Loretta Lynn “Full Circle” Album Review

Prime Cuts: Always on My Mind, Wine into Water, Secret Love

At 83 years of age, Loretta Lynn has hinted that Full Circle wll be her swan song.  After 54 studio album recordings, 15 compilation discs and a whopping 86 singles, many of which have add definition to country music, Lynn is country music's tour de force. Yet, regardless of how many records she might have had spun out, there's always a whiff of sadness when an artist announces his or her last album.  Thus, Full Circle is a sacrosanct affair; this is essentially Lynn's last sonic testament bringing to a close her lengthy career which she started way back in 1962. Full Circle is also Lynn's first studio album of brand new recordings since her game changing record Van Lear Rose.  Whilst Van Lear Rose was very much an experimental excursion where Lynn dabbled with garage rock, Full Circle, as the titular suggests, harkens back to her earlier country days where a minimalist approach was favored; here fiddles, steel and guitar accompany rather than dominate.

Produced by John Carter Cash and Lynn's daughter Patsy Lynn Reynold, the appreciation of this record starts with its titular, Full Circle. It's not coincidental that the album is so named.  The record starts off with Lynn's rendition of the first song she has had ever written "Whispering Sea," before re-visiting some of Lynn's signature numbers that she recorded at her career peak, before encircling back to her latter life where she becomes more ruminative about issues such as heaven and our mortality.  Nevertheless, the circle is not entirely circular - there are moments on record where Lynn does take a few detours to visit some of her favorite songs either garnered from the American songbook or from the country music oeuvre.

So, let's start by making comments as we travel with Lynn on this circular choice of songs.  Despite being written when Lynn was a mere child, "Whispering Sea" surprisingly shows depth and maturity.  A forlorn love ballad, "Whispering Sea" finds its strength in using the imagery of the sea to draw out the feelings of heartbreak.  While we would have expected Lynn to choose a stone cold country ballad for her cover, she astounds us with a seasoned version of Doris Day's "Secret Love."  Often this ballad of unrequited love is sung in the key of the sweetly chirp of a young maiden. But with Lynn's weathered worn vocals, she totally re-imagines this song from the perspective of an older woman which is fascinating. Adding shafts of wisdom and depth, Lynn equally brings a seasonal pause to T. Graham Brown's redemptive "Wine into Water."

Though Elvis Costello's name is cited with Lynn on the current single "Everything It Takes," he adds little to this modern day re-write of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." Lynn then revisits her Appalachian roots via her earlier signature tunes such as "Fist City" and "In the Pines."  Relying only on the warm acoustics of wooden instrumentation such as the fiddle, steel and guitar, you can almost feel the bristling sound of the blades of grass moving in the wind when Lynn gets on her rustic side. The album then circles back to Lynn's latter years where she finds herself closer to her eventual death via "Who's Gonna Miss Me?" and "Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven."  Not one to be given to ghoulish hopelessness, Lynn does spell out her faith and hope in her self-penned "Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven."

Full Circle is an appropriate album to close off Lynn's magisterial career. It gives younger fans a tour of her career moments and life without trying to be too forceful or dry.  And for older fans who have had accompanied Lynn on part or the whole of her circular journey, this album re-lives some of those glorious moments as well as it offers hope that via God's grace and salvation this circle never really ends.....  

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