Loretta Lynn’s death on October 4, 2022, was a painful loss for eastern Kentuckians and country music fans nationwide. Known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” she was born April 14, 1935, at Butcher Holler, Johnson County, Kentucky, to Melvin and Clara Butcher Webb. Named after Loretta Young, her mother’s favorite actress, she walked several miles daily to attend a one-room school in nearby Van Lear, where she completed the eighth grade. At age thirteen she met Oliver Lynn, an ex-soldier seven years her senior, and one month later she married him.
Loretta Lynn, publicity photo, 1965.
Soon after their marriage, they moved to Custer, Washington, where they both worked on a dairy farm. Mother of four by age eighteen, Loretta Lynn learned to play a twenty-dollar guitar while singing lullabies. A five-minute appearance in 1960 on radio station KPUG in Bellingham, Washington, eventually propelled Lynn into a professional career as a regular on Nashville’s “Grand Ole Opry” and recognition as country music’s first lady. She recorded over sixty singles and fifty albums for Decca and MCA, many of the songs were her own composition.
In 1972, Lynn was the first woman selected County Music Association entertainer of the year. In 1980, she was named entertainer of the decade. Her best-known songs include “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” (1960), “Blue Kentucky Girl” (1965), “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (1966), and “You’re Looking at Country” (1971). The 1980 movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was based upon her autobiography. Her siblings Crystal Gayle, Tracey Lee, and Jay Lee also became successful country singers.
During her busy lifetime – with the assistance of others – she authored five books: “Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter;” “Still Woman Enough: A Memoir;” “You’re Cooking it Country: My Favorite Recipes and Memories;” “Honky Tonk Girl: My Life In Lyrics;” and “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline,” a book currently offered for sale at the Jesse Stuart Foundation.
When Loretta Lynn first came to Nashville in 1960 – a broke young mother trying to navigate the country music business – Patsy Cline was a star, soon to enjoy her chart-topping hit “I Fall to Pieces.” Loretta’s decision to sing Patsy’s song on the radio led to one of the most important relationships of her life. In “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust,” she tells the story of a remarkable friendship that ended in Patsy’s tragic and untimely death on March 5, 1963, at the age of thirty.
Patsy and Loretta were two trailblazers who refused to let men or convention tell them how to sing or perform. Together they stood up to discriminations against female singers. Instead of competing against each other, they forged a friendship. They leaned on each other while balancing touring and raising children, writing songs, and making dinner. They were taking on the industry together, and they seemed to be winning when Patsy’s plane went down just outside Nashville. That day, Loretta’s life as she’d known it stopped, and she spent the rest of her career trying to honor her friend and what they started as musicians and entertainers.
Tender and fierce, “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust” is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music – as well as a meditation on love, loss, and legacy.
“Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline” by Loretta Lynn is available at the Jesse Stuart Foundation at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, contact the JSF at 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
By James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
Loretta Lynn’s death on October 4, 2022, was a painful loss for eastern Kentuckians and country music fans nationwide. Known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” she was born April 14, 1935, at Butcher Holler, Johnson County, Kentucky, to Melvin and Clara Butcher Webb. Named after Loretta Young, her mother’s favorite actress, she walked several miles daily to attend a one-room school in nearby Van Lear, where she completed the eighth grade. At age thirteen she met Oliver Lynn, an ex-soldier seven years her senior, and one month later she married him.
Soon after their marriage, they moved to Custer, Washington, where they both worked on a dairy farm. Mother of four by age eighteen, Loretta Lynn learned to play a twenty-dollar guitar while singing lullabies. A five-minute appearance in 1960 on radio station KPUG in Bellingham, Washington, eventually propelled Lynn into a professional career as a regular on Nashville’s “Grand Ole Opry” and recognition as country music’s first lady. She recorded over sixty singles and fifty albums for Decca and MCA, many of the songs were her own composition.
Loretta Lynn, publicity photo, 1965.
In 1972, Lynn was the first woman selected County Music Association entertainer of the year. In 1980, she was named entertainer of the decade. Her best-known songs include “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” (1960), “Blue Kentucky Girl” (1965), “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (1966), and “You’re Looking at Country” (1971). The 1980 movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was based upon her autobiography. Her siblings Crystal Gayle, Tracey Lee, and Jay Lee also became successful country singers.
During her busy lifetime – with the assistance of others – she authored five books: “Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter;” “Still Woman Enough: A Memoir;” “You’re Cooking it Country: My Favorite Recipes and Memories;” “Honky Tonk Girl: My Life In Lyrics;” and “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline,” a book currently offered for sale at the Jesse Stuart Foundation.
When Loretta Lynn first came to Nashville in 1960 – a broke young mother trying to navigate the country music business – Patsy Cline was a star, soon to enjoy her chart-topping hit “I Fall to Pieces.” Loretta’s decision to sing Patsy’s song on the radio led to one of the most important relationships of her life. In “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust,” she tells the story of a remarkable friendship that ended in Patsy’s tragic and untimely death on March 5, 1963, at the age of thirty.
Patsy and Loretta were two trailblazers who refused to let men or convention tell them how to sing or perform. Together they stood up to discriminations against female singers. Instead of competing against each other, they forged a friendship. They leaned on each other while balancing touring and raising children, writing songs, and making dinner. They were taking on the industry together, and they seemed to be winning when Patsy’s plane went down just outside Nashville. That day, Loretta’s life as she’d known it stopped, and she spent the rest of her career trying to honor her friend and what they started as musicians and entertainers.
Tender and fierce, “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust” is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music – as well as a meditation on love, loss, and legacy.
“Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline” by Loretta Lynn is available at the Jesse Stuart Foundation at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, contact the JSF at 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
By James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
