Full Circle [LP]

by Loretta Lynn

Overview

Full Circle is no accidental title for this, Loretta Lynn's first album after a 12-year break. Released as Lynn approaches her 83rd birthday, Full Circle not only deliberately returns the country legend to her Kentucky roots, it's constructed as a summation of her life. It opens with the first song she ever wrote -- a lovelorn waltz called "Whispering Sea" -- and runs through old folk tunes she sang as a child, revisits hits she had in her prime, and adds new tunes to her repertoire, all the while acknowledging that she's closer to the end of her life than the beginning. It's a weighty concept directed by co-producers John Carter Cash and Lynn's daughter Patsy Lynn Reynolds, two scions of country royalty keenly aware of the nuances of legacy and tradition. Cash and Reynolds began recording Lynn back in 2007, stockpiling hundreds of songs in the ensuing eight years. Full Circle is culled from those sessions, and while there certainly must be many equally compelling tunes lying in the vaults, the album benefits from its canny construction, touching upon so many aspects of Lynn's multi-faceted art without lingering on any single part. One of the record's attributes is its clean, simple sound. Spare but never skeletal, the record feels intimate but never haunted; it feels as if Lynn is playing songs for old friends in her living room, relying on beloved tunes and well-told stories. If there's possibly a slight contrivance in the reliance on songs about death -- good as they are, "Who's Gonna Miss Me?" and "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" put perhaps too fine a point upon her eventual passing -- these clear-eyed ruminations never feel ghoulish due to that straight-ahead sound. As produced by her daughter and family friend, Lynn is in good, trusting hands who wish to present her at her best and, more or less, that's precisely what Full Circle offers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/04/2016
Label:	Legacy Recordings
UPC:	0888751689718
Rank:	41924

Tracks

1. Whispering Sea Introduction
2. Whispering Sea
3. Secret Love
4. Who's Gonna Miss Me?
5. Black Jack David
6. Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven
7. Always on my Mind
8. Wine Into Water
9. In the Pines
10. Band of Gold
11. Fist City
12. I Never Will Marry
13. Everything it Takes
14. Lay Me Down

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Loretta Lynn   Primary Artist
Shawn Camp   Mandolin,Guitar (Acoustic)
Elvis Costello   Featured Artist
Dennis Crouch   Bass,Bass (Upright)
Pat McLaughlin   Mandolin
Jamie Hartford   Guitar (Electric)
Ronnie Bowman   Vocals (Background)
Sam Bush   Mandolin
Ronnie McCoury   Mandolin
Laura Cash   Guitar (Acoustic)
Randy Scruggs   Guitar (Acoustic)
Willie Nelson   Featured Artist
Rick Lonow   Drums
Tony Harrell   Piano
Laura Weber   Fiddle,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Mark Fain   Bass (Upright)
Jeff White   Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Bryan Sutton   Banjo,Guitar (Acoustic)
Will Smith   Autoharp
John Randall   Vocals (Background)
Mike Bubb   Bass (Upright)

Technical Credits

T. Graham Brown   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Wayne Carson   Composer
Johnny Christopher   Composer
Loretta Lynn   Arranger,Composer,Liner Notes
Lola Jean Dillon   Composer
Mark James   Composer
Richard Dodd   Mastering
A.P. Carter   Composer
Bruce Burch   Composer
Ted Hewitt   Composer
Todd Snider   Composer
Paul Francis Webster   Composer
John Carter Cash   Producer,Liner Notes
Trey Call   Second Engineer
Sammy Fain   Composer
Chuck Turner   Mixing,Engineer
Frank Harkins   Design,Art Direction
David McClister   Photography
Patsy Lynn Russell   Producer
Mark Marchetti   Composer
Jack Taylor   Composer
John Jackson   A&R
Bob Musel   Composer