Loretta Lynn & Jack White 'Portland, Oregon' (2004)



Van Lear Rose is an award-winning 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 albums 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.

The track “Portland, Oregon” was listed as the 305th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.

37 comments

  5. I'm hard of hearing. Played this with my headset on, and I could hear every note beautifully. Wonderful arrangement, and obviously wonderful vocals. Someone wrote on another video, "Get a man like Jack White who looks at you the way he does at Loretta Lynn." They have a beautiful friendship that runs deep and soulful, which translates into heart-warming music that no one else can replicate.

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  8. This cut is much easier to get and watch. The original video is good, but this allows you to concentrate on the lyrics, etc. Having had a few 'flings' with younger men in my late 40's, it has a lot of meaning for me. No I wasn't a dedicated cougar. But I had a real good time. And they did too. And I am in no way suggesting that these 2 amazing artists experienced that. It's just a great descriptive song that tells how unlikely connections can and do happen.

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  10. I'm 50 years old I'm a metalhead always have been but over the last year the White Stripes have become my favorite band never listen to them when they were together my wife will only listen to country so we're both digging this song!

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  18. When I hear something like this and then think of Jack White’s last solo album or so, I am so scared that he might have sold his soul to Satan; and not the good one. Cheers.

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  28. This is so epic to me! When I saw her do this with jack white man i just 🖤🖤🖤it right off the bat.. she's a legend and icon of country music 🎶 love ya Loretta

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  33. I saw the story about this collaberation on PBS American Masters. Jack tells a great story about their meeting, and his fascination with Loretta's ability to write a song. He hand picked the songs for this LP from a notebook of songs Loretta wrote but never recorded. In all I think he said the was about 199 to choose from.

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