Remember When Tammy Wynette Covered One of Loretta Lynn’s Biggest Hits?

Loretta Lynn was still fairly new to country music when she released “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”. The song was written by Lynn and her sister, Peggy Sue Wright. “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” is the title track of a record Lynn released in 1967.

The chorus starts with, “No, don’t come home a drinkin’ / With lovin’ on your mind / Just stay out there on the town / And see what you can find.”  Lynn had her first No. 1 single with this song.

“Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” was inspired by Lynn’s own marriage to Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn. However, it has since been covered by numerous other artists, including Tammy Wynette.

In 1967, Wynette released her debut album, Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad. Wynette released two singles from that project, beginning with “Apartment No. 9”. Although that song failed to chart, the title track became Wynette’s second single and first Top 5 hit.

Interestingly, Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad also includes other covers. Both Jeannie Seely’s “Don’t Touch Me” and David Houston’s “Almost Persuaded” are part of the record.

The Story Behind “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”

Loretta Lynn became known for writing songs about her own life, including “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”. It was Wright who had the idea for this uptempo tune first. The idea immediately resonated with Lynn.

 “I looked at what she had on paper, and I kind of knew what she was trying to say,” Lynn says. “It’s like when there’s twins, the old saying is, ‘What one can’t think of, the other one can.’ I’ve always had this feeling with Peggy that I am kind of inside her head. Maybe it’s because she means so much to me. We can look at each other and know what the other is thinking. Sometimes it’s not good to be like that, but when the song was finished, we both thought it was great.”

Later, in the liner notes for her Honky Tonk Girl box set, Lynn expounded on writing and recording this song.

“I was just singing about how I felt about things,” Lynn explains, adding that she “liked to play around with words.”

“I like to be on the woman’s side,” she adds. “But I like to be on the man’s side, too. I never went out to put a man down in anything I’ve ever done. Men sometimes forget about a woman, especially if they drink.”

The first Grammy nomination Lynn ever received was for this song.

Photo by Paul W. Bailey/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

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