{"product_id":"honky-tonk-girl-isbn-9780307594891","title":"Honky Tonk Girl","description":"\u003cb\u003eOne of the most beloved country music stars of all time gives us the first collection of her lyrics and, in her own words, tells the stories that inspired her most popular songs, such as \"Coal Miner's Daughter,\" \"Don't Come Home A' Drinkin',\" and, of course, \"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl.\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Loretta Lynn's rags-to-riches story--from her hardscrabble childhood in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, through her marriage to Oliver \"Doolittle\" Lynn when she was thirteen, to her dramatic rise to the top of the charts--has resonated with countless fans throughout her more than fifty-year career. Now, the anecdotes she shares here give us deeper insight into her life, her collaborations, her influences, and how she pushed the boundaries of country music by discussing issues important to working-class women, even when they were considered taboo. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReaders will also get a rare look at the singer's handwritten lyrics and at personal photographs from her childhood, of her family, and of her performing life. \u003ci\u003eHonky Tonk Girl: A Life in Lyrics \u003c\/i\u003eis one more way for Lynn's fans--those who already love her and those who soon will--to know the heart and mind of this remarkable woman.\"Honky Tonk Girl, in presenting the lyrics, the great pictures, and moving memories that together knit up the tapestry of her life, stands testament to both that life and to the career of a great artist.... Loretta Lynn tells us her secrets in the pages of \u003ci\u003eHonky Tonk Girl\u003c\/i\u003e. Having already told her life story in the memoir \u003ci\u003eCoal Miner’s Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e, here Ms. Lynn concentrates on her body of work and the many songs.... \u003ci\u003eHonky Tonk Girl\u003c\/i\u003e gives us the full story of Ms. Lynn’s career as a songwriter.\" —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Despite a host of accolades and decades on the stage, she remains a humble songwriter with a big heart and a gift for observant storytelling. This selection of some of country music's best-loved songs is a fine tribute to an American icon.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eLORETTA LYNN was the first woman to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. She has had sixteen number-one singles, fifteen number-one albums, and countless other hit records. She died in 2022.\"The Story of My Life\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wrote the song \"The Story of My Life\" just because I was born in old Kentucky in them hills where folks are lucky!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wrote this song in about 1959. It was one of my first ones. Doo and I'd just started, and I was learning how to write songs. For me, I could and can only write what I've lived. I recorded this song on my very first session on Zero Records and forgot about it! Patsy, on the other hand, didn't. I told ya'll she is my biggest fan. She loved\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit, drug it out, and wrote a couple of new verses to it, played it for Jack White, and the rest is history. Now I can forget about this song again (laughing)!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHe's the story of my life,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eListen close and I'll tell ya twice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was born in old Kentucky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn them hills where folks are lucky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd it's paradise to me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, I got a feller right over the hill\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf he asks me to marry well I know \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI will.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe asked me to marry, got kids of four\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd I'm tellin' you I don't want no more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoo got me a guitar, I wrote me a song\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoved to Nashville and it wasn't long\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTill I was on the Grand Ole Opry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe bought us a mansion on the hill\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLivin' big like we were big deals\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScarlett O'Hara, Gone \u003ci\u003eWith the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was pregnant again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOh gee, oh Lord I swear\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe babies are comin' in pairs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, some big shot from Hollywood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThought a movie about my life would be good\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a big hit, made a big splash\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat I wanna know is what happened to the cash.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow me and Doo married forty-eight years\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSix kids later, a lot of laughter and tears.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have to say that I've been blessed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNot bad for this old Kentucky girl I guess.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, here's the story of my life,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eListen and I'll tell it twice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah hey, yeah hey, yeah hey . . .\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilburns\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf it wasn't for Teddy and Doyle Wilburn, I don't know if I would have gotten to be as successful as I became in country music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI met Doyle for the first time in 1960. I had just recorded my record \"Honky Tonk Girl\" on Zero label. We met at a DJ convention out west. I gave Doyle my record, and he gave me his address and told me if me and my husband ever got to Nashville we should let him know. As soon as I got home, I started writing the Wilburns letters. And they always wrote me back. I told them I really wanted to get my foot in the door in the music business. So Doyle and Teddy sent me out six songs and said to learn them and if I ever came to Nashville, Tennessee, they would demo me singing them. That was all we needed to hear! Me and Doo loaded our oldest off to Doo's mom and daddy, and Ernest and Cissie went to my mommy's house in Indiana . . . then we drove straight to the Wilburn Brothers' office. Lord, them boys were surprised to see us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Wilburns were a big family, and the whole family worked there. They took me and Doo in, found us a place to stay, fed us, gave us money, and treated us like their family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTeddy and Doyle did what they said they would do. I learned all the songs they sent me, and they cut my first demos. The boys and I became close, like sister and brothers. Teddy and Doyle were already pretty big stars in country music and really good businessmen. They started working with me, teaching me how to sing and how to think about writing songs so I could become a better songwriter. Heck, Teddy even bought me my first pair of high heels. He said that I came to Nashville looking like Annie Oakley's lost sister! I put on those high heels, and Teddy made me walk up and down the hallway at his office until I had blisters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wrote with both Teddy and Doyle. I had never written with anyone be-fore, so it was like stepping into a whole new world. I learned so much from them. The boys said they were learning from me, too. Teddy and I spent the most time together, since he was the more musical of the two. Doyle was more of the manager type, at least when it came to working with me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoth always encouraged me to write my own songs. They also got me signed to Decca Records, and they asked Owen Bradley to produce me. Later, the boys got their own TV show and asked me to be the girl singer on the show. Throughout the sixties and early seventies, they became my partners in songwriting, my publishers, and my managers. The whole family, from Lester to Leslie, kept our books and paid all our bills. Momma Wilburn became like a second mom to me and Doo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll the Wilburns, like Doolittle, have passed away. But like my kids are now helping me run my business, their family is the same. Not too long ago, me and my kids and Arvimia and her sons were all together. It was so great to see our children talking about songs and pitching songs and talking business. Just seeing them working together was great. I couldn't stop smiling. Family . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRelease date: 1960\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI always heard music when I was growing up, but writing a song is a bit different than just listening. In the mountains people would write about the things that happened, good or bad, so that's just what I did. I guess I had been singing three or four weeks when a girl I had picked strawberries with started coming in the little club where I worked. She would sit in the same booth every night. She never had drunk before, so after about two or three beers she would start to cry. One night on my ten-minute break I got down offstage and asked her why she was coming to the club alone and drinking. She told me her husband had left her and their seven children about three months ago for a younger woman who didn't live too far from where she lived. Then we both cried. That night I wrote this song about her. It was the first song I ever wrote.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEver since you left me I've done nothing but wrong\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany nights I've laid awake and cried\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe was so happy my heart was in a whirl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut now I'm a honky tonk girl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo turn that jukebox way up high\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd fill my glass up while I cry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI've lost everything in this world\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now I'm a honky tonk girl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI just can't make a right with all\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eof my wrongs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvery evening of my life seems so long\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm sorry and ashamed for all these things you see\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut losing him has made a fool of me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo fill my glass up to the brim\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo lose my memory of him\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI've lost everything in this world\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now I'm a honky tonk girl\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Knopf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302467522789,"sku":"NP9780307594891","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780307594891.jpg?v=1742927660","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/honky-tonk-girl-isbn-9780307594891","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}