Loretta Lynn

I first heard Loretta Lynn through the speakers of my mom's mid-90s Buick Regal driving through the backroads of Kentucky, in one of my adolescent summers that have been blurred together due to substance abuse or otherwise repressed by my subconscious desires.  That moment shared with Loretta Lynn, however, has not lost its definition, and no amount of self destruction or self-preservation will ever make it fade from memory. Her voice seemed to be designed to further punctuate the surroundings of the rural landscape just as her lyrical content seemed to be created  to lessen the blow of the oppressive heat. "You ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man) " was pumping through the dashboard, along with an A/C unit that had seen better days, as I sat in the front seat on our way to God knows where.

I remember my mom doing her trademark mannerism of joyful recognition when she found the song on the dial--cocking her head back and to the left slightly--followed by her yelping out  "Aw! Loretta Lynn! How 'bout that!" and turning up the volume. To be honest, it was my mom's excitement that probably got me excited about this first experience with Loretta Lynn in the mid-90s, as kids love to pretend to love what their parents actually love. But my excitement hearing Loretta Lynn again in 2013 was anything but contrived.

My girlfriend and I popped in a Greatest Hits CD while driving through the Bluegrass early last week and Loretta again sang to me from behind a dusty dashboard in a car past its prime. The stifling heat and winding backgrounds took me right back to my younger days in my mom's beat-up Regal, but my fifteen extra years on this earth took me to a brand new place of appreciation for Ms. Lynn.

A hallmark of any good writer is that they have a style so unique, so decidedly their own, that it is immediately recognizable to even the casual listener. Loretta Lynn is at the top of my list in this regard. Few other writers, country, female or otherwise, will ever write lyrics that are simultaneously so brazenly regional, effortlessly universal, warts-and-all biographical and laugh-out-loud funny.Songs like "Don't Come Home a-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" and "Fist City" are as funny today as they were when they were recorded, and tracks like "The Pill"  prove even more important with the virtue of hindsight, as we are still struggling with women's roles in art and society today.

The notes of this particular greatest hits collection gave some interesting facts about the pride of Johnson County. Lynn was born a coal miner's daughter, married at the age of 15, was a protege of the great Patsy Cline, had 16 number one hits and had a song banned from radio play for "lewd" content. The rags-to-riches biography and the undeniable talent is the reason why she is one of the most recognizable names in old-time country. It is also the reason she was sought out by Jack White for their collaboration that led to her comeback and subsequent Grammy in the 2000's for the album Van Lear Rose. There is little doubt that there is a more deserving person to hold the title as The Queen of County Music.

Hearing Loretta Lynn sing country music is like hearing Miles Davis play jazz or Nas rap; they are the perfect embodiment of their genre, endowed with the unique ability to create music that transports you to the time and place where it was recorded, or anywhere else they desire to send you.