CoronaVinyl Day 331 (L): Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and I went with country legend Loretta Lynn's 42nd solo studio album, 2004's Van Lear Rose.

Lynn is one of the most decorated country singers of all-time.  Over the course of her career, which is now in its seventh decade (she just released an album earlier this year!), Lynn has had ten albums that topped the Billboard Country album chart, and she has garnered 16 #1 hits on the Billboard Country singles chart.  Her 1980 biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (starring Sissy Spacek as Lynn) garnered seven Academy Award nominations, and it won the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and for Best Actress for Spacek.

In 2004, at the young age of 72, Lynn collaborated with musical renaissance man Jack White for Van Lear Rose.  I got the album as part of White's Third Man Records' Vault record club, and as you can see, it has a cool golden vinyl color.  The name is a nod to the Kentucky coal mine where her father worked.  White plays guitar and several other instruments on the album, and his Raconteurs band mates Patrick Keeler (drums) and Jack Lawrence (drums) also played on the album.  I'm not a huge country fan, but I enjoyed the album.  It's got some Americana, folk, and even some rock elements to it, and Lynn's voice (even in her 70s) is great.

Van Lear Rose went to #2 on the Billboard Country albums chart and #24 on the Billboard 200, which made it the highest-charting album of Lynn's career on the latter chart.  The album also won the Grammy for Best Country Album, and the song "Portland, Oregon" (a duet with White) won the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

My version of the album has one bonus track, and the album is not on Spotify (in any incarnation), but there is a YouTube playlist with the songs on the album, so I'm embedding that below.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Have Mercy"
This one sounds the most White-influenced, with pounding electric guitar and drums.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Mrs. Leroy Brown"
A nod to the famous Jim Croce song, from the other side of Leroy Brown's relationship.  It starts out slow and then turns into a foot-stomping country rock romper.