Search - Loretta Lynn :: Loretta Lynn - All Time Greatest Hits

Brilliant overview of her golden years

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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. 22 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 a single CD will be enough for most people, particularly those of you whose introduction to Loretta's music was via that comeback album.



Note - a more recent single CD compilation (Definitive Loretta Lynn) is a re-issue and re-packaging of this collection with three additional tracks - Blue Kentucky girl, You're looking at country and The pill. As I write this, the price of that compilation is higher so if you're choosing between the two, it will depend what value you place on the three extra tracks. If you only want a single CD of Loretta's sixties and seventies music, choose either this one or Definitive Loretta Lynn. Of course, comitted fans will prefer the boxed set, Honky tonk girl."

Best Single Disc Set, But Get The Honky Tonk Girl Box Set

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 10/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Along with Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn rates as one of the true Queens of Country Music (how they rank is pretty much up to you). Under the guidance of producer Owen Bradley, Loretta Lynn's early records at Decca were very much in the traditional female country vein. "Success," "The Other Woman," "Wine Women And Song," and "Blue Kentucky Girl" were the initial hits and all have a subservient theme (only "Wine Women And Song" is included here as the lead-off track). 1965's "You Ain't Woman Enough" and 1966's "Don't Come Home A Drinkin'" drastically altered that subservient persona. These feisty declarations were also the first hits Lynn wrote at Decca. From 1967 - 1971, Lynn was at her commercial and artistic peak. She wrote most of her hits during this period and no subject appears to have been off-limits. "Fist City" finds Lynn willing to get physical to keep her man while "Rated X" discusses the stigma placed on divorced on women. "One's On The Way" humorously poked at the drudgeries of being a housewife with a lot of kids. Country pride also played a prominent role in Lynn's music during this era with "Coal Miner's Daughter," which would become Lynn's signature song.

By 1972, Lynn stopped writing her own material (due to a bad publishing deal with the Wilburn Brothers). Her musical stylings had expanded, with "Trouble In Paradise" finding Lynn experimenting with rock (and sounding extremely ill at ease). Pop-flavored ballads like "When The Tingle Becomes A Chill" and "Somebody Somewhere" also became more common as Lynn's distinctive sound became watered down during the mid-to-late 1970s (when her recording career began to wind down). All Time Greatest Hits also includes five of Lynn's best duets with longtime singing partner Conway Twitty. They help contribute to my decision to give this 22 track set the nod over the 16 track Country Music Hall Of Fame set among single disc sets. The three-disc box set Honky Tonk Girl, however, is the only Lynn collection that really does her legendary career justice."

Excellent single-disc of Lynn's top hits

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/09/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lynn's career has been one of the most artistically and commercially successful in the history of country music. MCA/Decca's latest single-disc collection provides a concise look at her biggest chart successes, including many of the strong, personal statements ("You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" "Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" "Fist City" "Coal Miner's Daughter") for which her voice is revered. Her forthrightness is as moving today (if not as outright startling) as when these tracks were originally waxed.All sixteen of her chart toppers from the '60s and '70s are here, including five duets recorded with Conway Twitty. In addition, six cuts that just missed the top spot -- hitting #3 or better -- fill out the generous track count. This is truly a collection of "All Time Greatest Hits," and, for the most part, obsoletes the earlier pair of "20th Century Masters" volumes.An earlier single-disc collection, issued as part of the Country Hall of Fame series, focuses less resolutely on the chart-toppers, dropping several of her duets with Twitty and substituting solo statements like "Your Squaw is on the Warpath," "Blue Kentucky Girl," and "The Pill." The choice between "All Time Greatest Hits" or "Country Music Hall of Fame" likely hinges on the inclusion of a specific song a buyer is looking for.For those who can't choose between the two single-disc collections, the triple-disc "Honky Tonk Girl" set is the answer. The 70 tracks of "Honky Tonk Girl" start earlier in Lynn's career (including her first single, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl," and early work for Decca, such as "Success"), continue later (including Lynn's last top-10, "I Lie"), and fill in more ground in between.Those looking for an introduction to Loretta Lynn will find the 22 chart highlights of "All Time Greatest Hits" as good as a single-disc as can be found, and Rich Kienzle's liner notes flesh out this collection with ample background on Lynn's life and recording career.4-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings."