Loretta Lynn is the daughter of Ted Webb, a coal miner, and his wife Clara Ramey. They were hard-working people who lived in a community where incomes were low and black lung disease was common among miners. Given the dangers of mining, families in the small community were close to each other.
I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the good character traits Loretta practiced during her years as a singer were the result of her upbringing. Along with her parents, a third person who had a great influence on her is the man she married when she was 15 years old.
It was Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn. He was six years older than Loretta. She married him in January 1948 after dating him just a month after they met.
Before getting married, he sang regularly in the churches of Butcher Hollow. Loretta was the second of eight children and often sang to her brothers at her house. When she married and began having children, she passed on her love of music to them, often singing hymns that her mother had taught her.
In 1953 ‘Doo’ bought him a Harmony guitar. She taught herself to play. She worked hard to improve her playing and, with the encouragement of “Doolittle”, she started her own band. She was also instrumental in getting her first radio appearances and served as her Talent Manager for several years. He constantly encouraged her to be persistent and reaffirm that everything will work out.
He was definitely a big influence on her in a lot of ways. They had been married for nearly 50 years when he passed away. Her marriage was tumultuous, but her rocky marriage provided the script for many of the Loretta songs she wrote.
As she said: “I married Doo when I was just a girl, and he was my life from that day on. But as important as my youth and education were, there was something else that made me stick with Doo. He thought I was something special. More special than anyone in the world and I would never let him forget it. That belief would be hard to push out the door. Doo was my security, my safety net. Excusing. Doo was a good man and “He was a hard worker. But he was an alcoholic, and that affected our marriage every step of the way. He was also a womanizer. Cheating husbands have been all over the news talk shows for a few years. Many women say they don’t understand why women keep their dogs. My story is about someone who did it: me.”
And so, in talking about the three people who had a great influence on her, we see a woman who has the admirable trait of Character. She stands up for what she believes and what she feels is right.
Loretta is also a survivor. She and Doo had six children. Two of them have already passed away. A daughter died in 2013 of emphysema. She was 64 years old. She and she died in 1984 by drowning. She was 34 years old. A friend of mine once told me that her mother, who had lost a child, had told her, “One of the worst things a parent can go through is losing a child who predeceases her.” I thought about that story as I wrote about Loretta’s two losses and her grief. And despite it all, how she managed to carry on with dignity and perseverance. With all the ups and downs she has had with a difficult marriage and the loss of two children, she is a true survivor.
In addition to the above, Loretta is a recognized defender of common women. She felt that no theme of the song was off limits as long as she spoke for other ordinary women. Some of those songs were “Wings Upon Your Horns” about teenage virginity loss, “The Pill” about a mother and wife breaking free through the birth control pill, “Rated X” about the double standards that confront divorced women and “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On You Mind).
His achievements and awards are numerous. In 1967 she recorded the first of 16 number one hits including “You Ain’t Woman Enough”, “Fist City” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. She has written over 160 songs, released 60 albums, and sold 45 million records worldwide. He has won four Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards.
In 1972 she was the first woman to be named “Entertainer of the Year” and in 1977 the first country artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010 she received the Lifetime Grammy Achievement Award for her 50 years in country music. On August 8, 2013, President Barack Obama announced that Loretta would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
I encourage anyone who wants to learn more about this extraordinary woman to purchase her autobiography “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” or watch the movie of the same name. Loretta deserved every single award she received.
In closing, I want to say that if there were ever to be a new award titled “Advocate for Ordinary Women Award”, then this Lady Singer should definitely win it.