Loretta Lynn - Back To The Country (1975/2021)

It is a misleading album title from an artist who never left country except to market a fried chicken recipe. For one thing, it would have to be a country project to rope in the gang of session pickers here, the best of the best; names such as Charlie McCoy, Pete Wade, Grady Martin, Johnny Gimble, and the pope of the pedal steel, Hal Rugg. A bit of a tougher edge might have helped the song selection, though. It is as if the opening track, the notorious "The Pill," was considered so rowdy that they thought they had to tone it down after that. And though the choice of Tom T. Hall's "You Love Everybody But You" is commendable, some of the other material just seems a little light for Lynn. Production by the great Owen Bradley is creamy smooth.