The White Stripes - "Everywhere I Go, I'm Jack": Shades of the Mountain Goats

I never realized how much this recording of "Everywhere I Go, I'm Jack" by the White Stripes sounded like a Mountain Goats song at the Goat’s most lo-fi, or how Jack's slow, light tremolo recalls one of those droning "tacked-on" closers (can they be considered bonus or hidden tracks?) on many Brian Jonestown Massacre albums; I'm thinking the "Sound of Confusion" version of "Fire Song" specifically.

The White Stripes Charlie Rose Interview

Charlie Rose: "When did you two meet?"
Jack White: "Well, we started the band in '97."

Oh, Jackson. Always skirting those sibling questions.

The White Stripes - "Jolene" Live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

I was fourteen-years-old when this performance taught me it was okay for guys to sing about guys:

The White Stripes - "Farmer John/Louie Louie"

Remember when the White Stripes were just a couple of punk-rock kids, and Jack wore torn, beaten T-shirts and, although not in this video, Chucks? Here are the White Stripes covering the Premiers' 1964 hit "Farmer John" and the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" at Union Square in 2002:

"... I Sort of Had a Nervous Breakdown When I Was 19."

"When I was a teenager I would recognise characteristics in people like ego and temper and say, I'm not going to do that. And it got to the point where I became so self-conscious that I sort of had a nervous breakdown when I was 19. I couldn't handle it: I was becoming very paranoid and extremely anti-myself. I wouldn't let myself enjoy anything. And remnants of that are still there. I don't do drugs, I don't get drunk, I don't vote. Girls I don't do. With this whole band [the White Stripes], it's obvious how much we're forcing ourselves and limiting ourselves all the time.”

 - Jack White

My Least Favourite Cover By the White Stripes

I've always thought Tegan and Sara's "Walking with a Ghost" is the White Stripes' worst cover. It's not bad per se, but everything sounds so flat and dull. The White Stripes' version also falls too close to the original which is disappointing because the White Stripes were so renowned for their ability to create such unique covers, and Tegan and Sara and the White Stripes was such an unexpected combo; I've still never heard the White Stripes mention Tegan and Sara.

Nothing To Do This Friday Night?

Go see THE WHITE STRIPES!!!!! ... cover band White Blood Cells, $10 at the Fairview Pub.

"Jack Outside the Box"

Fantastic New York Times article with insights into the White Stripes' decision to break up, why Jack has waited until now to make a solo album, his past and present family life, growing up in Detroit and future projects and a look into his Third Man Records headquarters and even his mansion. This article also reveals that we could have had a Jack White-RZA collaboration - if RZA didn't no-show Jack's house. Holy shit!

Rainy Day Music: Mazzy Star Edition

All these years, I thought Mazzy Star wrote "Five-String Serenade" and that the White Stripes uncharacteristically covered Mazzy Star. Then, several months ago, upon having discovered 60s garage rock band Love thanks to the White Stripes, I discovered that Love front-person Arthur Lee actually wrote "Five-String Serenade." Suddenly, the White Stripes' choice of cover didn't seem so uncharacteristic. I still like Mazzy Star's sleepy, sombre version the most though.

White Stripes' Haircut

I was always disappointed there was no longer, better quality version of the White Stripes' cover of "Devil's Haircut" by Beck. Oh, well. Maybe their cover being so short is a good thing, making me want to (and allowing me to) listen to it over and over again. And the quality isn't too bad, but it'd just be nice to have a cleaner version as well:

Dubstep Nation Army

I've rarely heard a White Stripes cover or remix I like, and I'm not a big dubstep fan, but the Glitch Mob's remix of "Seven Nation Army" is the best White Stripes remix I've heard by far. It's so damned ominous and dense, like how I imagine a Jack White/Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) collaboration would sound. I love the vocal effects, Jack's voice dropping and rising where it doesn't in the original.

They say you can download this track at the Glitch Mob's website, but I've yet to find it - or try very hard either.

White-Striped Underground

I heard the White Stripes' cover of the Velvet Underground's "After Hours" for the first time, a few days ago. More surprising to me than the fact that there was a White Stripes song I hadn't heard was the fact that they covered the Velvet Underground; I'd never heard either Jack or Meg mention the Velvet Underground - not one sentence or even when listing influences or favourite songs/records. I guess any influence the VU might have had on the White Stripes shouldn't be totally surprising: there is the Bowie connection (of whom the White Stripes are HUGE fans), and the VU were part of the whole northeastern punk scene in which Jack and Meg grew up.

Say what you will about Meg's voice here, but her unapologetic crudeness is just part of her infantile charm that makes the White Stripes what they are. I'd rather listen to music with this kind of heart and soul, regardless of how scrappy it is, than cold, hollow, technical jerk-off sessions by greater-revered "virtuosos." However unquantifiable and subjective "heart and soul" are.

"10 Years After the White Stripes 'Saved' It, Rock Is Again in Crisis"

Decent article from July ten years and two days after the release of the White Stripes' breakthrough third album White Blood Cells. Read the article at the Atlantic.com.

Underrated White Stripes Song: "Who's To Say?" (Blanche Cover)

Maybe it's "underrated" because not enough people seek out the White Stripes' B-sides, and probably even less people know who Dan Miller is.

"Who's To Say?," the flip-side of the White Stripes' I Just Don't Know What To Do with Myself single, was written by Detroit mainstay Dan Miller and performed as far back as at least 1998 by Jack's and Dan's short-lived band 2 Star Tabernacle. Since then, Dan has reworked the song as part of his current group Blanche's 2004 album If We Can't Trust the Doctors.

In un-White Stripes fashion, Jack and Meg don't put much of their own spin on "Who's To Say?" I still prefer the White Stripes' version, however, which is why I'm posting theirs. As much as I'd like to call some of the song's lyrics brilliant, I realize it may be a little grandiose of a compliment, so I'll just leave it at this: I fuckin' love them:

Who's to say this time I've wasted
Someday won't get used?
Maybe if you come around
I'll start to get enthused

...

Who's to say that I'm obsessed
With everything you do
Just because it seems my schedule
Seems to shadow you?
Who's to say that tired
"There's more fish in the sea"?
I don't mind treading water
'Cause you're the one for me

You say that by now
I should know you'll never love me
But who's to say that what has never
Been will never be?
What has been will never be?

From the Vault: White Stripes Album Descriptions

I wrote the following White Stripes album descriptions in 2007. :/ It's often weird reading back on old writing, especially when there are a lot of things one would have written differently whether in terms of content or even punctuation and grammar. I think I neglected to mention the White Stripes' second album De Stijl (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2000) because the post I was responding to asked what these specific albums sounded like or which albums he/she should have gotten after De Stijl:


Their self-titled (first album), while not their most diverse work, is a solid and consistent rock record. It has its slow tracks here and there, but most of the tracks showcase their signature sound of short, sweet, driving blues-rock. Their sound isn't completely developed here, but it's pretty much The White Stripes at their barest of bones. This is also Jack's proudest work, according to himself.

White Blood Cells is probably their most accessible album. It was their breakthrough album, afterall. It contains Fell in Love with a Girl, Hotel Yorba, and Dead Leaves - all of those familiar singles which launched them into the mainstream. As a whole, it's probably not their most consistent work. It kind of drops off, during the last four or so tracks, but it's still a White Stripes record, if you savvy.

Elephant is probably their most "sophisticated" album. It has a great balance of soft ballads, hard-rockers, (a few more) blazing guitar solos, and it's the first to feature Meg on vocals. This is also where Jack's lyrical aptitude really starts to shine through, and it continues on through their latest album. The balance of diverse tracks and The Stripes' ability to blend them all into a such a cohesive work gives Elephant a great all-around album feel. It's possibly The White Stripes best work, to date.

Icky Thump is also pretty diverse, insofar as it hearkens back to sounds that came out of or were prominent on their older albums (such as certain organ and guitar sounds). Not to mention The White Stripes stray further from the aesthetic of the number three (guitar, drums, vocals) - so far as to include (surprisingly successful experiments with) trumpets and bagpipes. To some, the hearkening back to old sounds is a bad thing, because they say The White Stripes have started to repeat themselves. However, I think they've managed to take most elements from their older albums, experimental and non-experimental alike, and refine them to their very best (odd percussion times, the use of mic distortion effects, etc).

A lot of people consider Satan The White Stripes' worst album, because it strays the furthest from their sound. Guitars were largely replaced by piano, and this is where they really started to break their own rule of the number three, with the inclusion of mandolin and marimba. The album is one big experiment and is the reflection of a frustrated man/artist. The time leading up to and during the album's recording was a tough time for the band (more specifically, Jack): things were going wrong in the studio (you can hear a tambourine stand or some other piece of equipment topple over in "White Moon;" the tape on which "The Nurse" was recorded was cut incorrectly and had to be re-pieced together); Jim Diamond was suing The White Stripes over production rights to their first two albums; Jack just went through a break-up with Renée Zellweger; his hand was still recovering from surgery after his car accident; and of course, he was still dealing with the whole episode with Jason Stollsteimer from The Von Bondies. All of these events served as the inspiration of the album's theme of broken trust (hence the title, "Satan" being all of those people and events "getting behind" Jack and allowing him to move on with his life and work). Satan is, subtly (and sometimes not so subtly), their most lyrically bitter and harsh album, but I think the band was able to turn their frustrations into something great. Definitely, IMO, their most under-rated and under-appreciated album.

Another thing that makes Icky Thump great to me (especially as a reflection of the band, at perhaps their best, overall) is that it's a complete rebound from Satan. The band is definitely rejuvenated, on Thump, after a prolonged hiatus with other projects (The Raconteurs and Loretta Lynn). Jack's personal life also took a turn for the better, during the time between albums (a marriage, a couple of kids, and a relocation from Detroit to Nashville will do that). I don't know much about Meg's personal life, but she also moved out of Detroit (to California). Overall, Jack and Meg were happier with their new lives, new loves, and new environments, and, most of all, the band was happier and eager to get back into the studio.


Note: The White Stripes' 2003 album Elephant (V2/XL Recordings, 2003) did not feature Meg's first appearance on vocals - only her first appearance on lead-vocals.

The White Stripes - "Hand Springs"

I've always visualized the lyrics to this song written out as a story rather than line by line, as lyrics are usually written. Thus, I've taken it upon myself to add punctuation and separate the lyrics into paragraphs where I deem appropriate:


"Hand Springs"

I took my girl to go bowling downtown at the Red Door, after an argument I started 'cause I thought she didn’t like me anymore. I can't help it: sometimes, I feel pitiful, and of course, she's so young and beautiful.

I bought us two glasses of Coke; that's her favourite, and I wanted to make up for earlier. But I dropped her glass, and it broke, so I just gave my glass to her.

She laughed, and so did I in our lane. Then, she went to the vending machine to buy a candy cane, but right next to that was a boy I knew with a spring in his hand playin' a country pinball machine called "Stand by Your Man." I saw him talk to her, but I stayed in my lane and played my game steady and was thinkin' of a day when I'd be too old to throw a ball this heavy.

But I guess I'm young now, so it's easier to knock 'em all down. Then I looked and saw her say to him, "You really hittin’ that ball around." And he’s lookin' at her the way I did when I first met her: I can see in his face white flowers and cups of coffee and love letters.

I was sorry to interrupt their game, but I went and did it anyway. I dropped my red bowling ball through the glass of his machine. I said, "Are you quick enough to hit this ball, Mr. Clean?" I was scared to lose her, so I couldn't help being mean.

And that ended both of our games. I said I was sorry, but my girl left with him just the same. I thought how much I hate when love makes me act this way. I was bent over a broken pinball machine in a bowling alley, and I threw it all away.

Well, isn't it all just a big game?

New Old White Stripes: Signed D.C./I’ve Been Loving You Too Long 7" Single (Third Man Records, 2011)

When the White Stripes announced their break-up five months ago, they also announced that they were going to continue releasing previously unavailable songs, demos, live sessions, etc. through Jack White's Nashville-based Third Man Records. A mere two months later, the White Stripes announced plans to release a double-vinyl album of their final show ever in July 2007 (Live in Mississippi), a live DVD recorded in Moorhead, Minnesota in June 2000, shortly after the band released its second album De Stijl (Under Moorhead Lights All Fargo Night), and a 7" single featuring a cover of 60s garage band Love's "Signed D.C." and a cover of the King of Soul Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long." The White Stripes recorded both "Signed D.C." and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in 1997, before the candy-coloured duo even had a single its their own.

As of a few days ago, sites such as Antiquiet.com have been streaming both "Signed D.C." and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in full. Click here to check out both tracks. They're the sounds of the White Stripes at their most infantile - literally.

Closing the Door to the Little Room Once and For All

My favourite band of the past nine years the White Stripes officially broke up twelve days ago. I don’t lament their decision one bit, and here’s why:

Reflecting upon the White Stripes’ career, they could not have picked a more appropriate time to lock up the Little Room [the White Stripes’ conceptual, restrictive workspace] once and for all. I can’t say for sure how they’ve impacted music over the past thirteen years, but I sure as hell can say they’ve done a lot of cool things over those thirteen years: Jack achieved his dream of writing and performing a James Bond theme (the first duet in the franchise’s history); the band wrote and performed a Coca-Cola jingle; and the band won the praises of and even collaborated with several of their musical heroes including Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson and the Rolling Stones. Jack even performed in front of President Obama at a White House-hosted tribute to Paul McCartney with the Beatle himself in attendance.

The White Stripes were even noteworthy for Jack’s and Meg’s personal lives, beyond early speculation over whether Jack and Meg were siblings or a married or divorced couple. Jack gained Hollywood’s attention not only for his roles in the films Cold Mountain and Walk Hard but for his brief relationship with Renée Zellweger and his work on the former film’s soundtrack as well; Jack, in very typical rock ’n’ roll fashion, married a supermodel; meanwhile, Meg married into punk rock royalty in Jack’s backyard (to Jackson Smith, son of the “Godmother of Punk” Patti Smith and the MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith). The band survived fist-fights and ensuing anger management courses (Jack’s highly-publicized 2003 altercation with Von Bondies-front-man Jason Stollsteimer brought the Von Bondies a whirl of media attention for their second album Pawn Shoppe Heart); lawsuits over production credits and samples, including a clash against Warner Bros. over the band’s use of direct quotes from Citizen Kane on the song “The Union Forever”; and a sex-tape scandal (which turned out to have merely featured a Meg White look-alike). More positively, the band also became best friends with Conan O’Brien, played the first and last episodes of most of his shows and, in the process, possibly became Conan’s most frequent musical guests. Jack even produced a live LP and 7” single which he released through his label Third Man Records for Conan during Conan’s time off of television.

Finally, when speaking of awesome things the White Stripes have done, one cannot forget the band’s extensive 2007 Canadian tour which included shows in every province and territory, completely spontaneous secret shows along almost every stop (which led fans on wild online and real-world goose-chases) and the shortest concert ever (in Newfoundland, during which Meg paired Jack’s C-sharp with a single, simultaneous crash of her cymbal). And who, especially if they’re Nova Scotian, can forget the most significant event during the White Stripes’ cross-Canada tour? I’m referring to, of course, the White Stripes having celebrated their tenth anniversary with a blockbuster show/family reunion at the Savoy Theatre in Glace fucking Bay, one day after Jack visited his grandfather‘s grave in my hometown Antigonish.

Even though the White Stripes’ final tour was cut short due to Meg’s anxiety issues, and the band was rather inactive during its final three-and-a-half years, the White Stripes left on at least a few high-notes: despite having pushed their minimalist aesthetic to the breaking point (literally, as they gradually incorporated marimbas, mandolins, bagpipes and brass instruments), their last album Icky Thump was on par with the rest of their previous work. Then, just this past spring, they released Under Great White Northern Lights, a monolithic box-set that focused on their Canadian tour. Now that the White Stripes have broken up, this box-set has become the perfect retrospective piece, especially since it contains Under Nova Scotian Lights, a DVD of their entire tenth anniversary show. What better time, then, for the White Stripes to call it quits than after their tenth anniversary, which was also one of their final shows, even though they were still a band for three more years?

I think it’s honourable of the White Stripes to have quietly bowed out rather than to have embarked upon a huge, blow-out finale. Furthermore, I think it’s admirable of them to have wanted to “preserve what is beautiful and special about the band” instead of cheapening their art by continuing far past their prime and becoming a nostalgia act the way so many bands do. I’d rather the White Stripes break up than spiral towards uninspired mediocrity or, worst of all, repeat themselves. Lastly, if the White Stripes ever decide to create new music, I will be more surprised than if I’d been living in anticipation of new music by them for who-knows-how-long.

Despite everything the White Stripes have done, their greatest accomplishment has not been winning some award or readers- or critics-poll: it was opening up me and millions of other people like me to worlds of music we may never have paid attention to otherwise. I listen to a wide range of music, but my first answers when people ask me “What do you listen to?” are always blues, country and garage rock. I owe my responses entirely to the White Stripes. The White Stripes have opened me up to everything from blues legends (Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Willie Johnson, Charley Jordan, Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins) to obscure, fossilized nuggets from garage rock history (the Sonics, the Monks, the Kingsmen, the Wailers) to even lesser-known, more contemporary garage rock bands (the Go, Two-Star Tabernacle, Flat Duo Jets, the Dirtbombs). The White Stripes have also opened me up to blues-inspired cow-punk (Goober & the Peas), punkabilly (the Gun Club) and just plain punk (the Stooges). I likely would not have even batted an eye at well-known classics, especially since many of them were country (Hank Williams, the coal-miner’s daughter Loretta Lynn) and soft-rock/pop icons (the Carpenters, Burt Bacharach and Hal David).

Furthermore, having given me an appreciation for the blues, country music and garage rock, the White Stripes have profoundly impacted my entire artistic tastes and philosophies: the White Stripes taught me to see and hear beauty in simplicity and raw energy; they taught me that art does not need to be calculated or refined in order to be beautiful because certain beauties exists in flaws and mistakes - nuances unobtainable through fine-tuning, endless revisions and working within one’s comfort zones. Most importantly, the White Stripes have taught me that there will always be value in art that is not “new” or experimental.

What always impressed me about the White Stripes was their ability to achieve their level of popularity and respect by adhering (for the most part) to their minimalist aesthetic, especially since they could easily have been pigeon-holed as a one-hit wonder - “that band with the Lego video” - or colour-coded gimmick. They inspire me to know that a straight-up rock ’n’ roll band can still become one of the most popular and respected musical acts today in both mainstream and alternative circles. I’m always going to thank the White Stripes before I thank anyone else for saving me from mainstream hip-hop, Dave Matthews Band and nü-metal in eighth grade - for opening up a new generation of listeners (myself included) to some of the greatest, most enduring music I have ever heard. To that extent - for having introduced me to the music I love and having shaped my general artistic philosophy - I feel that the White Stripes’ job is done. Perhaps the “band in the box,” which had already began to itch at the box’s edges, had nothing left to give me or any of its other fans except the band itself. The White Stripes have had such a classic, storied career that the time was simply right. That is why I am not sad to see the White Stripes finally step out from under the great white northern lights.

I Am Forever Indebted to Jack White

Because he introduces me to bands like Love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSUoYHEJCGI

How am I only hearing this band now? Actually, the answer to that question is because I haven't been curious as to whether or not the White Stripes' version of "My Little Red Book" was a cover until now. It turns out the Stripes' version is a cover; in fact, their version is a cover of a cover: "My Little Red Book" was originally written by the classic song-writing team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (performed by Bacharach), a favourite of both Jack's and Meg's. I guess it's even less surprising that the White Stripes covered "My Little Red Book."