Honky-Tonk Woman
Country legend Loretta Lynn at Boardwalk Hall
By Jeff Schwachter
LORETTA LYNN IS ON FIRE. Thanks to a stellar comeback album this year, the coal miner's daughter is as hot as she's ever been. And that's saying a lot after over 40 years in the country music business with 27 No. 1 hits, 18 No. 1 albums, a best-selling autobiography and an Oscar-winning biopic to her credit.
This Saturday night, Trump Plaza brings Lynn -- along with her renewed sizzle -- to Boardwalk Hall.
Since the release this past spring of Lynn's new album, Van Lear Rose, there has been a slew of press for the star who emerged as a tough Appalachian girl in the early 60s and went on to become an advocate for the middle-class woman and one of the most revered singer-songwriters of the 20th century. And it's not only been in country music rags that the words of praise have rolled from reviewers' pens in recent months; Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Blender and countless other mags out there have included glimmering pieces on Lynn's welcomed comeback.
One listen to Van Lear Rose, which teams Lynn with Detroit rocker Jack White of the White Stripes, and you'll believe the hype. The collection of stripped-down, singing-on-the-front-porch tunes produced by White blends traditionally "country" sounds -- acoustics, steel-pedal, fiddle -- with more rock-oriented production and wailing guitars. The outcome is extraordinary, with no small credit due to Lynn's amazingly intact voice and extraordinary songs; some of which have been called the best she's ever laid down on tape.
Always a songwriter who has written from her heart -- "Coal Miner's Daughter," "I'm a Honky-Tonk Girl," "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" ---- Lynn's new masterpiece is an assemblage of songs that paint little portraits from her legendary life's experiences. The album marks the first time that Lynn has written all of the songs for one of her records and she's truly outdone herself on the 13 tracks collected on Rose. Here's what Loretta had to say about some of her new songs:
"Van Lear Rose" -- "Mommy was the most beautiful woman ... I remember how she looked ... she had real high cheekbones ... she had Irish in her, but that Cherokee come out on her. Daddy called her 'Squaw.' 'Squaw's on the warpath, kids! Don't go in the kitchen!'"
"Little Red Shoes" -- "It don't seem like I'm telling stories. I'm just telling the facts ... it don't sound to me like I'm a-tellin' anything that nobody else would. But evidently I do."
"High on a Mountain Top" -- "[It's] not anything that's polished. It's a record that it sounds like it it's been cut in your front room or drunk and we're havin' a good time. A jam in the front room, 'cause that's where we usually practiced was in the front room."
"Have Mercy" -- "I wrote this song for Elvis Presley. I did ... that was tucked away for a while, [written] just before Elvis died."
Many of the songs on Van Lear Rose recount Lynn's life with her longtime husband (the two married when Loretta was just 14), the late Oliver "Doo" Lynn. It was "Doo" who Tommy Lee Jones portrayed in the 1980 film, Coal Miner's Daughter and who Loretta spent the '90s caring for after he began to suffer from severe health problems. When he died in 1996, Lynn reportedly sunk into a bit of a depression. It wasn't until 2000 that she returned with the album, Still Country.
The stirring "Miss Being Mrs.," one of Van Lear Rose's tributes to "Doo," who Lynn credits with convincing her to become a musician back in the day, is one of the prettiest moments on the new album.
Lynn was forced to cancel some dates earlier this summer due to health problems of her own -- it was reported she had a bout of double pneumonia -- but her management says she is feeling much better now. Her recent, sold-out shows in Minnesota and Wisconsin included songs from the past and present and were well received according to postings on her official website's message board.
If you're looking for a tired, bland country album that sounds like most of the pop-oriented schlock that's passed for country in recent years, don't buy Van Lear Rose. And if you want nothing more than an average concert experience, with an average country singer on stage, stay away from Boardwalk Hall Saturday night.
Loretta Lynn performs at Boardwalk Hall's Adrian Phillips Ballroom on Saturday, July 31. Showtime is 9pm. Tickets are $65.50, $45.50 and $30.50. Call Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420 or go to Trump Plaza box office.
