|
Formats and Editions
More Info:
Garage-rock hero Jack White producing honky-tonk legend Loretta Lynn? And Lynn comparing him to renowned Nashville producer Owen Bradley? Yes, we all know the world is rapidly shrinking, but now we've seen everything. Most stunning of all--they nailed it. For the first time, Lynn has written all of an album's songs, and her lyrics are as cutting and incisive as ever. On the powerful, biting "Family Tree," she brings her babies to the home of her husband's mistress so that they can see the "woman that's burning down our family tree." Throughout she cunningly tackles tried-and-true honky-tonk themes of love gone bad, drinkin', cheatin', and murder. Lynn even offers a compelling slice of theological fatalism ("God Makes No Mistakes"). White's production--mostly stark and atmospheric--ranges from more-traditional country to straight-up White Stripes, with most tracks falling somewhere in between. White duets with Lynn on the rousing one-night-stand story "Portland, Oregon," but he does not need to sing to leave his personal stamp. At 70, Lynn seems thoroughly engaged and delighted; at times she delivers some of the most emotionally potent singing of her career. A decade earlier, Johnny Cash turned to rock and rap producer Rick Rubin, and the move resuscitated Cash's career. Now, Jack White has done the same for Loretta Lynn, another country legend whose music is simply too raw and honest for the contemporary country crowd. Van Lear Rose exceeds all expectations--a bold collaboration in which artists from two different musical universes forge a memorable work that neither could have created alone.Reviews:
''Van Lear Rose'' is a Grammy Award-winning album by Loretta Lynn, released in 2004 and produced by Jack White of the rock band The White Stripes. The album was initially intended as a musical experiment, blending the styles of country singer-songwriter Lynn and producer White, who wrote one track, sings a duet with Lynn, and performs on the whole album as a musician. At the time of the album's release, Lynn was 69 and White was 28.
The title refers to Lynn's origins as the daughter of a miner working the Van Lear coal mines. The album peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart and at number 24 on the Billboard 200, the most successful crossover music album of Lynn's 45-year career.
At the Grammy Awards of 2005, Lynn was nominated for five awards and won two: Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet with White, "Portland, Oregon". Two of her other nominations were for Best Country Song: "Portland, Oregon" and "Miss Being Mrs." "Miss Being Mrs." was also nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
The track "Portland, Oregon" was listed as the 305th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media . - Wikipedia
"In the year of her 70th birthday and 44th anniversary of recording, Loretta Lynn has made not only a triumphant comeback but also one of her finest albums. On Van Lear Rose Lynn channels the legend of the Coal Miner's Daughter into 13 new songs, displaying not only passion but also the light-hearted spirit of someone who's doing exactly what she should. Lynn deserves the lion's share of the credit, but the White Stripes' Jack White, who produced and played on the set, certainly deserves some acknowledgement. Assembling a novel band to back her (including the rhythm section from the Greenhornes) White dresses Lynn's songs in varied flavors, from the rich, aching twang of the title track to the stomping bluegrass of ""High on a Mountaintop"" and the rocking grind of ""Portland, Oregon"" and ""Mrs. Leroy Brown."" It's boldly, but not baldly, ambitious, and White's arrangements stitch into Lynn's melodies without a trace of self-consciousness. Lynn, meanwhile, takes on no less a subject than her life, recalling her father's love for her mother on the title track, reviewing history in ""Family Tree,"" mourning her late husband in ""Miss Being Mrs."" and delivering a heartbreaking, spoken-word recollection of a near-fatal childhood illness in ""Little Red Shoes."" And then there's ""Women's Prison""-since no real country album would be complete without a good murder ballad."
