# White Stripes--recommend 2 songs, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523 "2005-06-08T23:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/1 "2005-06-08T23:26:31Z")
Everybody is raving about Jack’s guitar playing, so I wanna hear. Please recommend a couple of songs that highlight songwriting and guitar playing. Thx. PS Is Jack really that well-known that the [tabloids are following him](http://entertainment.msn.com/music/hotgossip5?GT1=6657)??? They must really be desparate for “news” about “celebrities.” ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/2 "2005-06-09T00:05:02Z")
Seven Nation Army I think I smell a Rat Hotel Yorba You’re PRetty Good Looking ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/3 "2005-06-09T00:09:43Z")
[But I Digress…] Not White Stripes, but I highly recommend Loretta Lynn’s duet with Jack, “Portland Oregon.” If you do get on a White Stripes kick, definitely pick up Loretta’s album **Van Lear Rose** , which was produced by Jack, also a musician on (I think) every track. [/BID…] ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/4 "2005-06-09T00:18:45Z")
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground Seven Nation Army ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/5 "2005-06-09T00:44:20Z")
I’ll second Hotel Yorba and You’re Pretty Good Looking. I’ll also add Fell in Love with a Girl ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/6 "2005-06-09T02:04:30Z")
Another vote for “Seven Nation Army.” And not really one of my favorite songs, but on “Ball and Biscuit” he does a pretty good Led Zeppelin impression. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/7 "2005-06-09T02:35:15Z")
Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love with a Girl and This Protector are all excellent and should give you a good idea of the White Stripes. And that’s just one of their earlier albums. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/8 "2005-06-09T03:25:31Z")
F… the White Stripes and listen to something good instead. Try Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Howe, Mato Nanji (of Indigenous), Richard Thompson, Jeff Berlin, ‘The Guy on the Corner with a bucket’ or even Eric Clapton if you feel the need to scrape the bottom of the barrel and go with “who is in the news”… The White Stripes should be called The Shit Stripes. And I should have the ‘Boxer Short Consession’. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/9 "2005-06-09T03:38:52Z")
Don’t listen to gatopescado. He knows not of what he speaks. You want to hear some great blues slide guitar from Jack? Listen to **Death Letter** from _De Stijl_. It’s a Son House cover, and it just freakin’ rocks. **Ball and Biscuit** from _Elephant_ is more of a stop-time blues shuffle, but it’s very cool. The faster, thrashy stuff would include **Black Math** from _Elephant_ and **Fell in Love with a Girl** from _White Blood Cells_. Every album they’ve put out is a must-have, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/10 "2005-06-09T03:41:01Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > You want to hear some great blues slide guitar from Jack? Listen to **Death Letter** from _De Stijl_. It’s a Son House cover, and it just freakin’ rocks. Yeah, it does. I’m not a White Stripes fan, but I was really impressed by the raw energy of that track. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/11 "2005-06-09T03:53:02Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Don’t listen to gatopescado. He knows not of what he speaks. > > Every album they’ve put out is a must-have, as far as I’m concerned. I accept your challange! Send me “approved copies”! 😉 (cd format preferred) Hell, I didn’t know he covered Son House! All I hear is what they play on the radio. And I know radio is crap. So maybe I should dig deeper? Waiting for those “promos”! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/12 "2005-06-09T04:42:36Z")
Sorry dude, but no can do. But seriously, have a listen to 'Death Letter". Best version I’ve ever heard. And on his first album he does a great version of “St. James Infirmary Blues”. Forget just the stuff you hear on the radio, and dig into the catalog. It’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/13 "2005-06-09T05:08:45Z")
Close, **Sam Stone** , but no cigar. The correct response to **gatopescado** would have been: _Oh no, my brother . . . you’ve got to buy your own._ 😃 Okay, on topic now. The OP (and anyone else) should go to iTunes immediately and download the Stripes’ awesome version of the old ballad “Black Jack Davey.” It’s not on any of their albums (that I know of), and has quickly become my favorite song of theirs. It’s the coolest thing I’ve heard all year. I also really like “Offend in Every Way” from _White Blood Cells_ – it’s the kind of song that sticks in your head after just one listen. _Cells_ is my least favorite Stripes album, but that song gets played like crazy at my house. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/14 "2005-06-09T20:05:51Z")
**NoCoolUserName** - it depends on what aspect of Jack’s guitar playing you want to hear. His lead work - which he rarely does - try Ball and a Biscuit. Really great. His slide work - try I Want to Be the Boy that Warms Your Mother’s Heart. Incredibly well-recorded - some of the glassiest, best sounding slide (during the lead break) that I have ever heard. The guys is no Duane Allman and isn’t trying to be - but the tone he was able to get (and record) is second to none. I have said this in previous posts, but will state it hear - as a longtime, semi-pro guitarist, there are two things that I appreciate in a player: - the songs - it always starts with the songs. Jimi would be an insider guitarist’s guitarist if he didn’t have some of the best songs in his era. - the Lock - if a guitarist can, singlehandedly, lock into a groove with his/her rhythm section and then move fluidly between rhythm and lead work, then they stand out. Jimi, Stevie Ray, Eddie Van Halen and a few others excel at this way more than most. Jack White can do this very very well. If you listen to pretty much any of his songs for this attribute, you will hear it. As a guitarist, I can tell you - it is one of the hardest things to do well and tastefully, and if a guitarist says of another guitarist “man, he really sounds locked in” it doesn’t get much better than that… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/15 "2005-06-10T01:49:33Z")
Seven Nation Army and Hardest button to button. I just like those, but HBTB may not be his best guitar work. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-stripes-recommend-2-songs-please/307523/16 "2005-06-10T04:11:47Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > Everybody is raving about Jack’s guitar playing, so I wanna hear. Please recommend a couple of songs that highlight songwriting and guitar playing. Thx. > > PS Is Jack really that well-known that the [tabloids are following him](http://entertainment.msn.com/music/hotgossip5?GT1=6657)??? They must really be desparate for “news” about “celebrities.” Well I don’t care for them myself, but I caught myself listening to “Your Really Good Looking, For a Girl” once or five times. Not bad for a band I wouldn’t choose to follow even if I was twenty again. And I’m not.