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** Loretta Lynn

STILL COUNTRY!

(Audium)

It's been 12 years since the coal miner's daughter's last solo recording, and the lyrics on Still Country! make it clear that one reason for the down time is the loss of her husband, Mooney "Doolittle" Lynn, who began to woo her by bidding high on her pie at a bake-off in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, married her shortly thereafter, and stayed married to her for 48 years, until his death, in 1996. Solitude surfaces time and again, notably on "I Can't Hear the Music," one of two songs the 66-year-old Lynn wrote for the set. Her famously feisty side -- her late-'60s hits include "Fist City" and "Your Squaw Is on the Warpath" -- emerges on her other original, a declaration of C&W faith called "God's Country." Reflecting the stark differences in these two tunes, about half the CD consists of earthy country arrangements and half is spit-polished Nashville countrypolitan muzak. A reference to watching Oprah and Martha Stewart on TV is part of the outreach to suburban gals on "Working Girl," one of two insipid numbers written by producer Randy Scruggs. Lynn also takes on one tune by Vince Gill ("Table for Two") and one by John Prine ("Somewhere Someone's Falling in Love"). Her voice is still twangy, powerful, and resilient, even if the material isn't quite up to par.

-- Bill Kisliuk