Listen: Loretta Lynn "After Strife, A Full Life" interview

In 1960, while leaning up against an old toilet, country star Loretta Lynn wrote her first song, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl," in just 20 minutes on a $17 guitar her husband had bought her as an anniversary present.

At the time, Lynn was 24. She had been married for 11 years and already had four children. (She would later have two more.)

"I just sat down with my guitar," she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I was outside and leaning up against the toilet in Washington State. And I sat there and wrote 'Honky Tonk Girl' and 'Whispering Sea.' "

The country star, now 76, went on to accumulate 16 No. 1 country singles and numerous honors over the course of her career. She's the subject of a new tribute album, Coal Miner's Daughter, which features tracks from The White Stripes, Kid Rock and Martina McBride, among others who sing her tunes about heartbreak and strife. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE