Loretta Lynn_ Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn [93]
But it’s not just Oklahoma. We got a bomb threat during the Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville one year. Somebody said the show was never gonna go on because they blamed me for breaking up Conway Twitty’s marriage. Well, I didn’t know about it until I got backstage. They cleared out the place and didn’t find a bomb so they let the show go on. I was the last one to sing, and I said I was nervous. The stagehand said, “Don’t get nervous, Loretta. Every other man backstage is an FBI agent.” And when I looked they all had their guns bulging inside their jackets. How I got through that show I’ll never know.
The last scare we got was in a motel. I was in my suite working on some songs when I got a call. This man said he was a hired killer, paid five hundred dollars to knock me off. He said he had been following me for three days and that he wasn’t gonna do it because he thought I was such a fantastic singer.
Finally the guy said, “I’m gonna tell them that I just couldn’t get close to you. But you better be careful, because the next guy they send might not be a big country fan like me.”
Well, I was half scared and half laughing at that line. I think the guy was putting on an act and just wanted attention, but I make it a point never to be alone.
When Doo ain’t with me, I register in different names now. And I always have my boys in rooms all around me. I always keep my door locked, and my calls and fan mail are screened. I only see the good letters; the others are sent to the FBI. They’re building up a file on these little deals. I also get connecting rooms with Jim Webb, my driver, or David Skepner, or any of the boys. And we keep these doors unlocked, so if I need help, they can just rush in. I feel better knowing that my boys are around me.
But for two whole years, I went on stage scared. I didn’t know what was gonna happen, if someone was gonna put a bullet in me, or what. Every time somebody took a flashbulb picture of me, I had no way of knowing whether it was the end. I got more and more nervous and started talking about getting off the tour completely. But when I asked my manager, he said:
“Loretta, you have two choices. You can find some place out in Montana somewhere, and you can dig a big hole, and you can hide and never perform again. Or you can just go out there and not think about it.”
So that’s what I did. I made up my mind not to worry about threats anymore. I just go out and sing.
28
Baptized at Last
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer,
Will still be heard.
I believe that Someone in the Great Somewhere,
Hears every word….
—“I Believe,” by Ervin Drake/Irvin Graham/Jimmy Shirl/Al Stillman
I don’t know if I could have lived through the sickness and the death threats if I hadn’t gotten stronger in my religion. When things were looking bad for me, I just put myself in the hands of Jesus, and let Him do what was best for me.
I’ve always been religious in my own way. When I was growing up, if we could afford just one book in the house, it was the Bible. We’d go to church on Sunday and listen to Preacher Elzie Banks tell us about God and the devil. I believed it all, but for some reason I was never baptized. After I started in music, I got away from going to church and reading the Bible. I believe I was living the way God meant me to, but I wasn’t giving God the right attention.
Coming from the mountains, I have kind of funny beliefs anyway—kind of a mixture of religion and superstition. I know people in the Church of Christ ain’t supposed to believe in reincarnation and séances and stuff, but I guess I do. I’ll probably get in trouble with the church for saying this, but I’ve often tried to make contact with people that have died, especially my Daddy. I really feel