Search - Loretta Lynn :: Definitive Collection

The best single CD of Loretta's hits

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 07/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note - this compilation is a re-issue and re-packaging of an earlier compilation (All-time greatest hits) with three additional tracks - Blue Kentucky girl, You're looking at country and The pill. This compilation has a higher price so if you're choosing between the two, your decision will be based on the value you place on those three tracks.



At the start of the sixties, female singers had a really hard tine getting noticed, except Patsy Cline. Loretta (along with Dolly and Tammy) helped to change this forever, by recording songs that appealed to women as well as men. While men (including myself) can sometimes be satisfied with women singing love songs, Loretta recorded some hard-hitting songs about life and its struggles.



Examples of her diverse themes include her heritage (Coal miners' daughter), fending off other women (You ain't woman enough, Woman of the world, Fist city), everyday life (One's on the way) and the evil of drinking too much (Don't come home a-drinking). All these songs can be found on this collection. Of course, she sings love songs too and plenty of those are included on this set, although these are not what Loretta is best remembered for. Among the love songs here is a cover of She's got you, a Patsy Cline song that Loretta also had a huge country hit with.



Her duets with Conway Twitty were an important feature of her career. Five are included here - After the fire is gone, Lead me on, As soon as I hang up the phone, Louisiana woman Mississippi man and Feelins'.



Notwithstanding Van Lear Rose, her incredible comeback album in 2004, Loretta's reputation ultimately rests on the music that she recorded in the sixties and seventies. 25 tracks are nowhere near comprehensive (notable omissions include Your squaw is on the warpath, Hey Loretta and They don't make 'em like my daddy anymore) but this single CD will be enough for most people, particularly those of you whose introduction to Loretta's music was via that comeback album.



If you only want a single CD of Loretta's sixties and seventies music, make it this one or All-time greatest hits. Committed fans may prefer the boxed set (Honky tonk girl)."

Grade-A, classic, killer country

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 08/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A fine, 25-song best-of that overlaps with other Loretta collections (including a few duets with Conway Twitty...) "Definitive" is definitely a relative term, here, especially considering how thorough and gratifying the old, 4-CD "Honky Tonk Girl" box set has proven over the years. Still, this is a great introduction to her work, and dips into some of her later work from 1975-onwards, stuff that doesn't readily come to mind when you're thinking of Loretta's glory years, but that still holds up nicely today. They seem to have omitted her novelty hit, "Your Squaw Is On The Warpath" (presumably because of modern-day PC concerns...) but the rest of the songs on here are of at least equal calibre to that old chestnut. Other Loretta best-ofs may serve you equally well, but this disc is unquestionably first-class."

Great songstress.

Stefan Crane | CA USA | 06/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Loretta Lynn is a wonderful lyricist and melody maker. Each song is infused with her own wit and realism. Although her husband brought her "out" into the world: Had it not been for talent, there would have been nothing to bring out. This is a classic album of her talent and will either send you on a trip down memory lane, or give you the start of a new street. Great job Loretta."