While other female singers acquiesced to these unwritten rules, Lynn didn’t. Soon she was defying the men and picking her own material, writing her own songs and building a fan club that would rival and eventually surpass that of all the powerful men in the Music City system. Carefully, but boldly, she stepped out and demanded not only to be heard, but to have a real voice. As people began to listen, she took up a banner that would make her one of America’s best-known women.
Through hard work, Loretta became one of the dominant female singers in Nashville. By the mid-1960s her concerts slowly built into what became, in effect, reunions. Fans who had seen her many times on stage would return again, not just to hear her sing, but to stay afterwards to visit with the star. The “Blue Kentucky Girl,” as some were now calling her (so-named after a recent hit), was affecting country music’s faithful at the grass roots. She wasn’t yet on par with the upper echelon of male stars, but she already had seen more chart action than the late Patsy Cline.
As her fame grew, so did Lynn’s assertiveness. She might not have had much formal education, but she had a lot of common sense. She knew that she could identify with the women, who became her audience and bought her records, a lot more than the men could who were running her career. Against those mens’ advice, she began to write songs that articulated a woman’s view. She (subtly at first) began to sing about abusive relationships, cheating, scheming, drinking and lying.
As her confidence grew, so did her courage. By mid-1966 she was both loud and bold, and her messages were no longer veiled. In a world where women normally sang only about love and broken hearts, Lynn put on the gloves. “You Ain’t Woman Enough” blatantly announced her intentions for both her life and her career. It also signaled the beginning of a new era for female country music singers and their fans.
