{"id":19916,"date":"2024-04-01T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=19916"},"modified":"2024-03-31T16:51:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T15:51:33","slug":"youre-lookin-at-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2024\/04\/01\/youre-lookin-at-country\/","title":{"rendered":"YOU\u2019RE LOOKIN\u2019 AT COUNTRY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YOU\u2019RE LOOKIN\u2019 AT COUNTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

in a song by Loretta Lynn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

says Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although I had previously known her name and a couple of her tracks it took the film Coal Miner\u00b4s Daughter to make me more fully aware of Loretta Lynn\u00b4s song writing abilities and her profound influence on country music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina Benitez Ives recently addressed that influence in American Songwriter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalist, a writer I really enjoy reading, confirmed in the article that \u00b4Loretta Lynn<\/a> (left)<\/em><\/strong>  said it all in one line: If you\u2019re lookin\u2019 at me, you\u2019re lookin\u2019 at country<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cYou\u2019re Lookin\u2019 at Country\u201d was an ode to the pastoral imagery she passed on the open road while touring and her affirmation of being all-country. Released a year after \u201cCoal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/a>,\u201d the song climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard<\/em> Hot Country Singles chart. The 1971 album You\u2019re Lookin\u2019 at Country<\/em> peaked at No. 7\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lynn was first inspired to write the song after roaming her Hurricane Mills property in Tennessee with her husband Oliver Lynn (Doo). While showing her the new livestock he bought while she was on the road, Lynn was captivated by the natural landscape surrounding them and told Doo, \u201cYou\u2019re lookin\u2019 at country, real country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Within the song, Lynn sings about running barefooted through the old cornfields<\/em> and her love of the land under her feet. To make the song move on the charts, she wrote it around a love interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And this little girl would walk a country mile<\/em>
To find her a good old slow-talkin\u2019 country boy
I said a country boy
I\u2019m about as old-fashioned as I can be
So I hope you\u2019re likin\u2019 what you see
If you\u2019re lookin\u2019 at me
You\u2019re lookin\u2019 at country

You don\u2019t see no city when you look at me
\u2018Cause country\u2019s all I am
I love runnin\u2019 barefooted through the old cornfields
And I love that country ham
Well, you say I\u2019m made just to fit your plans
But there\u2019s a barnyard shovel fit your hands
If your eyes are on me
You\u2019re lookin\u2019 at country, oh Bobby<\/em>

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Well, I like my lovin\u2019 done country-style
And this little girl would walk a country mile
To find her a good old slow-talkin\u2019 country boy
I said a country boy
I\u2019m about as old-fashioned as I can be
So I hope you\u2019re likin\u2019 what you see
If you\u2019re lookin\u2019 at me
You\u2019re lookin\u2019 at country<\/em>

\u201cI had to write \u2018You\u2019re Lookin\u2019 At Country\u2019 as a love song or it wouldn\u2019t sell,\u201d said Lynn in the liner notes for the 1994 box set Honky Tonk Girl: The Loretta Lynn Collection<\/em><\/a>. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t a love song. I got the idea from looking at my land. I wanted to write what I saw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1978, Lynn performed her country paean on an episode of\u00a0The Muppets Show.<\/em>\u00a0Actress Sissy Spacek (left)<\/em><\/strong> later performed \u201cYou\u2019re Lookin\u2019 at Country\u201d in two scenes of the 1980 film on Lynn\u2019s life,\u00a0Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/em>, along with singing the song for the soundtrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrie Underwood<\/a> covered Lynn\u2019s classic in the 2010 tribute album, Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn<\/em>, and in 2014, Lynn joined Kacey Musgraves<\/a> on stage to perform the song during the CMA Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loretta Lynn left her mark as the first woman in country to write her own songs. Over the decades, she often collaborated with longtime duet partners and friends, the late Conway Twitty and Willie Nelson, along with Ernest Tubb (\u201cMr. and Mrs. Used to Be<\/a>,\u201d 1964), Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette (\u201cSilver Threads and Golden Needles<\/a>,\u201d 1993) Frank Sinatra (\u201cAll Or Nothing At All<\/a>,\u201d 1977) and later unions with Elvis Costello (see below)<\/em> and Jack White (\u201cPortland, Oregon<\/a>,\u201d 2004)\u2014off Lynn\u2019s 2004 album Van Lear Rose<\/em>, which White also produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In between releasing 46 albums of her own material, Lynn also wrote songs for other artists\u2014recording several for herself later on\u2014including tracks for sisters Peggy Sue and Crystal Gayle to The Osborne Brothers, and Warner Mack among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five songs that Loretta Lynn wrote for other artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI Pray My Way out of Trouble,\u201d The Osborne Brothers <\/strong>Written by Loretta Lynn and Teddy Wilburn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loretta Lynn and Teddy Wilburn, of the 1960s country sibling duo The Wilburn Brothers, wrote this story of the power of prayer for The Osborne Brothers. Released on the group\u2019s 1969 album Favorite Hymns<\/em>, Lynn later recorded the song herself on her 20th album, God Bless America Again<\/em>, in 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peggy Sue and Crystal Gayle. (loretta\u00b4s sisters) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m Dynamite,\u201d Peggy Sue (1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Loretta Lynn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The middle sister of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle, Peggy Sue recorded the Lynn-penned \u201cI\u201dm Dynamite\u201d for her 1969 debut, Dynamite, <\/em>which hit the Top 30 on the country chart. A year later, Lynn put her own spin on the song for her 15th album Wings Upon Your Horns<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peggy Sue and Lynn collaborated regularly in the early days, when both were signed to Decca with Lynn also writing several other songs for her younger sister, including their co-written \u201cLove Whatcha Got at Home,\u201d first recorded by Peggy Sue then by Lynn on her 18th album,\u00a0You\u2019re Lookin\u2019 at Country,\u00a0<\/em>in 1971. Lynn also penned \u201cNo Woman Can Hold Him Too Long\u201d and \u201cMrs. Leroy Brown\u201d for Peggy, the latter track released on Lynn\u2019s 2004 album\u00a0Van Lear Ros<\/em>e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1986, Peggy Sue switched to singing as a backup singer and designing stage wear for her younger sister Crystal Gayle\u2014who she continues to perform with to date. All three sisters would often perform with Lynn at her Hurricane Mills, Tennessee ranch, and Peggy Sue also helped Lynn write some of her earlier songs, including Lynn\u2019s first No. 1 country hit \u201cDon\u2019t Come Home A-Drinkin\u2019 (With Lovin\u2019 on Your Mind),\u201d released in 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLet\u2019s Get Back Down to Earth,\u201d Warner Mack (1969)
<\/strong>Written by Loretta Lynn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another track Lynn would record herself on her 15th album, Wings Upon Your Horns<\/em>, \u201cLet\u2019s Get Back Down to Earth\u201d was written by Loretta Lynn but first recorded and released by Warner Mack in 1969. The country singer released a number of hits throughout his career, including \u201cIs It Wrong (For Loving You)\u201d in 1957 and \u201cThe Bridge Washed Out\u201d in 1965, along with his final album, Better Than Ever<\/em> at the age of 85. Mack died on March 1, 2022, in Nashville, at the age of 86<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes),\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crystal Gayle (1970) <\/strong>Written by Loretta Lynn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When younger sister Crystal Gayle eventually signed on to Decca Records, joining Lynn and Peggy Sue, Lynn wrote several songs for her, including her first single \u201cI\u2019ve Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes),\u201d which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Lynn went on to write a number of other songs recorded by Gayle, including \u201cSparklin\u2019 Look of Love,\u201d which was released as the B-side to \u201cI\u2019ve Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes),\u201d and \u201cMama It\u2019s Different This Time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two sisters would often perform together, and when Gayle was just 16, she even filled in for Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry. \u201cLoretta was sick,\u201d said Gayle<\/a> in a 2016 interview. \u201cI know Mooney [Oliver Lynn], her husband, talked somebody into letting me go on stage that night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gayle added, \u201dShe got me my first recording contract, and she told me the best advice: \u2018Don\u2019t sing anything that I would because we\u2019re only going to be compared,\u2019\u201d said Gayle. \u201cShe was right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came,\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elvis Costello (2009) <\/strong>Written by Loretta Lynn and Costello<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his 2009 album Secret, Profane & Sugarcane<\/em>, recorded in Nashville by T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello connected with Lynn to co-write the roots and bluegrass\u2014leaning \u201cI Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came.\u201d Filled with more bluegrass, Americana, and country-driven tracks, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane <\/em>reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 for Costello. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, the pair teamed up again for a duet on \u201cEverything It Takes,\u201d written by Lynn and Todd Snider and released on her 43rd album Full Circle. <\/em>Lynn called the song a \u201cwoman song\u2014something more for a woman.\u201d She added, \u201cI wrote \u2018Everything It Takes\u2019 real fast. I probably wrote it in 30 minutes. Sometimes I can write a song real fast, and sometimes it\u2019ll take me two, or three days. And I get so aggravated that I\u2019ll probably lay it down and go back to it later. But that song came easy. I\u2019ll come up with the title first and, when I come up with the title, I always know I got a good title.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of her first meeting with Costello six years earlier, while writing \u201cI Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came,\u201d <\/strong>Lynn told Tina Benitez Ives that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe sat down in the studio to write a song. I had a piece of paper and a pencil, and he had a computer. So we looked at one another like, \u2018What\u2019s going to come out of this?\u2019 He was laughing about it, but I didn\u2019t think it was funny because that\u2019s the way I write all my songs. When I write a song, I don\u2019t want to be on a computer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou\u2019re Lookin\u2019 at Country\u201d was an ode to the pastoral imagery Loretta Lynn passed on the open road while touring and her affirmation of being all-country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,45,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-tradition","category-music","category-performing-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19916"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20321,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916\/revisions\/20321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}