You ain't woman enough (to take her man)

Loretta Lynn: Honkey Tonk Angel

L oretta Lynn can’t be accused of not speaking straight. Among her catalogue of songs are ‘Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)’, ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)’ and ‘You Wanna Give Me A Lift (But This Gal Ain’t A-Goin’ That Far)’. She also boasts the most comprehensively country LP title in history: Lyin’, Cheatin’, Woman Chasin’, Honky Tonkin’, Whiskey Drinkin’ You.

Every one of those accusations could have been levelled at her husband, O.V. ‘Mooney’ Lynn, known during their affectionate moments as ‘Doo’. In her more than candid autobiographies, Coal Miner’s Daughter and Still Woman Enough, Loretta pegs him as a lyin’, cheatin’ . . . well, you get the picture. For all that, their marriage lasted from 1948 until his death in 1996, and without him she would never have become a singer. Without him, indeed, she would never have been moved to write so many songs that stood up for the oppressed, bullied, ignored, discriminated against, down-but-not-prepared-to-stay-down women of America.

Until the Garth Brooks era inaugurated a new breed of star who’d graduated from college with a degree in marketing, country was the place where ‘rags to …

by Peter Doggett
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