Loretta Lynn is a giant of country music — a singer and songwriter who changed the genre. It’s not any stretch at all to compare her to Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and even Hank Williams.
She made songs that are indelible. The idea that one woman could write “Wings Upon Your Horns,” “Rated X,” “Another Man Loved Me Last Night” and “The Pill” — songs that are boldly sexual and candid and that that one woman could also write “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and dozens of other more sentimental hits is consistently mind-blowing.
Lynn, who turns 85 next year, is a master of songs about women who’s lives have fallen apart, in one way or another, because of a no-good, cheating, drinking and lying man. There’s surprisingly little self-pity in these songs. Lynn’s lyrics are more generally fueled by a sense of rage, comic disdain and a determination to retain some dignity in a world that aims to strip it from her, though she knows how to sing and write a tear-jerker as well. Lynn just released a new record earlier this year.
Loretta Lynn performs at the Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, Saturday, Aug. 27, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $150. Information: 203-438-5795, or visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.
