In addition to an obvious Buck Owens flavor, Lynn Anderson's music to this point evidenced the influence of country's reigning queens. Female country singers of the day were stepping out from traditional female roles, beginning to assert their authority, and demanding their love rights. Songs like "The Pill" (Loretta Lynn), "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" (Tammy Wynette), and "Just Because I'm A Woman" (Dolly Parton) bucked hard against chauvinistic male expectations. Many such songs - like Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" or Anderson's own "He Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye" - were, on the surface, models of female passivity. But, they engendered a blunt sexual honesty that announced a new era was dawning. Add to this a growing acceptance of country music - both among the middle class and the hippie cognoscenti - and the pump was primed for the monumental success of "Rose Garden." Joe South's lyrics laid out a 'shape up or ship out' scenario that, when sung by a woman, presented a rousing tale of liberation.

More importantly, after switching to Columbia Records, Lynn Anderson began to embrace the "countrypolitan" sound that was sweeping Nashville. Countrypolitan, developed by producers like Billy Sherrill (a frequent songwriting partner of Glenn Sutton) and singers like Eddy Arnold, emphasized slick arrangements and universal themes over down-home pickin' and rural imagery. But Anderson's first Columbia sides were simply revved up versions of what she had recorded for Chart. "Stay There 'Til I Get There" is pure country, and "No Love At All" is a terrific folk-tinged romp recalling Bobbie Gentry. Both singles were major country hits, but "Rose Garden" (the title song from her third Columbia LP) changed the stakes. The record was the best sort of countrypolitan - identifiably country and cosmopolitan - but Anderson's later records became more of the former and less of the latter to the detriment of the whole.

That said, many great singles emerged from this second phase of Lynn Anderson's career, and she matured demonstrably as a singer. Some of my favorites are "How Can I Unlove You" (1971), a Joe South-penned track strongly reminiscent of "Rose Garden;" the sophisticated "Fool Me" (1972); the torch ballad "Keep Me In Mind" (1973); and a rendition of the Carpenters' "Top Of The World" (1973) that gives the song a homespun authenticity the original sorely lacked. On the pop charts, Lynn Anderson charted eight albums (including a Greatest Hits and a double-LP reissue of her two pre-"Rose Garden" Columbia platters) and six singles during the first half of the 70's, though none were major hits. On the country charts, meanwhile, she reigned supreme, pretty much living in the Top 10 during the same period. The Glenn Sutton-penned "What A Man My Man Is" (1975) was her last #1 country single, but she continued to perform well through the rest of the decade, aging gracefully as the increasingly mercenary country market outgrew her.

After she left Columbia in 1981, Lynn scored just a few more minor hits. After such a busy stretch, she understandably rested on her laurels, claiming the title "The Great Lady Of Country Music." Nearly all big country stars get a title - the Man In Black (Johnny Cash), the Singing Ranger (Hank Snow), the First Lady of Country Music (Tammy Wynette), the Southern Gentleman (Sonny James), the Texas Troubadour (Ernest Tubb). You get the picture.... Anyway, in the 90's Lynn Anderson began to cut the occasional album, usually for smaller labels. These included the western-themed Cowboy's Sweetheart (1992), Live At Billy Bob's Texas (2000), and The Bluegrass Sessions (2004), which recast her hits in that tradition. More recently, she's been involved in some unfortunate incidents (public intoxication, shoplifting) that have threatened to make her "The Courtney Love of Country Music." Regardless, Lynn Anderson's musical legacy remains intact.

Like many country stars from the 70's, Lynn Anderson's CD catalog is in some disrepair. Very few of her original LP's (none from the Chart Records era) have ever been reissued on disc, and Columbia has done very little to preserve her legacy (16 Biggest Hits stands out). In 1999, however, indie label Renaissance Records released two Anthology discs - one of The Chart Years and another of The Columbia Years - that approached perfection. The former features every one of Anderson's charted Chart singles, plus rarities like "Keeping Up Appearances" (a duet with now-forgotten singer Jerry Lane) and liner notes by Lynn's tunesmith mother. The latter installment is even more hit-laden, and Lynn wrote the liner notes herself.

Renaissance folded soon thereafter, however, and both volumes are dolefully out-of-print and sorely missed. Happily, Collector's Choice Records' 24-track Greatest Hits (2005) does much to remedy that situation. Essentially a one-disc version of the Renaissance series, Greatest Hits is inevitably less comprehensive but wonderful all the same. Highly, highly recommended. (Much later, Sony issued The Essential Lynn Anderson, a superb 40-track collection available only as download.)

Beyond the hits, however, the pickings are slim. Lynn Anderson's rabid fan base will no doubt purchase everything available - budget reissues, latter-day rerecordings, locks of hair, whatever. The rest of us will have to be satisfied with Collectables' Golden Classic Edition, pairing Rose Garden (1970) and You're My Man (1971), two of Anderson's strongest and most popular Columbia LP's. Generally speaking, Collectables Records is a low-rent outfit, but one has to hope they (or somebody - Sundazed? Collector's Choice? Rhino? Bear Family? - will resume reissuing Lynn's voluminous back catalog. She deserves better. For now, curious collectors must seek out the original vinyl. [top of page]