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A pine plantation in the United States. Tree plantations are usually easily distinguished from natural forests by the trees being planted in straight lines.

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption. The term plantation is informal and not precisely defined.

Crops grown on plantations include fast-growing trees (often conifers), cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar cane, sisal, some oil seeds (notably oil palms) and rubber trees. Farms that produce alfalfa, Lespedeza, clover, and other forage crops are usually not called plantations. The term "plantation" has usually not included large orchards (except for banana plantations), but does include the planting of trees for lumber. A plantation is always a monoculture over a large area and does not include extensive naturally occurring stands of plants that have economic value. Because of its large size, a plantation takes advantage of economies of scale. Protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have contributed to determining where plantations have been located.

Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, which produced large quantities of wine and olive oil for export. Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time. Earlier forms of plantation agriculture were associated with large disparities of wealth and income, foreign ownership and political influence, and exploitative social systems such as indentured labor and slavery. The history of the environmental, social and economic issues relating to plantation agriculture are covered in articles that focus on those subjects.

Forestry[link]

Industrial plantations[link]

A plantation of Douglas-fir in Washington, U.S.

Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities (for example, the Forestry Commission in Britain) and/or the paper and wood industries and other private landowners (such as Weyerhaeuser, Rayonier and Plum Creek Timber in the United States, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in Indonesia). Christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have recently replaced the natural forest.

Industrial plantations are actively managed for the commercial production of forest products. Industrial plantations are usually large-scale. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species. These species can be exotic or indigenous. The plants used for the plantation are often genetically altered for desired traits such as growth and resistance to pests and diseases in general and specific traits, for example in the case of timber species, volumic wood production and stem straightness. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration. Selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material.

Wood production on a tree plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. While forests managed for wood production commonly yield between 1 and 3 cubic meters per hectare per year, plantations of fast-growing species commonly yield between 20 and 30 cubic meters or more per hectare annually; a Grand Fir plantation at Craigvinean in Scotland has a growth rate of 34 cubic meters per hectare per year (Aldhous & Low 1974), and Monterey Pine plantations in southern Australia can yield up to 40 cubic meters per hectare per year (Everard & Fourt 1974). In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, it is estimated that they supplied about 35% of the world's roundwood.^[1]

Growth cycle[link]

• In the first year, the ground is prepared usually by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in selective breeding in order to produce fast growing disease- and pest-resistant strains.
• In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, and may be dusted or sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides until established.
• After the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed 'pole stage'. When competition becomes too intense (for pine trees, when the live crown is less than a third of the tree's total height), it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is 'row-thinning', where every third or fourth or fifth row of trees is removed, usually with a harvester. Many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, and sent to a mill. A typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh). Such trees are sometimes not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard, and as chips for oriented strand board.
• As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the thinning process is repeated. Depending on growth rate and species, trees at this age may be large enough for timber milling; if not, they are again used as pulp and chips.
• Around year 10-60 the plantation is now mature and (in economic terms) is falling off the back side of its growth curve. That is to say, it is passing the point of maximum wood growth per hectare per year, and so is ready for the final harvest. All remaining trees are felled, delimbed, and taken to be processed.
• The ground is cleared, and the cycle is repeated.

Some plantation trees, such as pines and eucalyptus, can be at high risk of fire damage because their leaf oils and resins are flammable to the point of a tree being explosive under some conditions. Conversely, an afflicted plantation can in some cases be cleared of pest species cheaply through the use of a prescribed burn, which kills all lesser plants but does not significantly harm the mature trees.

Criticism of industrial plantations[link]

Bushfires pose a high risk to Eucalyptus plantations.

In contrast to a naturally regenerated forest, plantations are typically grown as even-aged monocultures, primarily for timber production.

• Plantations are usually near- or total monocultures. That is, the same species of tree is planted across a given area, whereas a natural forest would contain a far more diverse range of tree species.
• Plantations may include tree species that would not naturally occur in the area. They may include unconventional types such as hybrids, and genetically modified trees may be used sometime in the future^{[citation needed]}. Since the primary interest in plantations is to produce wood or pulp, the types of trees found in plantations are those that are best-suited to industrial applications. For example, pine, spruce and eucalyptus are widely planted far beyond their natural range because of their fast growth rate, tolerance of rich or degraded agricultural land and potential to produce large volumes of raw material for industrial use.
• Plantations are always young forests in ecological terms. Typically, trees grown in plantations are harvested after 10 to 60 years, rarely up to 120 years. This means that the forests produced by plantations do not contain the type of growth, soil or wildlife typical of old-growth natural forest ecosystems. Most conspicuous is the absence of decaying dead wood, a crucial component of natural forest ecosystems.

In the 1970s, Brazil began to establish high-yield, intensively managed, short rotation plantations. These types of plantations are sometimes called fast-wood plantations or fiber farms and often managed on a short-rotation basis, as little as 5 to 15 years. They are becoming more widespread in South America, Asia and other areas. The environmental and social impacts of this type of plantation has caused them to become controversial. In Indonesia, for example, large multi-national pulp companies have harvested large areas of natural forest without regard for regeneration. From 1980 to 2000, about 50% of the 1.4 million hectares of pulpwood plantations in Indonesia have been established on what was formerly natural forest land.

The replacement of natural forest with tree plantations has also caused social problems. In some countries, again, notably Indonesia, conversions of natural forest are made with little regard for rights of the local people. Plantations established purely for the production of fiber provide a much narrower range of services than the original natural forest for the local people. India has sought to limit this damage by limiting the amount of land owned by one entity and, as a result, smaller plantations are owned by local farmers who then sell the wood to larger companies. Some large environmental organizations are critical of these high-yield plantations and are running an anti-plantation campaign, notably the Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace.

Farm or home plantations[link]

Farm or home plantations are typically established for the production of timber and fire wood for home use and sometimes for sale. Management may be less intensive than with Industrial plantations. In time, this type of plantation can become difficult to distinguish from naturally regenerated forest.

Teak and bamboo plantations in India have given good results and an alternative crop solution to farmers of central India, where conventional farming was popular. But due to rising input costs of farming many farmers have done teak and bamboo plantations which require very little water (only during first two years). Teak and bamboo have legal protection from theft. Bamboo, once planted, gives output for 50 years till flowering occurs. Teak requires 20 years to grow to full maturity and fetch returns.

Environmental plantations[link]

These may be established for watershed or soil protection. They are established for erosion control, landslide stabilization and windbreaks. Such plantations are established to foster native species and promote forest regeneration on degraded lands as a tool of environmental restoration.

Ecological impact[link]

Probably the single most important factor a plantation has on the local environment is the site where the plantation is established. If natural forest is cleared for a planted forest then a reduction in biodiversity and loss of habitat will likely result. In some cases, their establishment may involve draining wetlands to replace mixed hardwoods that formerly predominated with pine species. If a plantation is established on abandoned agricultural land, or highly degraded land, it can result in an increase in both habitat and biodiversity. A planted forest can be profitably established on lands that will not support agriculture or suffer from lack of natural regeneration.

The tree species used in a plantation is also an important factor. Where non-native varieties or species are grown, few of the native fauna are adapted to exploit these and further biodiversity loss occurs. However, even non-native tree species may serve as corridors for wildlife and act as a buffer for native forest, reducing edge effect.

Once a plantation is established, how it is managed becomes the important environmental factor. The single most important factor of management is the rotation period. Plantations harvested on longer rotation periods (30 years or more) can provide similar benefits to a naturally regenerated forest managed for wood production, on a similar rotation. This is especially true if native species are used. In the case of exotic species, the habitat can be improved significantly if the impact is mitigated by measures such as leaving blocks of native species in the plantation, or retaining corridors of natural forest. In Brazil, similar measures are required by government regulations.

Plantations and natural forest loss[link]

Many forestry experts claim that the establishment of plantations will reduce or eliminate the need to exploit natural forest for wood production. In principle this is true because due to the high productivity of plantations less land is needed. Many point to the example of New Zealand, where 19% of the forest area provides 99% of the supply of industrial round wood. It has been estimated that the worlds needs for fiber could be met by just 5% of the world forest (Sedjo&Botkin1997). However in practice, plantations are replacing natural forest, for example in Indonesia. According to the FAO, about 7% of the natural closed forest being lost in the tropics is land being converted to plantations. The remaining 93% of the loss is land being converted to agriculture and other uses. Worldwide, an estimated 15% of plantations in tropical countries are established on closed canopy natural forest.

In the Kyoto Protocol, there are proposals encouraging the use of plantations to reduce carbon dioxide levels (though this idea is being challenged by some groups on the grounds that the sequestered CO₂ is eventually released after harvest).

Other types of plantation[link]

Tea plantation in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Crops may be called plantation crops because of their association with a specific type of farming economy. Most of these involve a large landowner, raising crops with economic value rather than for subsistence, with a number of employees carrying out the work. Often it referred to crops newly introduced to a region. In past times it has been associated with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high inequity. However, arable and dairy farming are both usually (but not always) excluded from such definitions. A comparable economic structure in antiquity was the latifundia that produced commercial quantities of olive oil or wine, for export. One plantation crop is bananas and there are others as well.

High value food crops[link]

Plantings of a number of trees or shrubs grown for food or beverage, including tea, coffee, and cacao are generally called plantations. Some spice and high value crops grown from permanent perennial stock, such as black pepper may also be so called. When the holding belongs to a single individual, that person may be called a planter.

Sugar[link]

Sugar plantations were highly valued in the Caribbean by the British and French colonists in the 19th and 20th centuries and the use of sugar in Europe rose during this period. Sugarcane is still an important crop in Cuba. Sugar plantations also arose in countries such as Barbados and Cuba because of the natural endowments that they had. These natural endowments included soil that was conducive to growing sugar and a high marginal product of labor realized through the increasing number of slaves.

Rubber[link]

Sugarcane plantation in rural Cuba

Plantings of para rubber, the tree Hevea brasiliensis, are usually called plantations.

Oil Palm[link]

Oil palm agriculture is rapidly expanding across wet tropical regions, and is usually developed at plantation scale.

Orchards[link]

Fruit orchards are sometimes considered to be plantations.

Arable crops[link]

These include tobacco, sugarcane, pineapple, and cotton, especially in historical usage.

Before the rise of cotton in the American South, indigo and rice were also sometimes called plantation crops.

Fishing plantations in Newfoundland and Labrador[link]

When Newfoundland was colonized by England in 1610, the original colonists were called "Planters" and their fishing rooms were known as "fishing plantations". These terms were used well into the 20th century.

The following three plantations are maintained by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as provincial heritage sites:

• Sea-Forest Plantation was a 17th-century fishing plantation established at Cuper's Cove (present-day Cupids) under a royal charter issued by King James I.
• Mockbeggar Plantation is an 18th-century fishing plantation at Bonavista.
• Pool Plantation a 17th-century fishing plantation maintained by Sir David Kirke and his heirs at Ferryland. The plantation was destroyed by French invaders in 1696.

Other fishing plantations:

• Bristol's Hope Plantation, a 17th-century fishing plantation established at Harbour Grace, created by the Bristol Society of Merchant-Adventurers.
• Benger Plantation, an 18th-century fishing plantation maintained by James Benger and his heirs at Ferryland. It was built on the site of Georgia plantation.
• Piggeon's Plantation, an 18th-century fishing plantation maintained by Ellias Piggeon at Ferryland.

Slavery, para-slavery and plantations[link]

Early 20th-century USA photo: "Negroes picking cotton on a plantation in the South"

African slave labor extracted from forcibly transported Africans was used extensively to work on early plantations (such as cotton and sugar plantations) in the American colonies and the United States, throughout the Caribbean, the Americas and in European-occupied areas of Africa. Several notable historians and economists such as Eric Williams, Walter Rodney and Karl Marx contend that the global capitalist economy was largely founded on the creation and produce of thousands of slave labour camps based in colonial plantations exploiting tens of millions of abducted Africans.

In modern times, the low wages typically paid to plantation workers are the basis of plantation profitability in some areas. Sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil, worked by slave labour, were also examples of the plantation system.

In more recent times, overt slavery has been replaced by "para-slavery" or slavery-in-kind, including the sharecropping system. At its most extreme, workers are in "debt bondage": they must work to pay off a debt at such punitive interest rates that it may never be paid off. Others work unreasonably long hours and are paid subsistence wages that (in practice) may only be spent in the company store.

In Brazil, a sugarcane plantation was termed an engenho ("engine"), and the 17th-century English usage for organized colonial production was "factory". Such colonial social and economic structures are discussed at Plantation economy. Sugar workers on plantations in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean lived in company towns known as Bateys.

Plantations in the antebellum American South[link]

In the American South, antebellum plantations were centered on a "plantation house", the residence of the owner, where important business was conducted. Slavery and plantations had different characteristics in different regions of the South. As the Upper South of the Chesapeake Bay Colony developed first, historians of the antebellum South defined planters as those who held 20 or more slaves. Major planters held many more, especially in the Deep South as it developed.^[2] The majority of slaveholders held 10 or fewer slaves, often just a few to labor domestically. By the late 18th century, most planters in the Upper South had switched from exclusive tobacco cultivation to mixed crop production, both because tobacco had exhausted the soil and because of changing markets. The shift away from tobacco meant they had slaves in excess of the number needed for labor, and they began to sell them in the internal slave trade.

Old Jackson Plantation house, Louisiana, June 1940

There was a variety of domestic architecture on plantations. The largest and wealthiest planter families, for instance, those with estates fronting on the James River in Virginia, constructed mansions in brick and Georgian style, e.g. Shirley Plantation. Common or smaller planters in the late 18th and 19th century had more modest wood frame buildings, such as Southall Plantation in Charles City County.

In the Low Country of South Carolina, by contrast, even before the American Revolution, planters holding large rice and cotton plantations in South Carolina typically owned hundreds of slaves. In Charleston and Savannah, the elite also held numerous slaves to work as household servants. The 19th-century development of the Deep South for cotton cultivation depended on large plantations with much more acreage than was typical of the Chesapeake Bay area, and for labor, planters held hundreds of slaves.

Until December 1865 slavery was legal in parts of the United States. Most slaves were employed in agriculture, and "planter" was a term commonly used to describe a farmer with many slaves.

The term "planter" has no universally accepted definition but academic historians have defined it to identify the elite class, "a landowning farmer of substantial means."^[2] In the "Black Belt" counties of Alabama and Mississippi, the terms “"planter" and "farmer" were often synonymous.^[3] Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman define large planters as owning over 50 slaves, and medium planters as owning between 16 and 50 slaves.^[4] In his study of Black Belt counties in Alabama, Jonathan Wiener defines planters by ownership of real property, rather than of slaves. A planter, for Wiener, owned at least $10,000 worth of real estate in 1850 and $32,000 worth in 1860, equivalent to about the top 8 percent of landowners.^[5] In his study of southwest Georgia, Lee Formwalt also defines planters in size of land holdings rather than slaves. Formwalt's planters are in the top 4.5 percent of landowners, translating into real estate worth $6,000 or more in 1850, $24,000 or more in 1860, and $11,000 or more in 1870.^[6] In his study of Harrison County, Texas, Randolph B. Campbell classifies large planters as owners of 20 slaves, and small planters as owners of between ten and 19 slaves.^[7] In Chicot and Phillips Counties, Arkansas, Carl H. Moneyhon defines large planters as owners of twenty or more slaves, and six hundred or more acres.^[8]

See also[link]

Agriculture and Agronomy portal

• List of plantations
• Plantations in the American South

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

• Aldhous, J. R. & Low, A. J. (1974). The potential of Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Grand Fir and Noble Fir in Britain. Forestry Commission Bulletin 49.
• Everard, J. E. & Fourt, D. F. (1974). Monterey Pine and Bishop Pine as plantation trees in southern Britain. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 68: 111-125.
• Savill, P. Evans, J. Auclair, D. Falk, J. (1997). Plantation Silviculture in Europe. Oxford University Press. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-854909-1
• Sedjo, R. A. & Botkin, D. (1997). Using forest plantations to spare natural forests. Environment 39 (10): 15-20, 30.hu
• Thompson, Edgar Tristram. The Plantation edited by Sidney Mintz and George Baca (University of South Carolina Press; 2011) 176 pages; 1933 dissertation
• Virts, Nancy, “Change in the Plantation System: American South, 1910–1945,” Explorations in Economic History, 43 (Jan. 2006), 153–76.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Plantations

• Trends in Round wood production
• Earth Repair Network Advocates plantation forestry.
• "Pulping the South" Criticism of industrial plantations.
• NGO World Rainforest Movement

Tamera Alexander
Born	(1961-08-08) August 8, 1961 (age 50) DeKalb County, Georgia, USA
Residence	Brentwood
Occupation	Book Christian author
Spouse	Married to Joe F. Alexander (born 1959, married 1984–present)
Children	Daughter (born 1987) of Nashville Son (born 1989) of Nashville
Website
tameraalexander.com

Tamera Lynn Gattis Alexander (born 1961) is an American author of Christian fiction, who specializes in the inspirational romance genre. She is best known for her award-winning first series, the Fountain Creek Chronicles (2006–07).

Biography[link]

Early life and education[link]

Tamera Alexander grew up in Decatur, Georgia, the daughter of an insurance company executive and a bank manager. As a child, Alexander enjoyed writing poetry and short stories, but never dreamed of some day writing fiction as a career. She attended and would later graduate high school from Greater Atlanta Christian School in 1979. Early advisors led her to choose what was regarded as a more practical livelihood within the field of business—a discipline she began studying in 1979 while attending Harding University. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management in 1983.

Career[link]

Upon graduation, she began her business career in Atlanta, Georgia, before accepting a position with Data Communications Corporation in Memphis, Tennessee in 1984 as an entry-level customer service representative. Within three years, she had advanced through the company ranks and was managing a staff of 27 employees and supporting corporate clients such as Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS), with a heavy traveling schedule. The arrival of her first child in 1987 and a new employment opportunity for her husband, led to a family relocation to Abilene, Texas, also in 1987. A second child and another job opportunity for her husband resulted in another move in 1990, this time to Greeley, Colorado where she began to experience the landscape and history of the Rocky Mountains.

After her mother-in-law encouraged her to read a book by Janette Oke in 1994, Alexander subsequently began to read every work of Christian fiction she could find and penned her first manuscript in 2000, a historical piece set in the 1870s Colorado Territory and unofficially titled, As High as the Heavens. The manuscript made it all the way to the final review board with Bethany House Publishers before being rejected in 2002. Rejections from another publisher would follow, and although at first discouraged, she quickly returned to the drawing board, determined to apply the planning and analytical skills she had learned in business to studying the craft of writing. She began dissecting numerous novels in an attempt to better understand the recipe for success in historical Christian fiction/romance.

Her second completed manuscript, Rekindled, was contracted by Bethany House in 2004 and published in March 2006, where it quickly climbed to #8 on the Christian Booksellers Association CBA national best-sellers list in May 2006. The book was in its tenth printing as of February 2010.

Alexander's subsequent novels between 2006 and 2010 were each in the inspirational fiction genre and set in the Colorado Territory (circa latter 1800s) with the Rocky Mountains as a landscape backdrop. Her second novel, Revealed, climbed to #18 on the CBA national best-sellers list in March 2008. Remembered, the third novel in the Fountain Creek Chronicles series, recently went to a fifth printing (March 2009).

Alexander's second three-book series, Timber Ridge Reflections, was launched in May 2008 with the release of From a Distance. The book debuted on the ECPA national fiction best-seller list at #20 in July 2008 and peaked on Amazon.com at #30 for all titles in August 2010. The second title in the series, Beyond This Moment, was released in April 2009, and debuted at #10 on the ECPA May national fiction best-seller list and climbed to #7 in June. The title also debuted at #11 on the CBA ^[1] national fiction best-sellers list for June 2009. It went to a second printing in June 2010.

In early 2008, Alexander was contracted by Thomas Nelson, Inc. to write the publisher's first historical romance novel for its "Women of Faith Fiction series." The Inheritance debuted at #1 as the top-selling Christian fiction romance title at Christian Book Distributors for March 2009 and also climbed to #15 and #11 on the CBA ^[1] national best-sellers list for March and April 2009, respectively, appearing again at #19 in August 2009. The title also debuted at #17 on the ECPA national fiction best-seller list in April 2009. The Inheritance reappeared on the ECPA best-seller fiction list in January 2010 and the CBA best-seller fiction list in February 2010.

Alexander's third installment in the Timber Ridge Reflections series (Within My Heart) released August 2010 and had already climbed to the #1 bestseller spot in Fiction Romance at Christian Book Distributors by month's end. In addition, Within My Heart then climbed as high as #10 on the ECPA national best-seller fiction list for October 2010 and was later acclaimed as a finalist in both the RITA Awards (Romance Writers of America) and Christy Awards for best in the historical romance category.

Her next scheduled three-book series draws from Nashville's historic Belmont Mansion (Tennessee) as its backdrop (1860s to 1870s post Civil War) and the first title (A Lasting Impression) released officially in late October 2011, and debuted at #13 on the ECPA national fiction best-seller list, December 2011.

Marriage and children[link]

Tamera and Joe Alexander live in Brentwood, Tennessee. They have two children, currently in their 20s.

Published works[link]

• Fountain Creek Chronicles
  • Rekindled (Bethany House, 2006), ISBN 0-7642-0108-5
  • Revealed (Bethany House, 2006), ISBN 0-7862-9426-4
  • Remembered (Bethany House, 2007), ISBN 0-7642-0110-7
  • Fountain Creek Chronicles Omnibus (Bethany House, 2009), ISBN 0-7642-0736-9

• Timber Ridge Reflections
  • From a Distance (Bethany House, 2008), ISBN 0-7642-0389-4
  • Beyond This Moment (Bethany House, 2009), ISBN 0-7642-0389-4
  • Within My Heart (Bethany House, 2010), ISBN 0-7642-0391-6

• The Inheritance (Thomas Nelson, 2009), ISBN 1-59554-632-4

• Belmont Mansion Series
  • A Lasting Impression (Bethany House, 2011), ISBN 0-7642-0622-2

Awards[link]

• Library Journal Top 5-Best Inspirational Book^[2]), 2006
• Reviewers' Choice Award Finalist - Best Inspirational, 2006
• RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, 2007
• HOLT Medallion Award of Merit, 2007 & 2008
• Christy Award for Best Romance, 2008
• American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Finalist, 2009
• Christy Award for Best Historical Romance, 2009
• Christy Award Double Finalist for Best Historical Romance, 2010
• HOLT Medallion Award, 2010
• RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, 2010
• Christy Award Finalist for Best Historical Romance, 2011
• Rita Award Finalist for Best Inspirational Romance, 2011
• National Readers' Choice Awards Finalist for Best Inspirational, 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tamera Alexander official homepage
• Bethany House Publishers official website
• Thomas Nelson Publishers official website

Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn in concert in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Loretta Webb
Also known as	The Coal Miner's Daughter
Born	( 1932-04-14) April 14, 1932 (age 80) Butcher Holler, Kentucky
Genres	Country, honky tonk, gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Actress author
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1960-present
Labels	Zero (1960) Decca/MCA (1961–1989) Columbia (1993) Audium (2000) Interscope (2004)
Associated acts	Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells, Wilburn Brothers, Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Jack White, Crystal Gayle, Peggy Sue
Website	www.lorettalynn.com

Loretta Lynn (born Loretta Webb April 14, 1932),^[1] is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, near Paintsville, Kentucky in Johnson County to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 15 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Vanetta Lynn, Jr. (1926–1996), nicknamed "Doo". Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he had affairs and she was headstrong. Their experiences together became inspiration for her music.

On her 21st birthday, Lynn's husband bought her a $17.00 Harmony guitar. She taught herself to play and when she was 24, on her wedding anniversary, Doo encouraged her to become a singer. She learned the guitar better, started singing at the Delta Grange Hall in Washington State with the Pen Brothers' band, The Westerners, then eventually cut her first record in February, 1960. She became a part of the country music scene in Nashville in the 1960s, and in 1967 charted her first of 16 number-one hits (out of 70 charted songs as a solo artist and a duet partner^[2]) that include "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". She focused on blue collar women's issues with themes of philandering husbands and persistent mistresses, and pushed boundaries in the conservative genre of country music by singing about birth control ("The Pill"), repeated childbirth ("One's on the Way"), double standards for men and women ("Rated "X""), and being widowed by the draft during the Vietnam War ("Dear Uncle Sam"). Country music radio stations often refused to play her songs. Nonetheless, she became known as "The First Lady of Country Music" and continues to be one of the most successful vocalists of all time.

Her best-selling 1976 autobiography was made into an Academy Award winning film, Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones in 1980. Her most recent album, Van Lear Rose, was released in 2004, produced by Jack White, and topped the country album charts. As of 2011, Lynn continues to tour and has received numerous awards in country and American music.

Childhood and early adulthood[link]

Born to Melvin "Ted" Webb (1906–1959) and Clara Marie (Ramey) Webb (1912–1981) and named in honor of Loretta Young,^[3] Loretta was the second of eight children. Three of her siblings also pursued country careers — her youngest sister, Crystal Gayle, sister Peggy Sue and brother Jay Lee Webb. She is also, on her mother's side, distantly related to country singer Patty Loveless (née Patricia Ramey). Lynn grew up in Butcher Hollow ("Butcher Holler"), a section of Van Lear, a mining community near Paintsville, Kentucky. Clara Ramey Webb was of Scots-Irish and Cherokee ancestry. Her father, Ted, was a coal miner, storekeeper, and farmer.

She was married to Oliver Vanetta Lynn, commonly known as "Doolittle", "Doo" or "Mooney" (for running moonshine), on January 10, 1948. Oliver was 21 years old; Loretta, born in 1932 according to Kentucky Birth Records, was almost 16 years old.^[1] In an effort to break free of the coal mining industry, the couple moved to the logging community of Custer, Washington. The Lynns had six children — Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Clara Marie (Cissy), Ernest Ray, and twins Peggy and Patsy (named after Patsy Cline). Before her marriage, Loretta regularly sang at churches and in local concerts. After she married, she stopped singing in public, focusing on family life. Instead, she passed her love of music on to her children, often singing to them around the house. When she was 21 years old, her husband bought her a $17.00 Harmony guitar as a birthday present, which she taught herself to play.^[4]

Original childhood home of Loretta Lynn in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky

Although married for almost fifty years, with six children,^[5] the Lynns' marriage was reportedly rocky up to Doolittle's death in 1996. In her 2002 autobiography, Still Woman Enough, and in an interview with CBS News the same year, Lynn recounts how her husband cheated on her regularly and once left her while she was giving birth.^[6] Lynn and her husband also fought frequently, but, she said, "he never hit me one time that I didn't hit him back twice".^[6]

Music career[link]

1960–1966: Early country success[link]

Lynn began singing in local clubs in 1959 and later formed her own band, The Trailblazers, which included her brother Jay Lee Webb. Lynn appeared in a televised Tacoma, Washington talent contest, hosted by Buck Owens, which was seen by Canadian Norm Burley, one of the founders of Zero Records.^[7]

Zero Records president, Canadian Don Grashey arranged a recording session in Hollywood, where four of Lynn's own compositions were recorded: "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl", "Whispering Sea", "Heartache Meet Mister Blues", and "New Rainbow". Her first release featured "Whispering Sea" and "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl". Musicians backing her on the single included 17 dollar acoustic guitarist Speedy West and guitarist Roy Lanham. With Zero's initial support, Lynn went on to become one of country music’s greats.

Lynn signed her first contract on February 2, 1960, with Zero Records. She recorded her first release that same month, with bandleader Speedy West on steel guitar, Harold Hensely on fiddle, Roy Lanham on guitar, Al Williams on bass, and Muddy Berry on drums. The material was recorded at United Western Recorders, in Hollywood and engineered by Don Blake and produced by Grashey.^[8]

In 1960, under the Zero label,^[9] Lynn recorded "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl." The Lynns toured the country to promote the release to country stations,^[7] while Grashey and Del Roy took the music to KFOX in Long Beach, California.^[8] When the Lynns reached Nashville, the song was a hit, climbing to #14 on Billboard's C & W Chart, and Lynn began cutting demo records for the Wilburn Brothers' Publishing Company.^[7] Through the Wilburns, Lynn was able to secure a contract with Decca Records.^[7] From the onset of her career fans took notice and rallied behind her all the way, with the first Loretta Lynn Fan Club formed in November 1960. By the end of the year Billboard magazine listed Loretta Lynn as the #4 Most Promising Country Female Artist.

Her relationship with the Wilburn Brothers and her appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, beginning in 1960,^[5] helped Lynn become the number one female recording artist in country music. Lynn's contract with the Wilburn Brothers gave them the publishing rights to her material. She was still fighting to regain these rights 30 years after ending her business relationship with them, but was ultimately denied the publishing rights. Lynn stopped writing music in the 1970s because of these contracts.

Although Kitty Wells had become the first major female country vocalist during the 1950s, by the time Lynn recorded her first record, only three other women - Patsy Cline, Skeeter Davis, and Jean Shepard - had become top stars. By the end of 1962, it was clear that Lynn was on her way to becoming the fourth. Lynn credits Cline as her mentor and best friend during those early years, and as fate would have it, Lynn would follow her as the most popular country vocalist of the early 1960s and 1970s.

Lynn released her first Decca single, "Success," in 1962, and it went straight to Number 6, beginning a string of Top 10 singles that would run through the rest of the decade and throughout the next. She was a hard honky-tonk singer for the first half of the '60s and rarely strayed from the genre.^[2] Between this time, Lynn soon began to regularly hit the Top 10 after 1964 with "Before I'm Over You", which peaked at #4, followed by "Wine, Women, and Song", which peaked at #3. In late 1964, Lynn also recorded a duet album with Lynn's idol and Country performer, Ernest Tubb. Their lead single, "Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be" peaked within the Top 15. Together, the pair recorded two more albums, "Singin' Again" (1967) and If we Put Our Heads Together (1969). In 1965, Lynn's solo career continued with three major hits that year, "Happy Birthday", "Blue Kentucky Girl" (later recorded and made a Top 10 hit in the 70s by Emmylou Harris), and "The Home You're Tearing Down". Lynn's label issued two albums that year, Songs from My Heart and Blue Kentucky Girl. While most of these songs were Top 10 Country hits, none of them reached #1.

Her first self-penned song to crack the Top Ten, 1966’s "Dear Uncle Sam”, was among the very first recordings to recount the human costs of the Vietnam War.^[10] In the latter half of the decade, although she still worked within the confines of honky tonk, her sound became more personal, varied, and ambitious, particularly lyrically. Beginning with 1966's Number 1 hit in Cash Box, "You Ain't Woman Enough", Lynn began writing songs with a feminist viewpoint, which was unheard of in country music. This song made Loretta Lynn the first country female recording artist to pen a #1 hit.^[11]

1967–1980: Breakthrough success[link]

In 1967, she reached #1 with "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)".^[12] Her album, Don't Come Home A-Drinkin, went to number one and became one of the first albums by a female country artist to reach sales of 500,000 copies.^[13] Her next album, Fist City was released in 1968. The title track became Lynn's second #1 hit, as a single in earlier that year, and the other single from the album, "What Kind of a Girl (Do You Think I Am)", peaked within the Top 10. In 1968, her next studio album, Your Squaw Is on the Warpath, spawned two Top 5 Country hits: the title track and "You've Just Stepped In (From Stepping Out on Me)". In 1969, her next single, "Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone)", was Lynn's third chart-topper, followed by a subsequent Top 10, "To Make a Man (Feel Like a Man)".

Lynn was reportedly once inspired to write a song about a real woman she suspected was flirting with her husband. The song, "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)", was an instant hit and became one of Lynn's all-time most popular. Despite some criticism, Lynn's openness and honesty drew fans from around the nation, including some who were not previously familiar with country music.^{[citation needed]}

Lynn's career continued to be successful into the 1970s, especially following the success of her hit "Coal Miner's Daughter", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1970. "Coal Miner's Daughter" tells the story of Lynn's life growing up in rural Butcher Holler, Kentucky. The song later served as the impetus for the best-selling biography (1976) and the Oscar-winning biopic starring Sissy Spacek (1980), both of which share the song's title.^[14] The song became Lynn's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #83. Lynn would have a series of singles that would chart low on the Hot 100 between 1970 and 1975.

In 1971, she began a professional partnership with Conway Twitty. As a duo, Lynn and Twitty had five consecutive Number 1 hits between 1971 and 1975: their first release "After the Fire Is Gone" (1971),won them a Grammy award, "Lead Me On" (1971), "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (1973), "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" (1974), and "Feelins'" (1974). The hit-streak kick-started what became one of the most successful duos of country history. For four consecutive years (1972–1975), Lynn and Twitty were named the "Vocal Duo of the Year" by the Country Music Association. The Academy of Country Music named them the "Best Vocal Duet" in 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1976. The American Music awards selected them as the "Favorite Country Duo" in 1975, 1976 & 1977. The fan-voted Music City News readers voted them the #1 duet in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1981. In addition to their five Number 1 singles, they had seven other Top 10 hits between 1976 and 1981.^[2] Lynn and Twitty are the most successful male/female duet team in country music history.

As a solo artist, Lynn continued to be very successful into 1971, achieving her fifth #1 solo hit, "One's on the Way", written by poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein. The songs that didn't reach the top spot peaked within the Top 10 during this time, "I Wanna Be Free", "You're Lookin' At Country" and 1972's "Here I Am Again", all released on separate albums. The next year, she became the first country star on the cover of Newsweek.^[15] In 1973, "Rated X" peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart and was considered one of Lynn's most controversial hits. The next year, her next single, "Love Is the Foundation", also became a #1 country hit from her album of the same name. The second and last single from that album, "Hey Loretta", became a Top 5 hit. Lynn continued to reach the Top 10 until the end of the decade, including with 1975's "The Pill", considered to be the first song to discuss birth control, other than an obscure 1967 song in French, Pilule d'Or (The Golden Pill) by Luc Dominique, the former "Singing Nun".

Her unique material, which sassily and bluntly addressed issues in the lives of many women (particularly in the South), made her stand out among female country vocalists. As a songwriter, Lynn believed no topic was off limits, as long as it spoke to other women, and many of her songs were autobiographical.^[6] In the spring of 1976, Lynn released her autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, with the help of writer George Vecsey. It became a #1 bestseller, making Lynn the first country music artist to make the New York Times bestseller list. This opened a flood gate of country artists who followed with books.

In 1977, Lynn recorded I Remember Patsy, an album to friend and Country-pop singer, Patsy Cline, who died in a plane crash in 1963. The album covered some of Cline's biggest hits. The two singles Lynn released from the album, "She's Got You" and "Why Can't He Be You", became major hits. "She's Got You", which formerly went to #1 by Cline in 1962, went to #1 again that year by Lynn. "Why Can't He Be You" peaked at #7 shortly afterward.

Lynn enjoyed enormous success on country radio until the early 1980s, when a more pop-flavored type of country music began to dominate the market. She stayed within the country Top 10 up until the mid 1980s; however, most of her music by the late '70s had a slick pop sound to it. Lynn had her last Number 1 hit in early 1978 with her solo single, "Out of My Head and Back In My Bed." In 1979, she had two Top 5 hits, "I Can't Feel You Anymore" and "I've Got a Picture Of Us on My Mind", each from separate albums.

Lynn would sit for an hour or more on a stage giving autographs to her fans after a performance. Once in Salisbury, Maryland, the town's newspaper editor interviewed her while she was signing autographs. Editor Mel Toadvine asked her why she took so much time to sign autographs while more than 100 people stood in line all the way to the front of the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center. "These people are my fans," she told Toadvine. "I'll stay here until the very last one wants my autograph. Without these people, I am nobody; I love these people."^{[citation needed]}

In 1979, she became the spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble's Crisco Oil, and did TV commercials and print ads for them for a decade, ending in 1989. Because of her dominant hold on the 1970s, Lynn was named the "Artist of the Decade" by the Academy of Country Music. She is the first and only woman to win this honor.

1980–1989: Continued success[link]

On 5 March 1980, the film Coal Miner's Daughter debuted in Nashville. The film soon became the #1 box office hit in American and Loretta Lynn crossed over from country music superstar to American legend. The film starred Sissy Spacek as Loretta and Tommy Lee Jones as Mooney Lynn. The film received seven Academy Award nominations winning a Best Actress Oscar for Sissy Spacek and a slew of other top honors including a gold album for the soundtrack album, a Grammy nomination for Spacek's singing as Lynn, a Country Music Association & Academy of Country Music awards plus several Golden Globe awards as well.

The 1980s featured more hits ("Pregnant Again", "Naked In The Rain", "Somebody Led Me Away").^[16] Her 1980 and 1981 albums, Loretta and Lookin' Good spawned these hits. Lynn was the first woman in country music to have 50 Top 10 hits. Her last Top 10 record as a soloist was "I Lie" in 1982, but her releases continued to chart until the end of the decade. Lynn continued to have Top 20 hits throughout the 1980s. One of her last solo releases was 1985's "Heart Don't Do This to Me," which reached #19; her last Top 20 hit. In 1993, Lynn stopped releasing singles and focused more on touring than promoting. As a concert artist, she remained a top draw throughout her career, but by the early 1990s she drastically cut down the number of personal appearances due to the fragile health of her husband, who died in 1996.

Lynn's 1985 album, Just a Woman spawned a Top 40 hit. In 1987, Lynn lent her voice to a song on k.d. Lang's album, Shadowland with other Country stars, Kitty Wells and Brenda Lee called "Honky Tonk Angels Medley". They released a video for this medley, the album went gold and was Grammy nominated for the four women.

Lynn's 1988 album Who Was That Stranger would be her last solo album for a major record company as a solo artist. She remained one of country music’s most popular and well-loved stars. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.^[17]

1990–present: Later music career[link]

Lynn returned to the public eye in 1993 with a hit CD. The trio album Honky Tonk Angels, recorded with Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. The CD peaked at #6 on the Billboard Country charts and #68 on the Billboard Pop charts and charted a single with "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." They also released a popular video of this song. The album sold over 800,000 copies and was certified gold in the United States and Canada.The trio was also nominated for Grammy and Country Music Association awards. Loretta also lost her longtime singing partner Conway Twitty in 1993. The following year released a three-CD boxed set chronicling her career on MCA Records. In 1995, she taped a seven-week series on the Nashville Network (TNN) titled Loretta Lynn & Friends, and performed about 50 dates that year as well.^[18]

In 1995, Loretta was presented with the Pioneer Award at the 30th Academy of Country Music Awards.

In 1996, Lynn was widowed. In 2000, Lynn released her first album in several years, entitled Still Country. In it, she included a song, "I Can't Hear the Music," as a tribute to her late husband. She also released her first new single in over 10 years from the album, "Country In My Genes", when the single charted on the Billboard Country singles chart it made Lynn the first woman in Country Music to chart singles in five decades. While the album gained positive critical notices, sales were low in comparison with her previous releases. In 2002, Lynn published her second autobiography, Still Woman Enough and it became her secord New York Times bestseller peaking in the top ten. In 2004, she published a cookbook, You're Cookin' It Country.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Lynn made a comeback with the highly successful album Van Lear Rose, the second album on which Lynn either wrote or co-wrote every song. The album was produced by her "friend forever" ^[19] Jack White of The White Stripes, and featured guitar work and backup vocals by White. Her collaboration with White allowed Lynn to reach new audiences and generations, even garnering high praise in magazines that specialize in mainstream and alternative rock music, such as Spin and Blender.^[20] Rolling Stone voted the album the second best of the year for 2004. (White has long been an admirer of Lynn and claims she is his favorite singer. He has covered several songs of hers, including the controversial "Rated X.")

Loretta Lynn is working on the follow-up to 2004's Van Lear Rose, plus a new CD of re-recorded versions of some of her hits over the past 45 years. She is hoping to release both CDs by the end of 2011.

In late 2010, Lynn released a new album titled Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn, featuring stars like Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Paramore, and Carrie Underwood to re-record Loretta's hits over the past 45 years. The CD produced a top ten video hit on GAC with the lead single "Coal Miner's Daughter" that Lynn recorded with Miranda Lambert & Sheryl Crow. The single cracked the Billboard singles chart making Lynn the first female country recording artist to chart records in six decades.^{[citation needed]} The trio also received an Academy of Country Music, CMT Video and Country Music Association nominations.

In 2012, Lynn published her third autobiography, Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics.^[21]

Personal life[link]

Lynn is the second of eight children. Some of her siblings, including Jay Lee Webb and Peggy Sue, have pursued short-lived country music careers in the past. The most successful of Lynn's siblings on the Country charts is Crystal Gayle. Lynn is also distantly related to country singer Patty Loveless (née Patricia Ramey).

Lynn was married to Doolittle "Doo" Lynn from 1948 until his death from diabetes in 1996. They were married in Kentucky three months shy of her 16th birthday.^[22] Lynn had four children before she turned 21, and then had twins in the early 1960s: Peggy (Rita) and Patsy Lynn. Patsy Lynn was named in honor of Patsy Cline. Lynn's twin daughters formed their own Country music duo group, The Lynns, in 1998. Jack Benny Lynn, Loretta's eldest son, drowned July 22, 1984, while trying to ford the Duck River at the family ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.^[23] He was 34 years old.

Lynn owns a ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, billed as "The 7th Largest Attraction in Tennessee," featuring a recording studio, museums, lodging, and other attractions. For over 30 years the ranch has hosted the Loretta Lynn's Amateur Motocross National Championship, the world's largest amateur motocross race, in addition to GNCC Racing events. The ranch is centered around her large plantation home, along with a replica of her Butcher Hollow cabin. She no longer lives in the plantation home, but tours of the house are available.

In 2006, Lynn underwent shoulder surgery after injuring herself in a fall; complications occurred during the operation, where she died during the surgery, with the doctors having to revive her before they could finish the surgery procedure, which was successful.^[24][25]

Honors and awards[link]

Lynn has written over 160 songs and released 70 albums. She has had ten Number 1 albums and sixteen Number 1 singles on the country charts. Lynn has won dozens of awards from many different institutions, including four Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, eight Broadcast Music Incorporated awards, twelve Academy of Country Music, eight Country Music Association and twenty-six fan voted Music City News awards. She was the first woman in Country Music to receive a certified gold album for 1967's "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)"

In 1972, Lynn was the first woman named "Entertainer of the Year" by the Country Music Association, and is one of six women to have received CMA's highest award. She was named "Artist of the Decade" for the 1970s by the Academy of Country Music. Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988^[5] and the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.^[26] She was also the recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 2003. Lynn is also ranked 65th on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll^[27] and was the first female country to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977.^[28]

In 2001, "Coal Miner's Daughter" was named among NPR's "100 Most Significant Songs of the 20th Century". In 2002, Lynn had the highest ranking #3 for any living female CMT television's special of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music.^{[citation needed]}

On November 4, 2004, Lynn, who has been a BMI affiliate for over 45 years, was honored as a BMI Icon at the BMI Country Awards.^[29]

In 2008 Loretta Lynn was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City. To date Lynn had been inducted into more music Halls Of Fame than any other female recording artist. In 2010, Lynn received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her 50 years in country music.^[30]

Loretta Lynn appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010 and was honored for fifty years in country music.^[31] Also that year, Lynn was also presented with a rose named in her honour.^[32]

In November 2010 Sony Music released a tribute CD to Loretta Lynn titled Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn. The CD featured Kid Rock, Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, Alan Jackson, Gretchen Wilson,The White Stripes, Martina Mc Bride, Paramore, Steve Earl, Faith Hill. In 2011 Lynn was nominated for an Academy of Country Music, CMT Video and Country Music Association award for "Vocal Event of the Year" with Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow for "Coal Miner's Daughter" released as a video and single off the CD.^{[citation needed]}

Controversies and politics[link]

At the height of her popularity, Lynn was subject to much controversy. She possibly had more banned songs than any other artist in the history of country music,^{[citation needed]} including "Rated "X"," about the double standards divorced women face, "Wings Upon Your Horns," about the loss of teenage virginity, and "The Pill", lyrics by T.D. Bayless, about a wife and mother becoming liberated via the birth control pill. Her song, "Dear Uncle Sam", released in 1966 during the Vietnam War, describes a wife's anguish at the loss of a husband to war. It has been included in live performances during the Iraq War.^[7]

Though Lynn has been outspoken about her views on often-controversial social and political subjects, she stated, "I don't like to talk about things where you're going to get one side or the other unhappy. My music has no politics."^[33] She has visited the White House six times since 1976, under both Republican and Democratic presidents,^[34] and in her autobiography, she said her father was a Republican and her mother was a Democrat. In 2002's Still Woman Enough, she discusses her longtime friendship and support for Jimmy Carter,^[35] yet during the same time period she made her only recorded political donations ($4,300) to Republican candidates and Republican-aligned PACs. She is known to have a friendly relationship with both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, who awarded her Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 ^[36] At other times, she has also questioned both political parties: "Dear Uncle Sam" was written in 1966 during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to "recount the human costs of the Vietnam War", and she made a return to her live sets during the Iraq War under George W. Bush's presidency.

While a recognized "advocate for ordinary women", she is also famously suspicious of the Women's Liberation movement.^[37] She once stated, "I'm not a big fan of Women's Liberation, but maybe it will help women stand up for the respect they're due." Along these lines, her music has spanned from "The Pill" and "Rated X" to more culturally-conservative gospel albums.^[38]

She allowed PETA to use her song "I Wanna Be Free" in a public service campaign encouraging people not to chain their dogs outside.^[39]

She often claimed to have been married when she was 13 years old. She was actually married when she was 15, which was not unusual in the South at the time.^[1]

Discography[link]

Studio Albums

See also[link]

• Academy of Country Music
• List of country musicians
• Country Music Hall of Fame

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-X
• Are You Ready for the Country: Elvis, Dylan, Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock, Peter Dogget, Penguin Books, 2001. ISBN 0-14-026108-7
• Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes and the changing face of Nashville, Bruce Feiler, Avon Books, 1998. ISBN 0-380-97578-5

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Loretta Lynn

• Official website
• Loretta Lynn's Radio appearance on "The Motley Fool"
• Loretta Lynn at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry
• Official Website of the Van Lear, Kentucky Historical Society, Inc.
• 60 Minutes II interview with Loretta Lynn and Jack White
• Coal “Minors” Daughter? New Data Offers Light and Controversy on Loretta Lynn on "AwaitingTheFlood.com"