Loretta Lynn Wrote “Coal Miner’s Daughter” On A $17 Guitar: “If I Told The Whole Story, Nobody Would Believe It”

A career-defining song.

On this date in 1970, the late, great Loretta Lynn was at #1 on the country chart with her signature tune “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” It also became her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 all-genre chart.

The song was a solo write by Loretta, and was by far the most significant of her career, leading to her aforementioned 4th career #1, 2nd Gold album certifications, and a famous biographical musical film of her life that won an Academy Award and two Golden Globes.

Of course, the song perfectly describes her life growing up dirt poor in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, with a father who grew corn and worked in the Van Lear coal mines:

“My daddy worked all night in the Van Lear coal mines
All day long in the field a hoeing corn
Mommy rocked the babies at night
And read the Bible by the coal oil light
And ever’ thing would start all over come break of morn'”

She mentions in the chorus, though, how proud she was of her parents and her upbringing in the hills and hollers of east Kentucky, which was extremely evident throughout her entire life and career.

There’s just something so inherently humble and homey about the lyrics that so many people can relate to, and the overarching message about being proud of what you have, whether it’s a little or a lot, is absolutely timeless, which is why it continues to resonate with people all over the world decades later.

And in an interview with Blue Railroad years ago, Loretta explained a little more background on her inspiration for writing it, saying that she wrote it on a $17 guitar:

“I wrote it on a little $17 guitar. It didn’t stay in tune. And $17 was a lot of money, cause at the time we didn’t have any money. But then Gibson gave me a guitar, and I wrote all the others on that one. Every word is true.

My daddy would work all night in the coal mine. During the day he would work in the cornfields. There were ten of us. He had to make a living for us. Eight kids.

I was second, so I would take care of the kids while Mommy did the sewing and the cleaning and everything else. I think that’s why I sing. I’d rock the babies to sleep and sing to them.”

She also recalled a story about literally going without proper shoes, when she couldn’t make it to school and her dad found her crying by the creek with no shoes on, and carried her back home.

Loretta said she was amazed he could even do it, because her father only weighed 117 pounds:

“[The song] says we’d go without shoes in the summer. We would wear our shoes out before it would be warm enough to be without shoes. We’d have holes in our shoes, and put paste-board in our shoes.

But halfway to school the paste-board would come out. One time my daddy found me by the creek with my shoes off, just crying, cause it was so cold from those shoes with holes. And Daddy picked me up and carried me home. And Daddy only weighed 117 pounds. I don’t know how he did it, but he did.”

She explained that while the song was about her specific memories growing up in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, it represents so many people who lived, and still live, similar lives:

“You know, you hear about poor people in other countries. There are a lot of poor people in our country if you go to the right places. There are a lot of hollers, not just Butcher Holler. I’ve seen them. I guarantee you there’s kids right to this day in the Kentucky hills that don’t have shoes.

There’s the line ‘Daddy always managed to get the money somewhere.’ Parents do what they have to do. Daddy would usually try to get two hogs, one to raise and one to sell. So the other hog would pay for itself. We had a rough life. It was a hard life. Mommy would raise a garden in the summer, and we’d help her.

She would can, and I would pick wild blackberries. I would go and pick from morning till night. And Mommy would pack up 100 quarts of blackberries. The song doesn’t tell half of it. If I told the whole story nobody would believe it now anyway.”

Touché… what a life Mrs. Loretta lived and a legacy she left behind.

“Coal Miner’s Daughter” is one of the greatest, and most important country songs ever made, and of course, it was born out of her lived experiences, that resonate with people across the world to this day… and will continue to forever, because it’s timeless in its message and value.

There are countless great performances of Loretta singing this country classic, but one of my favorite’s is from an appearance she did on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 30th, 1971, not too long after the song was released.

This is simply country music at it’s best:

“Coal Miner’s Daughter”

The post Loretta Lynn Wrote “Coal Miner’s Daughter” On A $17 Guitar: “If I Told The Whole Story, Nobody Would Believe It” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.