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I haven’t thought about Loretta Lynn much since the movie based on her early
life Coal Miner’s Daughter came out almost 25 years ago. I saw the movie then,
loved it, and afterwards took notice whenever her name appeared in print. That’s about
it. Her newest CD, Van Lear Rose, is the first and only one I’ve heard. Yup,
these things take me a while.
With nothing else to compare it to, I can
only say it’s the strangest country record I’ve ever heard. Jack White of the White
Stripes is Lynn’s producer and collaborator, although Lynn wrote all the songs. “I hope
you like ‘em,” she says in her down-home liner notes. “Y’alls love and support mean so
much to me.” Aw, shucks.
The title track is a straightforward
account of her mama and daddy’s courtship. “Portland, Oregon” sounds like it came off an
early Rolling Stones record. “Trouble on the Line,” co-written by Lynn and her late
husband Doo, might be the best effort, and the most traditional. “Family Tree” is a “you
leave my man alone” kind of song.
“Have Mercy” is another early
sixties-sounding tune, bringing to mind Nancy Sinatra and her white go-go boots. The
oddest thing on the album is “Little Red Shoes,” with Lynn speaking a childhood story
over what sounds like, of all things, surf music. Jack White’s idea, no
doubt.
The rest of the tunes meander between bluegrass, country and rock
until the final and funniest of the lot, the autobiographical, twangy “Story of My Life:”
“Oh gee, oh Lord, I swear / The babies are coming in pairs.”
Even
though I’ve had the CD for a month, I only decided today that I liked it. It is uneven,
adventurous, honest, outrageous and just plain weird. I don’t know if hard-core country
fans will take to it, but I did. Lo-retta, you did all right.
