Loretta Lynn - 'Van Lear Rose' (Interscope)
4/5
By: Kari Wynn
Loretta Lynn, for those of you who aren't aware (we're expecting a few), is one of the first lady ball-breakers of Country Music.
Don't run. Even those who swear to hate all things 'a lil' bit country, y'all!' would be hard pressed to have not heard her material or at least have felt her influence upon modern music; born into poverty as a coal-miner's daughter in rural Kentucky, Lynn's career has spanned over four decades and includes, at last count, fifty-two Top-10 hits, sixteen Number-1's and an Oscar-winning movie based on her life-story. Though she's largely been quiet during the 90's due to the death of her husband, she's come back swinging yet again and this time she's got Jack White in her corner producing and collaborating - a man who's, let's face it, no stranger to the jingly-jangly side of life.
And though it might seem like some sort of cheap PR-tastic ploy to bring in one of the current indie kings as your production man, upon hearing 'Van Lear Rose' the old-skool kinship between the two is obvious, and White's hand brings a fresh approach to what could arguably be Lynn's best material in years.
While full of the trademark bluegrass spirit and stomp that's come to define a great deal of Loretta's work, there's a new smear of hell-fire upon it, and clearly The White Stripes' love of a good old fashioned belly-full-o-electric-blues has not gone amiss. 'Portland Oregon', featuring a duet with Mr. White Stripe himself, is a prime example, with all the bottleneck thump of a dirt floor backwoods juke joint. Similarly, tracks such as 'Woman's Prison' and 'Mrs. Leroy Brown' fall right in line with this new 'electric hellfire' philosophy as well.
Purists needn't fret, however - 'Van Lear Rose' contains some moonshine-filled country ditties that are purely Lynn through and through. From the soothing waltz of 'Trouble on the Line' to the jug-band hootenanny of 'High On A Mountaintop', it's an album that wouldn't feel out of place in either the grungiest of rock clubs or Uncle Bob's Country Bunker.
A new freshness upon an old familiar face. Exquisite.
Artists in this article: Loretta Lynn
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