I listened to a lot of country music growing up. My folks liked country music, so it was always on their radios, and even though they didn't buy a ton of records, when they did, they were usually country and western. Some of that music reached through to me, even though just as much of it was garbage! I didn't realize how much I would appreciate this music as I got older.
What passes for country music today would make people like Hank Williams, Hank Thompson, and Buck Owens roll over in their graves. I have a theory on that, but that's writing for another day.
Loretta Lynn is one of those voices I remember hearing on the radio as I was growing up. By the time I was making my own choices about what to listen to and what to buy, Lynn wasn't on my list. Cut to 2004, and her work with Jack White. I am a marginal White Stripes fan, but I love what Jack White has done with Loretta Lynn on this CD and Wanda Jackson on her latest. As a producer, he treats these ladies with the respect they've earned, and he brings them into the 21st century on their terms.
On Van Lear Rose, White lets Lynn be true to her country roots, but where Owen Bradley would've added strings and a lushness to Lynn's honky-tonk sound, White uses his guitar and the big beat to drive these songs. "Have Mercy," "Portland Oregon," and "Mrs. Leroy Brown" are great tunes that move Lynn forward without compromising her ability to tell a universal story.
The cool thing about White as a producer is that he doesn't try to make a White Stripes record with the artists he's working with. The title song and "Story of My Life" are traditional sounding country songs that act as bookends to this fine CD. This one's a keeper.
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