Coal Miner's Daughter (?)

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. Considered Lynn's signature song, it was originally released as a single in 1970 and became a number one hit on the Billboard country chart. It was later released on an album of the same name. Produced by Owen Bradley, the song tells the story of Lynn's coal-mining father in rural Kentucky during the Great Depression. Lynn, who was born in 1932 and experienced the Great Depression as a child, also describes her childhood and the circumstances she was raised in during those years.

"Coal Miner's Daughter" would receive positive reviews from journalists and music critics alike following its release. It would become one of Lynn's signature recordings in her career. It would also be considered one of music's most significant recordings, according to polls from Time and the Recording Industry Association of America. The song has been covered several times since its original release, notably in a collaboration from Lynn, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert.

Background and composition

The music and lyrics of "Coal Miner's Daughter" had been written entirely by Loretta Lynn. She composed the song in 1969, a year before its official recording. While writing the lyrics, Lynn composed the melody at the same time. The melody had originally been written in a bluegrass style, which matched the style of music she was raised singing. According to Lynn, she had trouble rhyming some of the song's words. "I had to match up words like “holler” and “daughter” and “water.” But after it was done, the rhymes weren't so important," Lynn wrote in her 1976 autobiography. Lynn spent several hours writing the remainder of the song. When it was completed, a total of nine verses were composed.

The song recounts the day-to-day life of her childhood growing up in rural poverty in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. In the lyrics, Lynn describes herself as the daughter of a coal mining father. She recounted how her father also worked as a farmer growing corn. Along with her father, Lynn also wrote about her mother and how she worked tirelessly on household duties such as cleaning and washing. Subsequent verses recall Lynn's other childhood experiences and hardships, such as her mother reading the Bible by a coal-oil light or having bloody fingers from constantly doing the laundry using a wash board. Decades later, Lynn revealed that the song only hinted at other childhood experiences. "The song doesn’t tell half of it. If I told the whole story nobody would believe it now anyway."

Recording

Lynn recorded the song upon the encouragement of her longtime record producer, Owen Bradley. However, Bradley disliked that Lynn's original written version contained ten verses. Fearing the song would be as long as Marty Robbins' hit "El Paso," Bradley told her: "There’s already been an ‘El Paso,’ there didn't need to be another one." Before recording, she removed extra verses of the song related to further mentions of her father and life in rural Kentucky. Lynn also removed lines related to her mother killing a pig during an annual "hog-killing day." In total, four verses were removed from the original composition. Lynn later recalled removing the verses: " I cried the whole time. And I have lost those verses, I do not remember them. I wish I did." "Coal Miner's Daughter" was officially recorded on October 1, 1969, at Bradley's own Bradley's Barn recording studio located in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The background vocalists for the session were the Jordanaires. Also recorded during the same session were the tracks "Wings Upon Your Horns" and "You Wanna Give Me a Lift." Both recordings would later be hits for Lynn as well.

Owen Bradley allowed Lynn to record the song using her planned arrangement. The song opened featuring a steel guitar and was followed by a fiddle. She then sang the song to the band and it was cut live in the studio during the session. Additionally, her husband, Doolittle Lynn, suggested the incorporation of a banjo into the song, which was eventually added as well. According to Lynn, only a couple of takes of the song were recorded before compiling them together. "I never did many takes of anything. The more I sing, the worse I get. I like to make it fresh," she reflected. Unlike live performances, the recorded version of "Coal Miner's Daughter" did not include guitar-playing by Lynn herself. Only included was her live vocal. Instead guitarists from The Nashville A-Team were chosen for the record.