Though considered a country footnote--she"s the woman Dolly Parton replaced in Porter Wagoner"s show--Norma Jean was, along with Loretta Lynn, the bridge between Nashville female pioneers Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline and the late-1960s crop led by Dolly and Tammy Wynette (Norma"s "Then Go Home to Her" is a Tammy template). Her voice had a creaminess that might have carried crossover potential in a later era, but it still broke, tore, and twanged in all the right places, and she had full command of both modes. She toyed with provocative titles ("Let"s Go All the Way"), lived and loved in sin ("Pursuing Happiness"), endured bleak consolations ("Put Your Arms Around Her"), had a mind of her own ("Don"t Let That Doorknob Hit You"), assayed one of the most bizarrely sentimental tunes in Nashville history ("The Shirt"), bared a proto-feminist streak ("Heaven Help the Poor Working Girl"), and contributed a convincing female trucker song ("Truck Drivin" Woman"). What more could you want? --John Morthland