Here’s Jack playing Ball and Biscuit with Dylan and his band:
play it f*ckin loud!I seem to be incapable of considering the White Stripes as anything other than imitation Led Zeppelin. I hasten to add, however, that this is not a bad thing. I think Jack White took the spirit of Zep’s music, especially as displayed on their first three albums, and brought it forward in a way that was totally valid and enjoyable. The main difference is that the White Stripes’ music is more primitive and intentionally oddball.
You make an excellent point. Whenever I hear Jack White play bluesy guitar especially, I can hear some heavy-duty Jimmy Page influence in his riffs.
I think this is a reference to how Meg White moves to the beat.
And yeah, he’s all about Jimmy Page, but with more noise, punk and country in his approach, and little/none of Page’s British Folk / Bert Jansch side. But for slide and big rock riffing, yeah, in a great way.
Holy! Fucking! Shit! I never knew such a thing existed. I’ll be in my bunk…
…just after I answer this. I’m sorry, but no. I love Zep, but they did little but steal and (barely) update.
Jack White samples, borrows, and steals. He’s a racketeer and a raconteur. His call-backs to Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton are on par with Dylan’s call-backs to Blind Willie McTell and The Mississippi Sheiks. And after he steals, he creates something so different from the original. I’ve long wondered whether my generation (Jack White and myself were born less than a year apart) would produce an artist the caliber of Dylan, and I think we have a chance in Jack White. The man is genius.
And yes, Meg White’s drumming is primitive. Just as Mo Tucker’s was.
I’ve heard of the White Stripes before but never listened to them. I’ve been watching and listening to a few of the linked youtube videos. Jack’s voice is a bit off putting. He’s OK when he doesn’t try to sing high but when he does he sounds like a mix between Robert Plant and Bobcat Goldthwaite. Just awful.
It took me a while to appreciate The White Stripes fully, but now they are one of my favourite bands. Jack White seems to be almost incapable of writing a bad song. Saw them live once, at Hyde Park in 2007.
His voice can be like his guitar playing, right on the edge of ragged and off key. At it’s best, it’s full of emotion, exhibit A being this live version of Jolene, but there are times he goes over the line. Under Blackpool Lights is one of the best sets overall, but it has some bad moments. But that’s fine, then it’s on to the next song. Part of the joy of listening to The White Stripes is sifting through all the live recordings, enjoying the variations and improvisations, and finding the best ones.
The exception to the above is Blue Orchid, which he just can’t sing live. I’ve never found a decent live version.
A few of my favourites:
I became a White Stripes fan years ago when they were basically just 2 people, Jack on guitar and Meg on drums. Excellent garage rock band. My favorite song is probably Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.
Then they started getting more elaborate and experimental on albums like Icky Thump, and I liked about 2/3 of the songs then. I really enjoyed them more when they were really basic.
As others have said, check out Raconteurs and Dead Weather. I especially like the first Dead Weather album.
Unfortunately there are no more White Stripes but Jack White is touring now. He was just on the latest Austin City Limits, I think you can watch it online. It was an interesting show, he basically had 2 bands, one all guys and one all girls. I liked most of what I heard.
If you like basic garage bluesy check out The Black Keys as well. They started off in a similar fashion, just drums and 1 guitar on their early albums, all excellent. Now they are more elaborate but still some very good material.
The terrific Danger Mouse production really helped them, too: they were always a great garage band, but as with Gnarls Barkley, DM gave them this huge sound but with lashings of filthy 60s R&B grit.
Well, Mo’s a better drummer but Lou’s a worse guitarist than Jack. Now, what we have to do is get Jack White together with John Cale…
My favorite Mo Tucker story was how she was suffering the fate of most members of bands that weren’t that big but who didn’t OD, working at WalMart as a bookkeeper, and they wouldn’t let her take a leave of absence to go on tour so she quit WallyWorld to go back to her life of rock ‘n’ roll, where she stayed.
I’ve really been getting into them (actually anything Jack White does) lately. He’s a phenomenal guitar player, but is also able to dial it back to fit the song. As others have said, also check out his solo stuff and his stuff with The Racontuers and Loretta Lynn and really just about anything he’s involved with.
Also, if you’re into podcasts, the WTF podcast with Marc Maron had an hour long interview with him a few months ago that’s really good. Maron is a good interviewer and gets a good discussion going about his background and influences. Jack also comes across as a fairly normal guy, despite all his eccentricities (which as others have said seem to be a bit of a put-on in some cases). Check it out.
I agree with this. I really like it as a backdrop to Jack White’s more intricate (and yet still “raw” feeling) parts. I think the balance is great. I don’t like the Racanteurs work as much, as it’s missing–to me–some of the primal nature of those loud, brutal, almost tribal drums of Meg White. I just don’t like the feel and sound of the Racanteurs album. I do like his solo album, Blunderbus, though.
I’ve seen the White Stripes only once live and their performance was nothing short of mind-blowing. How two people can just fill the room with such energy, both with music and stage presence, is beyond me. I like their music well enough, but I didn’t really fully appreciate them until I saw them perform. Wow.
As for whether they’re mainstream or not, I agree that they are very much mainstream, with several of their albums reaching the top 5 in both the US and Canada, and reasonable performance of their singles on the charts, too (with “Blue Orchid” reaching #1 on the Canadian single chart. I mention Canada because I believe Leaffan is from there.) It all depends on what stations you are listening to.
When I first heard the White Stripes via my brother in about 2002, my immediate reaction was, oh, great, another friggin’ blues-rock band, like the world needs one. (Don’t get me wrong–I like blues rock, but I’m tired of blues rock bands. Explore some new territory.) Zeppelin was the obvious influence to me. But as I listened and lived with the album for a day, I heard much more going on–a kind of Jimmy Page/70s-era blues rock guitar heroes filtered through a punk and post-punk sensibility. Jack White, to me, has a more “jagged” approach to his guitar playing and phrasing than your typical blues rock guitarist, and his tone is definitely not the usual clean, warmly overdriven tone of those guitarists, either. It’s more punk than blues. And then you have some of the weirdness like the expressionistic keyboard parts on Icky Thump, and the White Stripes go away from being just another blues rock band to something interesting, for me.
Just found this thread, after watching It Might Get Loud. One thing which I think hasn’t been covered is that no matter who he’s with, Jack White is one hell of a lyricist. With so much rock and blues the lyrics are at best a second thought, but he keeps them fresh, smart, clever and witty without ever seeming to try too hard: the man is a serious writing talent, he often reminds me of a cheerier Nick Cave.
I know this is an 2+ year old thread, but I never saw it originally. I have to say I find it a little surprising as I always thought of the White Stripes as hugely successful, big name act. They had even disbanded a couple years before this thread.
I only listen to commercial radio when someone else is controlling the radio because I desire much more variety than it usually offers and do not wish to hear the same songs repeated ad infinitum. There is just too much amazing talent out there that never gets the exposure on those stations. Sometimes I miss really good popular music because of this though.
That being said, I too often run into a situation like Leafans’ here where by the time I discover some artist that I really, really like, their heyday is pretty much over. What is really the bummer is when the band has broken up and you have missed the chance to see them perform live.
Totally agree - brilliant.
My son plays I Can Tell That We are Gonna Be Friends (about school mates in elementary school), I Want to Be the Boy Who Warms Your Mother’s Heart, and Love Interruption. So diverse and interesting.
I Can Tell That We are Gonna Be Friends is just so fresh and charming and happy; it seems like it ought to be mawkish and cloying, but it’s just such a lovely lyric.
Truly a lovely, lovely song and a great lyric, one that I can imagine Ray Davies having written, or Lou Reed on one of his more whimsical VU days.
Good comparison, it’s got that I’m Sticking With You feel to it.