''Full Circle'' is the forty-third solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

. It was released on March 4, 2016, by Sony Legacy. It was produced by Lynn's daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell, and

John Carter Cash John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970) is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and the grandson of Maybelle Carter. Biography For several years after his birth, his fathe ...

, the son of Johnny Cash and

June Carter Cash June Carter Cash (born Valerie June Carter; June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter and dancer. A five-time Grammy award-winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prio ...

. The album became Lynn's 40th album to reach the top ten of the US '' Billboard''

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart and her career peak on the US ''Billboard'' 200, debuting at number 19. The album received a nomination for

Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors ...

at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Background

Recorded at Cash Cabin Studio in

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census. Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, ...

, the album was Lynn's first new studio recording in 12 years. The album is a mixture of recordings inspired by Appalachian folk songs Lynn learned as a child and newer versions of past hits, and includes duets with Elvis Costello and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

Previous recordings

Four songs on the album had previously been recorded by Lynn: *"Whispering Sea" was previously recorded for

Zero Records Zero Records was a record label founded in 1959 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. History In the late 1950’s, Don Grashey met Charlie Chuck Williams (Chuck) in Thunder Bay. The pair later moved to Vancouver. With the financial help of N ...

in 1960 as the B-side of her first single, "

I'm a Honky Tonk Girl "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" is the debut single by American country music artist Loretta Lynn, released in March 1960. The song was among the first to not only be recorded by Lynn, but also to be penned by her. She composed the song while living in Wa ...

". *"Secret Love" had been previously recorded for her 1967 album '' Singin' with Feelin'''. *"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" was previously recorded for her 1965 album ''

Hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

''. *"

Fist City "Fist City" is a country music song written and performed by Loretta Lynn, released in 1968. Inspired by her husband's dalliances with other women who pursued him while she was busy touring, Lynn wrote the song as a warning for other women to stay ...

" was previously recorded for her 1968 album of the same name.

Promotion

The album's first single, "Everything It Takes", premiered on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' website on January 14, 2016. It was released for digital download the following day, January 15. On February 4, 2016, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' premiered the second single, "Who's Gonna Miss Me?", on their website. It was made available for digital download on February 5. An updated version of Lynn's 1965 song, "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven", was released as the third single from the album. It was premiered by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine via their website on February 16, 2016. On February 17 the single was made available for digital download. The album's fourth and final single, "Lay Me Down", was written by Mark Marchetti, husband of Lynn's daughter, Peggy. It was released as a single on March 23, 2016. A music video was released on Lynn's

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel the same day.

Critical reception

''Full Circle'' was released to strong reviews and near universal acclaim. It received a rating of 84 at Metacritic.com . ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overview ...

'' called the album "a wonderful and welcome piece of work, 14 solid songs that shift easily from Appalachian mountain soul to pure country and even spiritual fare. Plus, Loretta has simply never sounded better." ''Pitchfork'' wrote "She makes a grab-bag late-late-career album feel not only emotionally grounded, but like a powerful choice."

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

' positive review writes "For an artist who has been so incredibly prolific, it's statistically improbable that, at 83 years old, Lynn would be recording some of the best music of her career." Spin opined that it was "a mandatory look back at one of country music's most essential artists." In ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'', Robert Christgau named "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" and "Wine Into Water" as highlights while summing the album up as "remakes that never seem redundant from an 83-year-old who's lived clean but never been a

prig A prig () is a person who shows an inordinately zealous approach to matters of form and propriety—especially where the prig has the ability to show superior knowledge to those who do not know the protocol in question. They see little need to con ...

about it".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 4 on the Top Country Albums chart, the 40th top 10 on the chart for Lynn, selling 20,000 in its release week. It also debuted at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' 200, the highest in her career on that chart. The recording has sold 75,300 U. S. copies as of September 2017.

Track listing

Personnel

Ronnie Bowman Ronnie Bowman (born July 9, 1961) is an American singer and composer of bluegrass music. Besides his solo albums, he is known for his work with the Lonesome River Band. Biography Early years A native of Mount Airy, North Carolina, Bowman sang gos ...

- backing vocals *

Mike Bub The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy award-winning American bluegrass band. History Originally the band was called Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass. The band went through a number of changes in personn ...

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Reviva ...

- mandolin * Shawn Camp - acoustic guitar, mandolin *

Laura Cash Laura Weber White, also known as Laura White, Laura Weber, Laura Cash, and Laura Weber Cash is an American country fiddler, singer, songwriter, and guitar player. White has worked as a session musician on many albums and toured with several art ...

- acoustic guitar * Elvis Costello - duet vocals on "Everything it Takes" *

Dennis Crouch Dennis David Crouch (born April 30, 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American patent attorney who worked for McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (MBHB) in Chicago, Illinois, until 2007.Dennis Crouch''Thank you MBHB, Hello Missouri! ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, upright bass *Mark Fain - upright bass * Paul Franklin - pedal steel guitar *Tony Harrell -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* Jamie Hartford -

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

*Rick Lonow - drums *

- lead vocals *

Ronnie McCoury Ronnie McCoury is an American mandolin player, singer, and songwriter (born March 16, 1967). He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin' McCourys. Biography Ronnie ...

- mandolin *

Pat McLaughlin Pat McLaughlin is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1970s. There McLaughlin began to write songs, playing alone at open mic nights and in the ...

- mandolin *

- duet vocals on "Lay Me Down" *

Jon Randall Jon Randall Stewart (born February 17, 1969) is an American producer, songwriter, and musician. His career began as a guitarist for Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers with whom he won his first Grammy for their ''Live at the Ryman'' album in 1992. B ...

- backing vocals *

Randy Scruggs Randy Lynn Scruggs (August 3, 1953 – April 17, 2018) was an American music producer, songwriter and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13. He won four Grammy Awards and was named Musician of the Year at the Country Music ...

- acoustic guitar *Will Smith - autoharp *

Bryan Sutton Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs. Biography Early career Sutton's grandfather and ...

- banjo, acoustic guitar * Robby Turner - pedal steel guitar * Laura Weber - fiddle, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Jeff White - acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2016 albums Loretta Lynn albums Legacy Recordings albums Appalachian music Albums produced by John Carter Cash