That's a good question, one that Loretta Lynn's fans and particularly the uninitiated are bound to ask when Lynn's new album comes out today. After more than 40 years in country music, Loretta Lynn has nothing to prove, but on "Van Lear Rose," she has reinvented herself.
In White, Lynn has found her Rick Rubin. Finally. Much like the producer who revitalized the late Johnny Cash's career with spare, homespun recordings, White has raised the notion of Loretta Lynn as a hip, renegade country artist. The transformation is of the same magnitude as Emmylou Harris's ethereal work with Daniel Lanois in the mid-'90s and even Dolly Parton's lauded return to traditional bluegrass. All of which means the new CD, easily one of Lynn's best albums, is likely to bring critical acclaim coupled with mass appeal.
Lynn, 70, wrote all of the songs on "Van Lear Rose," something she hasn't done in decades, and she has plenty on her mind: memories of her mother (for whom the album is named); two-timing men; murder; God; and a new life on her own. Her husband of 48 years, Doolittle, died in 1996, and "Miss Being Mrs." ("I took off my wedding band/ And put it on my right hand") is a tender take on widowhood.
None of the songs sounds geared for radio, and that's a plus. Mike Brophey, program director at Boston's Country 99.5 FM, says the album is "consistent in that the music is good, but there's also a lot of variety." In this case, variety means a rock 'n' roll sheen in the arrangements, which still complement her folksy lyrics. It's a new direction that Brophey says won't be a gamble for Lynn. "I don't think it will alienate her fans because they're already pretty hard-core, but I don't know about it picking up new fans -- I think it could happen."
That said, Brophey acknowledges that the station probably won't play it. "Loretta doesn't have any national chart success right now, and we tend to be more of a chart-driven station," he says. "If it gets enough attention and press, there's a chance we'll pick it up." (At least one Boston station plans to air it. Oedipus, program director at WBCN-FM (104.1), says he'll play the album on his Sunday night show, "Nocturnal Emissions.")
