar he bought her, and her childhood love of singing.
What set Lynn apart was not just her country-tinged vocal delivery but her controversial songs, including hits “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “Rated X,” about divorce, and “The Pill,” which celebrated the 1960s sexual liberation. It seemed that as controversy reared and more radio stations refused to play her songs, Lynn’s appeal grew.
“After [my husband] got me the guitar, I went out and bought a Country Song Roundup. I looked at the songs in there and thought, ‘Well, this ain’t nothing. Anybody can do this.’ I just wrote about things that happened,” she said. “I was writing about things that nobody talked about in public, and I didn’t realize that they didn’t. I was having babies and staying at home. I was writing about life. That’s why I had songs banned.”
Although Lynn is a symbol of American music, she actually got her first break after performing in a Vancouver, Canada, nightclub where Zero Records heard and signed her. Soon she had a solid fan base, mainly of women who heard and related to her songs.
“Most of my songs were from the women’s point of view,” Lynn wrote in her autobiography. “That’s who I’m singing about and singing to during my shows. And the girls know it. … Most of my fan club is women, which is how I want it.”
She also wants to expand her sound, as she has proven many times, perhaps most notably on her critically acclaimed 2004 album, “Van Leer Rose,” produced by Jack White. If it seems surprising to some that such a legend would look to reinvent herself, they likely don’t understand Lynn.
“I ain’t a star — a star is something up in the night sky,” said Lynn. “People say to me, ‘You’re a legend.’ I’m not a legend. I’m just a woman.”
