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Product Description
Product Description
Loretta Lynn is one of the most iconic and inspirational women in country music; one of her biggest fans is Jack White from the White Stripes. Jack and Loretta have collaborated to create Van Lear Rose.
Loretta's music and lyrics are unavoidably influenced by her extraordinary life. Born into poverty, being married at 13, having four children by the age of 18 and then being the first country female to become a millionaire has shaped Loretta into the artist she is today. This remarkable story was told in her autobiography, A Coal Miner's Daughter, which was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name.
Review
With old-style country falling out of favour by the late 80s, the living legends of Music City had only two choices: modernise or retire. Loretta Lynn - the coal miner's daughter from Butcher Hollow - did the latter in 1990. Meanwhile contemporaries such as Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton managed the alchemical transformation into durable icons by bypassing middle America and connecting with younger, more credible accomplices. Lynn returned in 2000 with the limp Still Country but - praise the lord - she's finally found her very own Rick Rubin in the shape of Jack White. Amazingly the combination of a snotty young Detroit garage pugilist and a 69 year-old Opry veteran works beyond anyone's wildest dreams.
Lynn has described the album as the most country thing she's done for years. The stripped-back accompaniment (courtesy of White and fellow Detroit native Dave Feeny) may smack more of Led Zeppelin than Chet Atkins but White's genius has been in recognising the connection between Lynn's gritty tales of beleaguered women in a poor patriarchal bible belt and the kind of dirty working class blues and folk that he idolises. Lynn's classic songs such as ''Don't Come Home A'Drinkin''' conformed to the country template of bitter experience, but combined them with the righteous (and witty) fury of a woman scorned. White's convinced her to return to this lost art and all 13 songs are not only self-penned, but quite wonderful.
This doesn't mean that this is a straight three-chord blast á la White Stripes either. Jack manages to coat Loretta's tales of hard-won experience with an ambience that veers from honky tonk to r 'n' b via sleazy batchelor party rock. ''Have Mercy On Me'' has such an air of bump 'n' grind about it you'd swear it came from a lost Russ Meyer film. Loretta's subjects remain as close to her heart as ever. Her narrators have all been dealt a bad hand, but retain the feisty fighting spirit that's kept Lynn herself going through teenage pregnancy, neglect, abuse and more. ''Women's Prison'' is a song sung from behind bars while ''Family Tree'' and ''Mad Mrs Leroy Brown'''s abandoned wives aren't afraid to confront the mistresses who've wrecked their lives. Most touching though is ''Miss Being Mrs'' which is undoubtedly a lament for her deceased husband Oliver.
Van Lear Rose may sound like a radical departure for Lynn, whose place in the Nashville pantheon is as assured as Patsy Cline. Yet strangely it feels more like a return to her roots rather than some trendy attempt to garner a young audience. Lynn herself compares White to her original producer Owen Bradley and she's not far wrong. Somehow he's managed to get this legend to produce a legendary album. Absolutely essential... --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Dexter
Format:Audio CD
I had heard of Loretta Lynn but I had not heard anything by her until I listened to this CD quite by chance in a record store in Times Square NYC. Ohh and for the record I had not heard any of White Stripes work either. To say that "Van Lear Rose" has taken me by surprise is an understatement. Right from the opening title track to the closing strains of the final track I was held spellbound. It's the kind of album that Emmylou Harris should have released instead of her last effort and is full of that wonderful muddy guitar sound that lifts the songs and blends in so well with the arrangements that Jack White has tailored to suit the worldly voice of Loretta. The songs all tell a story, some happy and some not so happy. The title track sets out the stall for the rest of the album which is 40 minutes of perfection. Her duet with Jack "Portland Oregon" is a case of old meets new in terms of the music business. Many of the tracks appear to be quite personal like the stunning spoken "Little Red Shoes" which left me breathless, "Miss Being Mrs" about the pain of widowhood and "Story Of My Life" the title of which speaks for itself. I'm not a country music fan but then this is not just country music, it just happens to be great music sung by a country music singer and I love it.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I can't add a lot to what other good folks have written already about this fine album. I agree with most of the praise and can only add that this is a future classic that will sound as good in ten or twenty years as it sounds today. Jack White of White Stripes fame is eleavated from a good contemporary rock artist to a heroic visionary thanks to his producing and arranging skills as showcased on this album. And Loretta? I simply adore her. She sounds better and more contemporary than ever. The Lady may be close to seventy years old but it seems like she's as vibrant and good as in her glory days. Her songwriting and singing is as skillful and heartfelt as could be, perhaps even better than when she hit her stride way back in the sixties. Loretta Lynn and Jack White is obviously a recording marriage made in heaven.It's a shame that the best country AND rock album of the 21st century isn't all over the charts everywhere. It's seldom one stumbles across an album that is both traditional and contemporary in the best sense of both words. Have mercy.....
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Josh Andrews
Format:Audio CD
What can I say? Loretta's newest masterpiece Van Lear Rose is amazing! At 70 going on 29 (with producer Jack White), Loretta proves that she still has what it takes to deliver the goods.
When I heard that Jack White of The White Stripes was going to produce this album, I was of course surprised. I had no idea Loretta had planned on releasing a new album, and I had no idea it was her who chose Jack to help produce it! The results are amazing nonetheless! Van Lear Rose is a true Country-sounding album with a bit of an edge of rock-n-roll in it. When she sings, she sounds so full of life. And even though a few of the songs are about 2 minutes in length, the listener can easily identify with what the song's talking about and [the listener's] left satisfied hearing that song because it's just THAT good.
Out of the 13 songs all written by Loretta, my top favorite songs off the Van Lear Rose album are "Portland Oregon" (a duet with Jack White), "High On a Mountain Top," the title track "Van Lear Rose," and "Women's Prison." All of the songs are stunning and you'll be listening to them over and over and over again. Loretta teaming up with Jack White proves that even the oddest pairings can always deliver stunning perfection.
This is a very, very decent album and I recommend it to anyone who's a Loretta fan or is just even the slightest bit interested in her music. This is great country music that, I believe, is one of Loretta's best recordings ever.
Loretta plans on making a religous album and Christmas album and is thinking of having Jack White produce those albums as well. Keep your fingers crossed!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two words....Jack White
Bought this on download not long after its release and it has become a favourite album so much that I wanted a cd copy of it as well. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Graham Longden
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Album
Definitely one for the collection. From the title track onwards, an excellent collection. Even my 8 year old daughter loves this (although she does love the white stripes and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jock McTavish
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely amazing
This is one of the most complete albums I've ever heard. Obviously, there are some great country songs, my personal favorite are "Family Tree" and "High On A Mountain", but Loretta... Read more
Published 5 months ago by André
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Birth of The Raconteurs ?
The Wikipedia entry for The Do-Whaters, Miss Lynn's band , says that despite containing 3/4 of The Raconteurs there is little resemblance between the music made by the 2 bands. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2009 by caitlin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stole the heart of a new fan
44 years since her debut Loretta Lynn has written and performed some of country music's best songs ever in the entire genre. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2005 by Stephen Salt
4.0 out of 5 stars
Revelatory!
This album is a revelation. The opening title track starts like a thousand other country songs until heavy guitar, rumbling bass and rock drumming kick in as Loretta's voice soars... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where Two Roads Cross And Make Music
This is an interesting case for me. I don't know Loretta Lynn's work well -other than listening to some songs and watching the movie "Coal Mining Daughter"- nor I particularly... Read more
Published on 28 May 2004 by Juan Mobili
5.0 out of 5 stars
America in 40 minutes!
Oh my, where do I start?
Jack White! I love you!
Jack White! I love you!
Well,THIS IS IT, folks!The album people will be listening to in 10,20,30,50 years, it's just that good! Read more
Published on 16 May 2004 by Jesse Nightcat
4.0 out of 5 stars
Van Lear Rose
LORETTA LYNN
Van Lear Rose
Interscope/Universal
Van Lear Rose
Interscope/Universal
Not in my wildest dreams, did I ever consider I’d be reviewing a Loretta Lynn album. Read more
Published on 10 May 2004 by Gareth Gorman
5.0 out of 5 stars
JUST BUY IT!! -Unique experience to be had by all
This albulm is one of the most unique I have heard in a while. It cannot be constraigned by catagory but blends rock, traditional country, and bluegrass to give a strong and... Read more
Published on 1 May 2004 by Kharaji
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