1. VAN LEAR ROSE
2. PORTLAND OREGON (DUET WITH JACK WHITE)
3. TROUBLE ON THE LINE
4. FAMILY TREE
5. HAVE MERCY
6. HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN TOP
7. LITTLE RED SHOES
8. GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES
9. WOMEN'S PRISON
10. THIS OLD HOUSE
11. MRS. LEROY BROWN
12. MISS BEING MRS.
13. STORY OF MY LIFE
Amazon.com
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. --Marc Greilsamer
Album Description
Loretta Lynn "Van Lear Rose" Produced and Arranged by Jack White of the White Stripes
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Van Lear Rose
- Audio CD: 0 pages (2004-04-27)
- Publisher: Interscope Records; 2004
- Label: Interscope Records
- Studio: Interscope Records
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 253 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #21868
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: loretta lynn the definitive collection 2008-02-09
Comment: This is an excellent CD. Her distinct voice and style really comes through. I highly recommend this CD.
Jim Mixon
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Miss Being Mrs. Too 2007-12-05
Comment: I have to admit, to start, that if I turn on country music radio out of bored desperation in the car, I'm likely to barf, probably before I get past the first song playing! I can't stand that cheesy, poppy, dance crap that passes as the more upbeat country and I can't stand that cheesy, smarmy, syrupy slow stuff wherein they sing about lying in bed being grateful or snow falling in Denver, either! I've lately been searching out more "real" country music and I have found a lot of it in realms of hybrids...music created out of "country" mixing with something else, such as rock or folk...Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris in a lot of ways...the "bluegrass rock" of Muleskinner (awesome music!). This album is no different. Granted, I have always loved Loretta, anyway (she's my favorite artist to "cover," when I'm singing alone in the house or yard, etc.). I can't believe she still sounds so good vocally at her advanced age--bless her heart! (She must be doing something right in taking care of herself and her voice.) She has such a cute, sweet, easy-on-the-ears countrified voice (just enough twang to it but not sickening). She has done a good job writing the material for this album (my one problem--the music on "Little Red Shoes" is loud and for me, overpowers her spoken-word piece; I will have to listen harder). Someone writing in to this site complained that the songs were totally cliched, and while that may be true in some ways, there's still enough uniqueness in the lyric writing and delivery to make it all listenable.
I LOVE "Miss Being Mrs.," and I am touched because I feel this portrayal is genuine...I can relate to it in a few ways. I have no complaint with Mr. Jack White's presentation of her material; I feel the music, while "hard" in places, perhaps most notably on the intro to "Portland, Oregon," doesn't detract from the songs, but is able to enhance them...because it's not an over-produced album with 10,000 strings and back-up singers going "wah, wah, wah," or whatever. I'm originally from Detroit, and I have a sincere love of country music thanks to an aunt I grew up with, but I also love rock 'n roll. What's funny: I have never, ever heard the White Stripes. But I give Mr. White credit here and I give Ms. Loretta kudos, as well. Love it.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: tried and true 2007-04-16
Comment: I can't really add to what's already said concerning this album, except to say that I think its an important album in one very important regard. Country music in the '80s started pulling away from their elder statesmen, in a most baffling and disrespectful manner. No other genre is this classless or callous. Every other genre of music embraces their pioneers and still includes them in their playlist. Country radio on the other has a severe case of ADD. This pass-the-black-hatism is still in full force today, as most country fans have never heard the Van Lear Rose album, even a track of it, on country stations.
Now having stated that, is this the greatest country album of all time...no. That's a scewed assesment since country has never been album oriented save for a scant few gems. This may well be Lynn's best album, but that's not a huge accomplishment by country standards, since country has always been a 'singles' oriented business, unless of course its a 'best of' compilation. It is very much a Loretta Lynn album in that she is still capable of writing frankly about infidelity. Lynn was the first female to address the other woman in a cheating song and she does so here very poignantly in "Family Tree", where she takes her children to the house of the woman who is "sleeping" with her husband to let the children see the woman who's "burning down the family tree" and stating "I'm not here to fight...I wouldn't dirty my hands on trash like you". This isn't new territory for Lynn but it is a path that she blazed and quite frankly, she's still the only one who seems to do it well (unfortunately for her, she's had first hand experience in these matters).
It's also important to make a distinction from this album and the last few works of Johnny Cash, with whom this effort is constantly compared. Cash's last efforts were not country albums, but Lynn's is every bit as country as anything she's ever recorded and save for a few thrashy guitar flourishes by Jack White, this effort would fit right along side of anything she's done. She's not a powerhouse vocalist anymore, but she represents herself very well and is not the aquired taste that Cash was on his last few albums.
The few poor reviews this album will recieve here are the result of people not appreciating Lynn's style in the first place and those who wanted a White Stripes styled album. Again, Lynn didn't need to mine any new territory since she still owns the territory and has no equal in an era of pre-fabricated paper dolls and black hats. This is a great country album that exhalts country music, a genre which deserves no credit for this album's existance.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: I can't say enough ... 2007-01-12
Comment: I can't say enough good things about this album. Up front, I'm a huge Jack White fan and his hand in it alone made me want to buy it. I grew up on Loretta and like most mountain girls "Coal Miners Daughter" was a song I began singing in the shower when I was five. So I was eager to see what the partnership produced.
I waited on this for a year (after hearing it was in the works). Lynn is as magical as always and that she chose to go in such a different direction, especially at her age (my grandfather is sorely disappointed) and at this point in her career was a brave move. But it worked. I don't do album reviews, and I'm no music guru. But I like what I like. White Stripes fans will love the album. So will country music fans who can appreciate the new twist.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jack White's homage to true Country Music 2007-01-01
Comment: Jack White appreciates classic country and bluegrass music. This is evident with his involvement in Goober and the Peas, contibuting to the Cold Mountain soundtrack, and even the sounds in his band, the White Stripes, particularly his latest album, Get Behind Me, Satan. Jack White also loves his own sound but not in a narcissistic way. In my opinion, this album has nothing to do with Loretta Lynn, specifically. Jack White wanted to give back to classic country and bring it back to modern radio for a whole new audience. He knew he could not do this alone, however. If he came out with a classic country sounding album, he could possibly alienate his rock fans, and the country music listening community would not respect it, nor him. Thus, Loretta Lynn comes into the picture. She is his muse because she IS classic country. From her upbringing to who she is today, she epitomizes all that classic country makes itself to be. She is simple, humble, earnest, and genuine, a true classy country woman in every way (he showcases her personality and spirit in her "story" Little Red Shoes).
Now in terms of classic country, the songs Loretta Lynn wrote are not groundbreaking. She covers a myriad of situations that have been done before by other artists, as well as herself, but don't let that stop you from taking a listen. Though the songs may seem cliche, that's what Jack White wanted. He wanted her to write from her country heart her country life experiences in a heartfelt, simple, and honest way, encompassing the aura of classic country. He took it upon himself to give it his own personal style to give it a modern flair, and he created an album that takes the listener on an emotional journey, from foot stomping hand clapping joy to lamentful heart-wrenching sadness. He did an excellent job capturing the true spirit of Loretta Lynn and re-introducing classic country to an audience who isn't familiar with it.
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Van Lear Rose
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