Van Lear Rose is an 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 72 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. (More from Wikipedia)
Jack White of the White Stripes organized a band called the Do-Whaters that included the rhythm section from the Greenhornes, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, plus Dave Feeny, another Detroit musician and producer. They became the backing band for Loretta Lynn on her universally acclaimed 2004 comeback album, Van Lear Rose, which was masterminded and produced by Jack White.
As quoted in Wikipedia: “Rhapsody ranked the album #16 on its Country’s Best Albums of the Decade list: ‘Jack White, of the bizarre and bluesy duo the White Stripes, produced this effort to jaw-dropping effect. Van Lear Rose is a stripped-down effort that isn’t afraid to get dirty – both in its dark subject matter and in its raucous, gritty tones. And as much as this body of work highlights [Loretta] Lynn’s down-home vocals (which are as strong as ever), it’s White’s production that sends her crashing – literally – into the 21st century. On paper, these two disparate souls have little in common, but the bold excitement of the music proves the two are a match made in heaven.’”
Jack White’s next musical project, the Raconteurs grew out of the Do-Whaters that had backed Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose.
(February 2015)
