Personnel includes: Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty (vocals).
Producer: Owen Bradley.
Compilation producer: Andy McKaie.
Recorded in Nashville & Mt. Juliet, Tennessee between 1965 and 1976. Includes liner notes by Joesph F. Laredo.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, North Hollywood, California).
This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series.
Liner Note Author: Joseph F. Laredo.
Recording information: Bradley's Barn, Mt. Juliet, Ten (11/11/1965-06/30/1976); Nashville, TN (11/11/1965-06/30/1976).
Like any record company worth their salt, MCA knows a good gimmick when they see it, and when the millennium came around, the 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection wasn't too far behind. Supposedly, the millennium is a momentous occasion, but it's hard to feel that way when it's used as another excuse to turn out a budget-line series. But apart from the presumptuous title, 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection turns out to be a very good budget-line series. True, it's impossible for any of these ten-track collections to be definitive, but they're nevertheless solid samplers that don't feature a bad song in the bunch. For example, take Loretta Lynn's 20th Century volume. Yes, there are some great songs missing, but what's here is terrific, including "Coal Miner's Daughter," "You Ain't Woman Enough," "Lead Me On," "Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," and "Blue Kentucky Girl." Serious fans will want something more extensive and neophytes would be best-served by better-chosen collections, but this disc is quite entertaining, considering its length and price. That doesn't erase the ridiculousness of the series title, but the silliness is excusable when the music and the collections are good. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
This intelligently programmed mid-price best-of doesn't pretend to be the definitive Loretta Lynn collection--with only 12 tracks, how could it? What's here, however, is hard to quibble with, whether it's one of her signature songs ("Blue Kentucky Girl," "Coal Miner's Daughter," "One's on the Way"), her stellar duets with Conway Twitty, ("Lead Me On," "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man"), or interestingly chosen album tracks, including the ravishing version of "She's Got You" from a 1977 Patsy Cline tribute. Not the whole story, but you can't go wrong with it, anyway. minimize