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Multi award winning American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, who sadly passed away in her sleep, aged 90 years, at her home in Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee, United States, on October 4th, 2022, last; was buried on her Hurricane Mills ranch, beside her husband, Oliver Lynn, on October 7th, 2022.
Music tastes change as we age, with our teenage years consumed by more intense music, while our later early adulthood years, are inclined to seek out more contemporary tones, as we begin to search for closer relationships.
Perhaps today, younger Irish women fail to recognize fully, how Loretta Lynn, through her 160 songs, 60 albums and 16 No. 1 singles, established herself as an advocate for ordinary working-class women, often criticising upper-class feminism for ignoring the needs and concerns of the former.
In rejecting being labelled a feminist, she declared “I’m not a big fan of women’s liberation, but maybe it will help women stand up for the respect they’re due.”
At the height of her popularity, some of her songs were banned from radio airplay. Much of her chosen music discussed and highlighted many women’s issues; e.g. “Harper Valley P.T.A” (written by Tom T. Hall), “The Pill” (latter written by Lorene Allen, Don McHan, T. D. Bayless, and Loretta Lynn and banned on the radio) “One’s on the Way” (written by Shel Silverstein) “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (written by Loretta Lynn) and “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin‘ (written by Loretta Lynn and her sister Peggy Sue Wright)
The song “Dear Uncle Sam“, written by Loretta Lynn and released in 1966, during the Vietnam War, describes a wife’s anguish at the loss of a husband killed in war. It was later included in her live performances during the Iraq War.
Dear Uncle Sam.
[The name Uncle Sam remains a popular symbol of the U.S. government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion.]
Dear Uncle Sam I know you’re a busy man,
And tonight I write to you through tears with a trembling hand.
My darling answered when he got that call from you.
You said you really need him, but you don’t need him like I do.
Don’t misunderstand, I know he’s fighting for our land.
I really love my country, but I also love my man.
He proudly wears the colours of the old red white and blue,
While I wear a heartache, since he left me for you.
Dear Uncle Sam I just got your telegram.
And I can’t believe that this is me shaking like I am.
“For it said I’m sorry to inform you………”
Loretta Lynn always insisted that her music had no specific politics, rather an emphasis on what she believed to be morally right.
Proof, if proof was needed, she allowed ‘People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) to freely use her song “I Wanna Be Free”, in a public service campaign to discourage the chaining of dogs outdoors, especially in winter weather conditions.
Not surprisingly, each of her songs that were banned, became chart toppers.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
It was with great regret, today, that “Rock n’ Roll” followers learned of the death of possibly the world’s most influential pianists of the 20th century; Mr Jerry Lee Lewis.
Nicknamed ‘The Killer’; the American singer, songwriter, and pianist was born on September 29th, 1935 and came to be described as “Rock n’ Roll’s” first great wild man of Rock Music.
Lewis was born to parents Elmo Kidd Lewis (Senior) and Mary (Mamie) Herron Lewis, in Ferriday, Louisiana, and grew up a member of an impoverished farming family.
In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart.
His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him his first piano, before his mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, in the hope he would sing evangelical songs exclusively.
When Lewis dared to play a boogie-woogie rendition of “My God Is Real” at a church assembly, it ended his association with the school the next morning, when the Dean of the school called Lewis into his office and expelled him.
He returned home and so began his career playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi; quickly becoming part of the new era Rock n’ Roll sound.
When Jerry Lee Lewis was 16 years old, he first married Ms Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a preacher.
His second marriage was in September 1953, to Jane Mitchum.
His career faltered somewhat, following his marriage to his 3rd wife, Ms Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin, once removed. Lewis was aged 22 at the time and claimed Myra was actually 15 years old. Nevertheless, this publicity caused an uproar, and his tour was cancelled after only three concerts.
Lewis’s piano style had become synonymous with rock and roll; often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and his backside, often climbing on top of his piano during gigs.
His fourth marriage was to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate.
His fifth marriage was to Shawn Stephens, and same lasted only 77 days. His sixth marriage was to Kerrie McCarver, with same lasting a total of 21 years
In 1993, Lewis moved to live in Foxrock, Co. Dublin, with his family in what was suggested to be a move to avoid issues he was having with the American Internal Revenue Service.
Lewis married his seventh wife Judith Lewis (née Brown, the ex-wife of the brother of his 3rd wife Myra Gale Brown)
These seven marriages during his career included bigamous marriages (still legally married to someone else) and resulted in his fathering of 6 children.
However, following the uproar caused by his 3rd marriage, his career would ignited once again in the late 1960s and 1970s, when he topped the country-western charts, with 30 songs reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart, including “To Make Love Sweeter for You”; “There Must Be More to Love Than This” and “Would You Take Another Chance on Me”, all hitting the No.1 spot.
Winner of four Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards; Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
He sadly died today, October 28th, 2022, at his home in DeSoto County, Mississippi, US, aged 87 years.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
“Human trafficking is a problem, and it is happening in Ireland” – Minister Helen McEntee.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has marked EU Anti-Trafficking Day , today, by stressing the importance of raising awareness of the issue, and the importance of sharing information, knowledge and best practices amongst various groups working to combat same.
EU Anti-Trafficking Day is marked on October 18th each year, and Minister McEntee is aware that vulnerable people are trafficked into Ireland for the purpose of exploitation, including sexual exploitation and forced criminality.
The Minister said: “Today is a fitting moment to highlight that this crime is happening and it’s happening across the EU, including in Ireland. Victims can be found anywhere, often hiding in plain sight.
The Government is determined to combat this insidious crime and to support those who are victims of it.
We are confident that the victim-centred policy approach we are taking will encourage more victims to come forward which will, in turn, strengthen prosecutions and convictions”.
There are a number of significant developments in the fight against human trafficking in Ireland including:
- A revised National Referral Mechanism, which will soon be put on a statutory footing, making it easier for victims of trafficking to come forward, be identified, and access support;
- The development of a new National Action Plan on human trafficking;
- The first convictions, in September of last year, for human trafficking;
- An increase in funding dedicated specifically to supporting victims of trafficking, and for public awareness and prevention efforts.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the framework through which the State fulfils its obligations to protect and promote the human rights of trafficking victims, working in partnership with civil society.
The General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2022, published in July, will put a revised NRM on a statutory footing.
Currently An Garda Síochána is the sole competent authority for recognition of human trafficking victims. The revised NRM will include the full range of Government Departments and agencies that come into contact with potential victims, as well as designated NGOs, as members. This should make it easier for victims to come forward to seek protection and to access all of the supports and resources that are available to them.
Work to develop a new National Action Plan on human trafficking is at an advanced stage and is expected to be submitted for Government approval before the end of the year.
The Third National Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence that Minister McEntee launched in June contains an action to identify linkages between the implementation plan accompanying the Strategy, and the National Action Plan, as well as ensuring actions to prevent prostitution and combat trafficking for sexual exploitation are addressed in an integrated manner.
Minister McEntee paid tribute to a wide range of partners across the public service providing care and practical support to trafficking victims, including An Garda Síochána, the HSE, the Legal Aid Board, the Immigration Service, and Tusla, as well as NGOs funded by the Department to provide support.
Acknowledging the launch today of a counter-trafficking awareness short film (Shown above) to highlight the risk of trafficking in Ireland, the Minister added: “For the past number of years my Department has engaged in a successful partnership with the International Organisation for Migration office here in Dublin to raise awareness that victims of trafficking can be found anywhere, often hidden in plain sight. The short film being launching today has a role in building this awareness.
“We want wider society to recognise the signs of human trafficking and to know what to do and where to go if they have concerns”.
Note: Between 2015 and 2020, 356 potential victims of trafficking were identified by the Irish authorities.
In 2016, The International Labour Organization estimated that 40.3 million persons were in situations of modern day slavery, with traffickers estimated to be coining more than €150 billion per year.
In a statement this evening, the family of “Murder, She Wrote” actress and singer, confirmed the news of her death, stating:
“The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday.
She was pre-deceased in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined.”
London born, daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury, Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (16th October 1925 – 11th October 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress and singer who played many film, theatre, and television roles. Her career, one of the longest in the entertainment industry, spanned over 80 years, much of it in the United States; her work also received much international attention. At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Amid difficulties in her personal life, the five-time Tony Award winner and 6 Golden Globe Winnermoved from California to Ireland, owning two addresses in East Cork and earlier in Conna North Co. Cork. She once stated, quote “our gardener had no idea who I was. Nobody there did. I was just Mrs. Shaw, which suited me down to the ground. I had absolute anonymity in those days, which was wonderful.”
Irish audiences possibly will know her best as the much loved, sleuth ‘Jessica Fletcher’ from the American television whodunit series “Murder, She Wrote”, which ran for 12 seasons between 1984 -1996, becoming one of the longest-running and most popular detective drama series in television history.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
I Would Like To See You Again.
Lyrics are from the pens of Charlie Craig and Larry Atwood and performed, using that smooth, soft, bass-baritone voice of the late great American singer-songwriter Mr Don Williams (May 27th, 1939 – September 8th, 2017)
I was sittin’ here thinkin’ about some old times,
Some old times, some old friends,
And suddenly it came across my mind,
I would like to see you again.
Remember how we used to walk and talk,
Walk and talk, holdin’ hands.
We said we love each other I recall,
We made a lot of future plans.
But the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then.
But tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
It’s funny how a feeling will come back.
It’ll come on back, make you blue,
Cause I just saw a picture in my mind,
Bout a time, of me and you.
But the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then,
And tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
Yes, the years have come and gone,
And a whole lot has happened since then.
But tonight your memory’s awful strong on my mind,
And I would like to see you again.
END
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