Watch Loretta Lynn’s Performances On ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’

Last week, renowned country music legend Loretta Lynn died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. As a measure of her influence, an outpouring of tributes and memorials came in response to Lynn’s passing, including from many of those fellow musicians she inspired and collaborated with.

With the passing of someone like Loretta Lynn, there is comfort in knowing the daughter of a coal miner from Butcher Hollow, Kentucky was able to overcome many obstacles and achieve enormous success, delighting fans around the world. Further comfort resides in the music she created and leaves behind for generations to come. This edition of Sunday Cinema revisits some of the music Loretta Lynn left us with, through footage of her two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

While there’s little doubt about Lynn’s influence on her contemporaries and those who followed the path she paved, there is also little argument about the impact Ed Sullivan’s weekly national program had in shaping popular culture. Between 1948 and 1971, scores of musical guests appeared on televisions tuned to CBS bringing live performances into living rooms across the country. Early rock ‘n’ roll stars like Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones made historic appearances on the show, which also saw Loretta Lynn appear as a musical guest.

Lynn first performed on The Ed Sullivan Show on October 11, 1970. She made a return appearance on May 30, 1971, on a special Memorial Day edition of the program that had months earlier been canceled by CBS.

Lynn’s initial Sullivan Show performance featured two of the most well-known songs she wrote, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough.” Lynn’s appearance on the “At The State Fair” episode was recorded during her set at the Mid-South State Fair in Memphis.

She reprised “Coal Miner’s Daughter” upon her second visit to the show. Lynn’s 1971 guest spot also featured her original composition “I Wanna Be Free” and the Bobby Bare-written title track to her gospel album, God Bless America Again. Lynn rounded out the ‘71 appearance with a duet with Jack Jones on the Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton popularized “Better Move It On Home.”

Watch Loretta Lynn’s two Ed Sullivan Show performances below:

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

Source: JamBase.com