Jack White on track for first #1 album

image from rcrdlbl.com

Jack White, one of today’s most celebrated musicians, is set to accomplish something this week he couldn’t do with his groups The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, or Dead Weather – land a #1 album on Billboard with his first solo effort, Blunderbuss. White got his start with the 1999 release of The White Stripes, a roots-oriented duo comprised of himself on guitar and vocals and his ex-wife Meg White on drums. De Stijl followed in 2000. Neither charted in the U.S. or U.K.

The group had its big break with 2001’s White Blood Cells, an album which, along with The Strokes’ Is This It, powered a garage-rock revival. The album rates as one of the top 1000 albums of all time and one of the top 100 albums of the 2000s. The album appears on best-of lists from Q Magazine and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Spin magazine ranked it Album of the Year. Its song “Fell in Love with a Girl” ranked in Blender’s Top 500 Songs Since You Were Born (1980-2005) and is rated by the DMDB as one of the top 100 videos of all time.

Fell in Love with a Girl

With high expectations, Jack and Meg delivered an even more acclaimed and commercially successful follow-up with 2003’s Elephant. It was Jack’s first visit to the top ten in the U.S. and in the UK it was not only The White Stripes’ first charting album, but went to #1. It also is the best-selling title of White’s catalog with more than 5 million sales worldwide. Like its predecessor, it also ranks in the DMDB’s top 1000 albums of all time and one of the top 100 albums of the 2000s. It was also named Album of the Year by Mojo, NME, Q, and Spin magazines.

That album spawned Jack’s most celebrated song – “Seven Nation Army.” The DMDB ranks it as one of the top 100 song of the 21st century and one of the top 1000 songs of all time. It also rates as one of the top 100 alternative rock songs of all time and makes best-of lists from Blender, NME, and Q magazines.

Seven Nation Army

Two more White Stripes albums followed – Get Behind Me Satan (2005) and Icky Thump (2007). Like Elephant, they both won the Grammy Award for Alternative Album of the Year. The latter was White’s second #1 album in the UK.

The Raconteurs, image from nme.com

In between those albums, White formed another band, The Raconteurs, with The Greenhornes’ Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler as well as solo artist Brendan Benson. That group released two albums – 2006’s Broken Boy Soldiers and 2008’s Consolers of the Lonely. Both were top ten albums in the U.S. and U.K.

The Dead Weather, image from last.fm

Not content to limit his resume to two groups, White also formed The Dead Weather. Lawrence came along from The Raconteurs and Dean Fertita, guitarist and keyboardist for Queens of the Stone Age, entered the picture. White actually took a back seat as the drummer and put The Kills’ Alison Mosshart up front. That group also released two albums – 2009’s Horehound and 2010’s Sea of Cowards. Both were top ten albums in the U.S., but neither made the top ten in the U.K.

Outside of his group projects, White contributed five solo cuts to the Cold Mountain soundtrack in 2003. That same year, he was rumored to have collaborated with Electric Six on the songs “Danger! High Voltage” and “Gay Bar.” In 2008, he and Alicia Keys dueted on “Another Way to Die,” the theme song for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. In 2009, he released his first official solo single “Fly Farm Blues,” which was written and recorded in 10 minutes during the filming of the documentary It Might Get Loud which featured White alongside Jimmy Page and The Edge discussing guitar. In 2010, White contributed vocals to three tracks for Danger Mouse’s Rome album.

Now, in 2012, White releases his first full-fledged solo album. Blunderbuss dropped on April 24, 2012. White wrote, recorded, and produced the entire album. January 30 saw the release of the album’s first single, “Love Interruption.” The second single, “Sixteen Saltines,” was released on March 13.

Sixteen Saltines

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Awards:

• one of the top 1000 music makers of all time one of the 100 greatest guitarists

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Resources and Related Links:

• Jack White’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry
• Wikipedia.org entry: Jack White (musician)
• Billboard.com Jack White Set for First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 by Keith Caulfield (4/25/2012)

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The White Stripes “Fell in Love with a Girl” released

Fell in Love with a Girl The White Stripes

Writer(s): Jack White, Meg White (see lyrics here) Released: January 21, 2002 First Charted: March 1, 2002 Peak: 12 MR, 21 UK, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.2 US, 0.4 UK, 0.6 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 36.14 video, 316.82 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The White Stripes formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The rock duo consisted of Meg White on drums and percussion and Jack White on vocals, guitar, and keyboards. The two were married in 1996 but divorced in 2000. That didn’t stop them from continuing to make music together and becoming pivotal in leading a garage rock revival in the early 2000s. They released two non-charting albums before gaining an audience with the platinum-selling White Blood Cells in 2001. The album gave the duo their first chart hits with “Hotel Yorba,” “Fell in Love wih a Girl,” and “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.” “Fell in Love wih a Girl” “is a perfect piece of pop that’s more than a bit fractured – as modern love tends to be – but beautiful nonetheless.” TC Critics praised it “for its upbeat sound and confidence.” WK Jack “unleashes a manic vocal with truly visceral intensity” AM His “quirky high-range delivery” AM shines “through with a wild, almost cartoonish inflection that gives the track its distinct flavor.” AM He “hurls a dose of bubblegum-snapping humor into the breathless onslaught of words with jittery banter.” AM The video for “Fell in Love with a Girl” had an important hand in the song’s success. The Lego-animated video was directed by Michel Gondry, who later directed the critically-acclaimed movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The video won MTV awards for Breakthrough Video, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing. It was also nominated for Video of the Year. Resources: AM AllMusic.com by Tom Maginnis TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 528-9. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 218. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/25/2026.

 

The White Stripes “Hotel Yorba” charted

Hotel Yorba The White Stripes

Writer(s): Jack White (see lyrics here) Released: November 10, 2001 First Charted: November 1, 2001 Peak: 26 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.0 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Jack Gillis, a singer/songwriter and musician, and drummer Meg White married in 1996. He changed his last name to White and they formed the White Stripes a year later. The Detroit-based, garage-rock duo released a couple of singles and then a self-titled debut in 1999. That album and its 2000 follow-up, De Stilj, failed to make a dent on the U.S. charts, although both would eventually reach 300,000 in sales. The two divorced in 2000, but kept the group together. A year later, their third album, White Blood Cells, proved to be their breakthrough. The album would sell more than a million copies in the U.S. and reach #61. In the UK, it got to #55 and sold more than 300,000 copies. It was the second single, “Fell in Love with a Girl,” which introduced the band to American audiences. However, in the UK, it was the first single, “Hotel Yorba,” which proved to be the band’s opening salvo. The song was written about an actual hotel built in 1926 in Detroit. WK It was located in a run-down section in the southwestern part of the city at 4020 Lafayette Boulevard near a bus station. SF As a child, Jack heard rumors – which proved to be false – that the Beatles had stayed at the hotel. WK Jack White first performed the song, which was inspired by Woody Guthrie, with hs band Two Star Tabernacle in 1998. SF Jack said Woody “wanted his songs to make people happy and make them feel good about themselves…I think ‘Hotel Yorba’ is definitely in that category.” SF The White Stripes recorded the song at the hotel in room 206 and later wanted to film the video – their first – at the hotel. According to Jack, they tried filming inside the hotel without permission, which got him banned for life. SF They ended up shooting much of the video outside the hotel. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/26/2022.

The White Stripes White Blood Cells released

White Blood Cells The White Stripes

Released: July 3, 2001 Peak: 61 US, 55 UK, -- CN, 36 AU Sales (in millions): 1.11 US, 0.3 UK, 1.41 world (includes US and UK) Genre: garage rock revival

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground [3:04] (8/10/02, 19 MR, 25 UK) Hotel Yorba [2:10] (11/1/01, 26 UK) I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman [2:54] Fell in Love with a Girl [1:50] (3/1/02, 12 MR, 21 UK) Expecting [2:03] Little Room [0:50] The Union Forever [3:26] The Same Boy You’ve Always Known [3:09] We’re Going to Be Friends [2:22] Offend in Every Way [3:06] I Think I Smell a Rat [2:04] Aluminum [2:19] I Can’t Wait [3:38] Now Mary [1:47] I Can Learn [3:31] This Protector [2:12] All songs written by Jack White. Total Running Time: 40:25 The Players: Jack White (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, songwriting, production) Meg White (drums, tambourine, backing vocals)

Rating: 4.240 out of 5.00 (average of 34 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Despite the seemingly instant attention surrounding them – glowing write-ups in glossy magazines like Rolling Stone and Mojo, guest lists boasting names like Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson, and appearances on national TV – the White Stripes have stayed true to the approach that brought them this success in the first place. White Blood Cells, Jack and Meg White’s third effort for Sympathy for the Record Industry, wraps their powerful, deceptively simple style around meditations on fame, love, and betrayal. As produced by Doug Easley, it sounds exactly how an underground sensation’s breakthrough album should: bigger and tighter than their earlier material, but not so polished that it will scare away longtime fans.” AMG “Across the board, the album is doused in the kind of powerhouse performance that proved The White Stripes to be the real deal. This album would prove to be a seminal moment for the group and launch their career in earnest. When you add that to the potency of the songs at hand, you have a concoction that could knock over a whole town.” FO The “cocky opener Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” AMG illustrates “the band’s unique songwriting talent, then makes way for a charming indie-pop bop that wouldn’t look out of place at a Violent Femmes show. It’s the perfect example of the album’s duality. One side showcases Jack and Meg as lovelorn romantics, trying to make it in a tough world. At the same time, the other side offers glimpses of the duo holding Molotov cocktails and ready to burn this chapel to the ground.” FO “White’s growth as a songwriter shines through on virtually every track” AMG from “Dirty Ground” “to vicious indictments like The Union Forever and I Think I Smell a Rat. Same Boy You've Always Known and Offend in Every Way are two more quintessential tracks, offering up more of the group's stomping riffs and rhythms and us-against-the-world attitude.” AMG “White Blood Cells lacks some of the White Stripes’ blues influence and urgency, but it perfects the pop skills the duo honed on De Stijl and expands on them. The country-tinged Hotel Yorba and immediate, crazed garage pop of Fell in Love with a Girl define the album's immediacy, along with the folky, McCartney-esque We’re Going to Be Friends, a charming, school-days love song that's among Jack White’s finest work.” AMG “Few garage rock groups would name one of their most driving numbers I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman, and fewer still would pen lyrics like ‘I'm so tired of acting tough/I'm gonna do what I please/Let’s get married,’ but it's precisely this mix of strength and sweetness, among other contrasts, that makes the White Stripes so intriguing. Likewise, White Blood Cells’ ability to surprise old fans and win over new ones makes it the Stripes’ finest work to date.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The White Stripes AMG All Music Guide review by Heather Phares FO Far Out (7/16/2021). “The 21 Best Albums of the 21st Century” by Jack Whatley, Joe Taysom, and Tom Taylor WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 5/1/2022.