The riff that greeted the new century (and spawned more than a Seven Dozen Army of covers!) is also the riff that accompanies soccer goals, TDs, and home runs all over the world! Seven little notes!
I saw them at their 1st ever gig in London (pretty sure White Blood Cells had just come out). On the hottest day of summer, they were playing at the legendary 100 Club, situated in a basement off Oxford Street. Time Out magazine hyped them as exorcising the ghost of MC5 and The Stooges, and I needed to check it out for myself. The gig was sold out, and a scalper was trying to sell me a ticket for double the face value. I decided to play it cool and wait until after the opening band. Once the support band finished and people came out for a smoke, I offered the scalper face value, and he took it (I still have my ticket stub)! Oh man, it was hot, sweaty, and airless down there. The bar sold more water than beer that night, but holy shit...what a gig! Jack and Meg took the tiny stage about 3 feet away from me, decked out in all red with their peppermint swirl kick drum. They looked awesome, but I had no idea what I was about to experience. They completely eviscerated the place with their raw, punky, bluesy garage rock. After that gig, they got booked onto the UK festival circuit, and their popularity exploded.
Great story, Michael! T'hanks for sharing.......I remember reading about the 100 Club in the British tabs of the punk '70s! Jack's Stripes, I feel, would've fit right in to the '70s rock ethos, whether punk-adjacent, or just a solid classic rock/FM mainstay! Great stuff!
The White Stripes, in particular, Jack White hold one of my musical flashbulb memories. I’d been kinda sleeping on them as a band, had heard of them, maybe listened to a bit of their music (maybe not). And then along comes the 2004 Grammy’s (back when I cared to watch).
I’m lying in bed watching the show, Beck announces the White Stripes, and they launch into Seven Nation Army. And then, two minutes in, time starts to stand still. Jack slams into the opening riff of Death Letter Blues. What on earth is happening here?!?
A minute later, I’m out of bed, a foot away from the TV, staring, wide-eyed and slack jawed, as Jack begins to absolutely shred with this frenetic, unhinged, almost supernatural power and energy. Absolutely legendary performance, I was blown away!!
That enduring memory will always be there for me when I think of Jack White. Right up there with some of my favorite live performances of all time. Thanks for the reminder of his greatness.
Can you say, "Career-defining moment"? Thanks, Mark, for adding that link. I know it will be enjoyed by far more than myself! My first reaction (you can read elsewhere, here, about my general unawareness of Jack's canon...just "7NA" and a couple other hits): He HAD to know what he was doing: "This is The Grammys...I'm gonna have a moment." I know nothing about his repertoire, and have no clue from whence "Death Letter Blues" comes.
But, he careened into it, and with klieg lights ablaze, tore the roof off da suckah! Would love to have heard the formation of that segue with him and "his people." Second: That guitar seemed to be the one (or like the one) on which he wrote "7NA." At least, from my research, it didn't appear to be a standard electric guitar, but the "semi-acoustic" I think I quoted in the article. And, yet, shred he must, making THAT guitar sound truly bitchin' (and, I'm not a guitar techie)!
Third: "7NA" is not yet a cultural icon. It's on its way, organically, and this couldn't have hurt it any on its ultimate journey! I'm guessing "7NA" was already a hit, and certainly radio listeners (and Napster denizens) were well familiar with it. Cool to see that song (with all we now know about it) still in its infancy, and the early example of Jack's (I'm gonna say it) musical genius in arranging, seeing a moment, and seizing a moment!
And, in case you haven't seen it yet, this, from the Kennedy Center Honors...I believe around the time of your Jack/Grammys show! It'll help to know that Brian Wilson is my spirit animal, and the group who first walks out stunned me upon their introduction!
I had been on them for a good year (CDs, concert DVDs, etc), and here they come, now, to honor Brian! They're introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen.......Libera!" I literally yell at the screen: "WHAT?!?" as loud as I've yelled inside my own apartment! My favorite group of the moment is there to serenade my hero?!? Am I in heaven?" (I might've thought so, when you see what they were wearing!): https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-6-the-beach-boy-and
Thanks again for your memories, Mark! I'm glad you're here! Enjoy the above...a couple of my flashbulbs this century!
Wow, a lot to talk about here! First, thanks for sharing both those flashbulbs and the related articles. I’ve been on Substack for less than a month and am having a hard enough time staying on top of current articles (too many subscriptions?!) let alone digging into the archives of some of my favorite publications. Just went back and read both those articles and enjoyed them. Wasn't sure whether to comment on the older posts themselves or here. But here I am.
On Daft Punk, I’d absolutely loved their 1997 debut Homework and, to a lesser extent, their 2001 follow-up. Their video for Around the World (YT link: https://youtu.be/K0HSD_i2DvA) is one of my favorites with its bizarre array of characters moving in time with the music. After 2001's Homework I didn't really follow their music for a decade plus until RAM exploded on the scene. Intuitively I think back on that album as the clear #1 of 2013. But when I looked back at my top 50 list from that year (the first year I started compiling my own lists), I see them ranked at number 5 with a couple albums above them that in hindsight seem rather questionable.
As an aside, it's interesting to me how much a list of top albums is centered on time and place. Looking back over the last decade of compiling these lists, it's amazing how poorly some of my top albums stand the test of time. I'm planning to write about this phenomenon at some point (hoping to start my own Substack soon).
Long story short, and back to the topic at hand, in hindsight Random Access Memories probably does stand as my top album of 2013. It's a shame that Daft Punk may be no more, but I imagine (hope?) we'll continue to hear their direct and indirect influences on music going forward (certainly Bangalter's fingerprints were all over Stardust's 1998 "Music Sounds Better with You": https://youtu.be/FQlAEiCb8m0)
On Brian Wilson, despite "God Only Knows" being my favorite song of all time, I was never a huge follower of the Beach Boys' music and never listened to any of his solo work. Although I do have a hazy memory of hearing what I thought at the time was one of the cheesiest songs ever written, "Night Time", which as it turns out is from that self-titled album. I haven't gone back and listened to the track but I do know that I can't necessarily rely on the musical taste of my alcohol and drug-addled 17 year old self.
As it relates to the Kennedy Center Honors, they really have manufactured some magical moments (Heart's Stairway to Heaven and Aretha Franklin's tribute to Carole King come to mind).
Thanks for all this, Mark! Yes, feel free to leave comments on the page of any given article, regardless of how old. I'll get the e-mail notification, and readers can see the comment on the appropriate article's comment section. But, it's all good, yo!
I look forward to your Substack entry! Make sure you alert Notes when your first article drops, so everyone can see and read (and sub)! It WILL be interesting to see if/when the Daft Punk duo (alone or together) does something new at any point.
As for BBs catalog, definitely a mixed bag ("God Only Knows" JUST popped up on the Panera Bread speaker! This is where I come to write, the PB in N. Austin)! My fave period is what I call their "middle" (of three...'60s surf hits, "Holland/Surf's Up" era...the best, IMO, and the Brian-less traveling oldies show led by Mike Love (late '70s to present). Plus, knowing (as I do) Brian's (bless his heart) troubles over the decades, from childhood emotional/physical abuse by Murry the dad to ego/bullying by Love, late '60s to Dr. Landy/drugs, etc in the '70s...oy. God bless Melinda! Watching theatrical film, "Love and Mercy" (on DVD or stream) from about a decade ago will help.
Here's "'Til I Die" and "Surf's Up" from "Surf's Up" album, 1971. They end that album, and I've always considered them as a matched pair, although they're separate songs. The former is one that Brian calls his most personal lyric, and the lyrics from Van Dyke Parks (a fabulous eccentric who's also recorded his own albums) on the latter are purposely oblique and obtuse! But, incredible chord structures and melodies from Brian.....these two always make me cry, but much of that comes simply from first hearing them at 16 (upon release), and knowing Brian's sweet soul and gentle heart thru his music and knowing his history throughout the decades. "'Til I Die": https://open.spotify.com/track/2Uup75DRkJ03P91XyITXGC?si=0e02a3f741574306
And, I feel like the magician telling how he did the trick: I've not heard ANY of their albums, Chris! Obviously, I've been aware of this one song, although before I ran into Mark and began hearing more about and from Jack, I had heard "7NA" incessantly, without ever knowing the who and the what! Just that riff! I'd be watching sports highlights on TV, the crowd would break into it, and I'd go, "Huh! I know that riff they're all chanting! Wonder what it is! Oh, well......more chips?"
I know they've had a couple/few other hits (I recognized their titles in research), but it's great to finally hear more from a genuinely talented bloke. Plus, it's freeing to finally "out" myself as a previously-Stripe-ignorant music lover! I could've masqueraded as a longtime White Stripes fan, but homey don't play dat....my readers know me better than that, not to mention my friends!
But, now I'm out and proud as a flamin' flag-waving Stripes lover (certainly appreciator....a few more listens will make me a fan!), and from this day forward, I will never think Jack White was the buffoonish comic actor who hilariously starred in "School of Rock"!!!
Plus, my favorite find of the article is at the bottom....as a former baseball card and autograph collector, that signed Jack card had my eyes popping out over anything else! In fact, this article had a couple different directions it could've gone....Jack is intensely involved in sports from several angles (see my comment elsewhere), and that's def an article for another time! But, I also wanted to squeeze what I could from "7NA," mainly because of its emergence as a sports anthem!!
You are always thorough, but when you tackle an artist or band with whom you don't have a deep history, you go above and beyond, such as with this Inside Track! I also dig the unexpected images and links, like the Elephant 45 and the Coffee and Cigarettes clip. I saw that film (eons ago) and forgot they were in it!
I thought it was funny how drastically Rolling Stone changed the "Seven Nation Army" ranking in their "greatest songs" list a decade later. I suppose time makes the heart grow fonder?
And you've gone and given me a new earworm too! Dang it!
Earworm? I know....that lullaby cover, amIright? Well, thank you, Steve! I kind of started liking Jack "backwards".....discovering his post-Stripes career first, then appreciating what all got him to that point! And, Mark plying me with tidbits, free Third Man magazines, and telling me of his Austin afternoons spent with Jack's wife and chilluns (Jack often visits, especially around SXSW time, before for prep, and during).
Plus, Jack's attitude toward the song, after a couple decades, is refreshingly human, and a reaction I feel we "average folks" would have had if we had written a song that spread to different arenas (literally) the universe over, and being appropriately gobsmacked!
I just listened to the Playlist in its entirety for the first time, and it became amazingly clear how creative most of the artists were in performing usually a new and different way to present a song I generally thought could only be done ONE way...the way we already know it! Plus, a couple actually rose to the top of being early faves (although I can't recall...I'd need another listen).....any hit your "sweet spot" at all?
One of my favorite things about your newsletter, Brad, is that you introduce me to a lot of music I've overlooked in my life. But today, you are right in my wheelhouse. I'm a massive White Stripes/Jack White fan. I got to see them live a few times. The first time was at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS when they were touring to support Elephant, the only time I've ever been in the literal front row of any concert in my life, and perhaps not coincidentally, the best concert experience of my life. Jack White actually threw his guitar pick to my friend at the end of the set, but of course, he dropped it, and in the melee that ensued, someone else came away with it. The second time I saw them at Starlight Theatre in KC, MO during the Get Behind Me Satan tour, wasn't quite as intimate but was still an all-time great show.
Seven Nation Army is a truly great song on a truly great album, but I have mixed feelings about the way it blew up. I've been a fan of the Stripes since before they achieved mainstream success, and like a lot of people in that situation, I've always felt a little territorial about them. It's a weird paradox when you find a gem like that- on the one hand, you want it to have bigger success. You want the artist behind it to thrive and get to produce more music (or whatever the art form may be), you want more stuff like it from other artists (possibly including yourself) to find a bigger audience, and in a world where mediocrity often reigns, you want the collective taste of the world to get just a little better. But on the other hand, when you and your friends find something special, it makes it just a little bit less so when everyone else embraces it. So while I think it's cool that the song has found such a far reach, it's always a little strange to me when I see a whole stadium of football fans (many of whom probably have no idea who Jack White is or who have never heard another White Stripes song in their lives) chanting along to it. On the whole, I still think it's cool, though I do believe some stadiums/arenas/teams completely overdo it. Regardless of how ingrained it's become in their culture, I would like to remind whoever controls the music at Miami Heat games (for example) that there are other songs besides Seven Nation Army that you can use to amp people up.
All that said, anything that gets Jack White's music into more people's ears is a good thing. To me, he's just one of those innately cool people (something I will never be), in addition to being a great songwriter. And he loves baseball, which is obviously a big plus for me, even if he is a Tigers fan. Now, if Third Man Books will just agree to publish the novel I submitted to them a month or so ago, that would be the cherry on top. No matter how distant or vague the connection might be, you know I'd be telling everybody and their brother that Jack White and I are collaborating on a project!
Great to hear about your Stripes experiences, Patrick! That tossed guitar pick story is classic! Your territoriality-in-band-digging is classic, too, and I'm sure felt, at times, by most of us! One of my favorites was from the late '80s, and is here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1989-it-bites-eat-me
As I mentioned elsewhere here (with little fandom of the Stripes, having never heard their music, except "7NA" and a couple other hits), I was familiar with the sports-chanting of "7NA," but had no other reference point as to what/who/when! But, I can see how it might get tiring being overused....I'm sure I'd have a short fuse if, at many ballgames, the 6-note riff to Tull's "Aqualung" was played ad infinitum!
P.S. Don't discount or pooh-pooh your cool quotient, Patrick! You, Jack, and I are three of the few, I'm guessing, who love both music and baseball with equal passion! I thought of you (and a couple other 'Stack baseball/Astros writers!) when I dropped the signed Jack card in the article! That was like my Carol Burnett secret ear tug to the special few!
Good luck on your novel....I wish I could tell you I had an "in" with him/them to any degree to give 'em a push, but alas, I'M not that cool!!! I'm glad you dug this, though, on a musical level, as well!🎶🎶👍
Oh Brad, thanks for taking me back! The White Stripes are a dream memory for me because they represent my art school college days and then my first years in Los Angeles (my first move to a big city!) I went to a LOT of White Stripes concerts (and his other project with Brendan Benson, The Raconteurs) in LA in the early 2000's. Jack White remains at the top of my list of live performers. The talent that oozes out of that guy is unreal. As an aside, I was always disappointed in the reductive music media coverage of Meg White as a drummer and creative partner. Mo Tucker from the Velvet Underground was treated in a similar way back in the day.
Thank Mark (Jack's A&R cat whom I mention at the end of the article)! I see Mark virtually daily, and have wanted to do a White Stripes/Jack article for a long time! But, as I wasn't really on the Stripes' music as it unfolded, I also didn't want my figurative nose to be pressed up against the equally-figurative glass!
And, as much as I've been hounding Mark to provide me with an exclusive Jack quote, news, info........ANYTHING, alas, I'm left to my own devices, and Jack's upcoming 48th seemed like the perfect time to pull the trigger on a Stripes piece!
I will say, as much as you dig Jack's music (and, well you should....and, frankly I've joined you, now!), please know he's become one of rock's leading proponents and "protectors"!
Plus, you may have caught Jack, recently, on an ep of "American Pickers," as the hosts helped Jack look for and secure a vintage mobile recording studio! I bet you can find clips or the coupla eps he was on....on YT or someplace!
In short, to my mind, Jack joins the likes of Paul, Ringo, Joe Elliott, and Dave Grohl as being, yes, fabulous musicians, but curators, if you will, and certainly protectors and loud, positive "singers" of rock, its history, and its preservation! As if you needed another reason to love Jack!
His role as a rock historian and preservationist is one of my favorite things about him. As a massive Prince fan, I fully appreciate that his team (at least as far as I’ve read) is working hard to resurrect Prince’s most famously scrapped album (Camille) back into the world. As a historian yourself, might I also recommend the documentary, “It Might Get Loud.” It’s literally a documentary where three rock gods (White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge) sit around and talk about music. It’s brilliant.
Mark has sent me the link, and encouraged me to see "It Might Get Loud," and I HAVE seen some clips. I'll have to ask Mark what he knows about "Camille" and its possible release.
Well, I'll see what I can do. We're not called FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE for nuthin'! But, Mark's pretty tenacious about his job and responsibilities...in that way (if you can dig football analogies), he's like a guard or offensive tackle: His job is to protect "the quarterback," and, he's been awfully good against my all-out blitz! Stay tuned!
This just in: As you probably know, Jack bought the test pressing at an auction for $50,000. The pressing schedule now has "Camille" release slated for sometime after Nov. 1. Jack is making certain the track order and all music is just as Prince had wanted and planned! Happy Monday!
Thank you for sharing Brad! This feels like a birthday gift that can’t be topped. I’ll have to cover the event because it is, as you might remember from my Prince article, the most exciting project he’s ever worked on from a gender perspective. I’ve studied this album for years. The alter-ego “Camille” was taken from a 19th century intersex person whose life was depicted in the writings of Foucalt. Prince embodies all of the genders in this character, which would’ve been revolutionary if he’d been allowed to release the album as it was intended. I’d be interested in getting The Advocate and OUT magazine involved (I freelance for them) as it would’ve been an historical moment for the LGBTIA community.
"A little"? Just the Playlist alone would seem to relegate you to "a lot" of White Stripes, Andrew! I know you'll enjoy, little or lot, and are you as surprised as I to learn there are well over 100 covers?😱Have fun!
Nice read, Brad!
I saw them at their 1st ever gig in London (pretty sure White Blood Cells had just come out). On the hottest day of summer, they were playing at the legendary 100 Club, situated in a basement off Oxford Street. Time Out magazine hyped them as exorcising the ghost of MC5 and The Stooges, and I needed to check it out for myself. The gig was sold out, and a scalper was trying to sell me a ticket for double the face value. I decided to play it cool and wait until after the opening band. Once the support band finished and people came out for a smoke, I offered the scalper face value, and he took it (I still have my ticket stub)! Oh man, it was hot, sweaty, and airless down there. The bar sold more water than beer that night, but holy shit...what a gig! Jack and Meg took the tiny stage about 3 feet away from me, decked out in all red with their peppermint swirl kick drum. They looked awesome, but I had no idea what I was about to experience. They completely eviscerated the place with their raw, punky, bluesy garage rock. After that gig, they got booked onto the UK festival circuit, and their popularity exploded.
Great story, Michael! T'hanks for sharing.......I remember reading about the 100 Club in the British tabs of the punk '70s! Jack's Stripes, I feel, would've fit right in to the '70s rock ethos, whether punk-adjacent, or just a solid classic rock/FM mainstay! Great stuff!
That was a great read!
I had no idea Jack White came up with that riff at a pub in Melbourne! That’s so cool.
Yep, while on tour! Sometimes, that's the best time to fiddle around with new riffs....during those down times! Glad you dug it, Michael!
Wow! What a great immersion in one great song.
Thanks, Sherman......glad you dig! If I'm gonna jump into the pool, I'm gonna make sure I get wet!!♒👍
The White Stripes, in particular, Jack White hold one of my musical flashbulb memories. I’d been kinda sleeping on them as a band, had heard of them, maybe listened to a bit of their music (maybe not). And then along comes the 2004 Grammy’s (back when I cared to watch).
I’m lying in bed watching the show, Beck announces the White Stripes, and they launch into Seven Nation Army. And then, two minutes in, time starts to stand still. Jack slams into the opening riff of Death Letter Blues. What on earth is happening here?!?
A minute later, I’m out of bed, a foot away from the TV, staring, wide-eyed and slack jawed, as Jack begins to absolutely shred with this frenetic, unhinged, almost supernatural power and energy. Absolutely legendary performance, I was blown away!!
That enduring memory will always be there for me when I think of Jack White. Right up there with some of my favorite live performances of all time. Thanks for the reminder of his greatness.
YT link: https://youtu.be/14rqlqFRu28
Can you say, "Career-defining moment"? Thanks, Mark, for adding that link. I know it will be enjoyed by far more than myself! My first reaction (you can read elsewhere, here, about my general unawareness of Jack's canon...just "7NA" and a couple other hits): He HAD to know what he was doing: "This is The Grammys...I'm gonna have a moment." I know nothing about his repertoire, and have no clue from whence "Death Letter Blues" comes.
But, he careened into it, and with klieg lights ablaze, tore the roof off da suckah! Would love to have heard the formation of that segue with him and "his people." Second: That guitar seemed to be the one (or like the one) on which he wrote "7NA." At least, from my research, it didn't appear to be a standard electric guitar, but the "semi-acoustic" I think I quoted in the article. And, yet, shred he must, making THAT guitar sound truly bitchin' (and, I'm not a guitar techie)!
Third: "7NA" is not yet a cultural icon. It's on its way, organically, and this couldn't have hurt it any on its ultimate journey! I'm guessing "7NA" was already a hit, and certainly radio listeners (and Napster denizens) were well familiar with it. Cool to see that song (with all we now know about it) still in its infancy, and the early example of Jack's (I'm gonna say it) musical genius in arranging, seeing a moment, and seizing a moment!
A Grammy flashbulb moment for me, Mark, if I may....exactly a decade later: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/the-multi-generational-genius-of
And, in case you haven't seen it yet, this, from the Kennedy Center Honors...I believe around the time of your Jack/Grammys show! It'll help to know that Brian Wilson is my spirit animal, and the group who first walks out stunned me upon their introduction!
I had been on them for a good year (CDs, concert DVDs, etc), and here they come, now, to honor Brian! They're introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen.......Libera!" I literally yell at the screen: "WHAT?!?" as loud as I've yelled inside my own apartment! My favorite group of the moment is there to serenade my hero?!? Am I in heaven?" (I might've thought so, when you see what they were wearing!): https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-6-the-beach-boy-and
Thanks again for your memories, Mark! I'm glad you're here! Enjoy the above...a couple of my flashbulbs this century!
Wow, a lot to talk about here! First, thanks for sharing both those flashbulbs and the related articles. I’ve been on Substack for less than a month and am having a hard enough time staying on top of current articles (too many subscriptions?!) let alone digging into the archives of some of my favorite publications. Just went back and read both those articles and enjoyed them. Wasn't sure whether to comment on the older posts themselves or here. But here I am.
On Daft Punk, I’d absolutely loved their 1997 debut Homework and, to a lesser extent, their 2001 follow-up. Their video for Around the World (YT link: https://youtu.be/K0HSD_i2DvA) is one of my favorites with its bizarre array of characters moving in time with the music. After 2001's Homework I didn't really follow their music for a decade plus until RAM exploded on the scene. Intuitively I think back on that album as the clear #1 of 2013. But when I looked back at my top 50 list from that year (the first year I started compiling my own lists), I see them ranked at number 5 with a couple albums above them that in hindsight seem rather questionable.
As an aside, it's interesting to me how much a list of top albums is centered on time and place. Looking back over the last decade of compiling these lists, it's amazing how poorly some of my top albums stand the test of time. I'm planning to write about this phenomenon at some point (hoping to start my own Substack soon).
Long story short, and back to the topic at hand, in hindsight Random Access Memories probably does stand as my top album of 2013. It's a shame that Daft Punk may be no more, but I imagine (hope?) we'll continue to hear their direct and indirect influences on music going forward (certainly Bangalter's fingerprints were all over Stardust's 1998 "Music Sounds Better with You": https://youtu.be/FQlAEiCb8m0)
On Brian Wilson, despite "God Only Knows" being my favorite song of all time, I was never a huge follower of the Beach Boys' music and never listened to any of his solo work. Although I do have a hazy memory of hearing what I thought at the time was one of the cheesiest songs ever written, "Night Time", which as it turns out is from that self-titled album. I haven't gone back and listened to the track but I do know that I can't necessarily rely on the musical taste of my alcohol and drug-addled 17 year old self.
As it relates to the Kennedy Center Honors, they really have manufactured some magical moments (Heart's Stairway to Heaven and Aretha Franklin's tribute to Carole King come to mind).
Thanks for all this, Mark! Yes, feel free to leave comments on the page of any given article, regardless of how old. I'll get the e-mail notification, and readers can see the comment on the appropriate article's comment section. But, it's all good, yo!
I look forward to your Substack entry! Make sure you alert Notes when your first article drops, so everyone can see and read (and sub)! It WILL be interesting to see if/when the Daft Punk duo (alone or together) does something new at any point.
As for BBs catalog, definitely a mixed bag ("God Only Knows" JUST popped up on the Panera Bread speaker! This is where I come to write, the PB in N. Austin)! My fave period is what I call their "middle" (of three...'60s surf hits, "Holland/Surf's Up" era...the best, IMO, and the Brian-less traveling oldies show led by Mike Love (late '70s to present). Plus, knowing (as I do) Brian's (bless his heart) troubles over the decades, from childhood emotional/physical abuse by Murry the dad to ego/bullying by Love, late '60s to Dr. Landy/drugs, etc in the '70s...oy. God bless Melinda! Watching theatrical film, "Love and Mercy" (on DVD or stream) from about a decade ago will help.
Here's "'Til I Die" and "Surf's Up" from "Surf's Up" album, 1971. They end that album, and I've always considered them as a matched pair, although they're separate songs. The former is one that Brian calls his most personal lyric, and the lyrics from Van Dyke Parks (a fabulous eccentric who's also recorded his own albums) on the latter are purposely oblique and obtuse! But, incredible chord structures and melodies from Brian.....these two always make me cry, but much of that comes simply from first hearing them at 16 (upon release), and knowing Brian's sweet soul and gentle heart thru his music and knowing his history throughout the decades. "'Til I Die": https://open.spotify.com/track/2Uup75DRkJ03P91XyITXGC?si=0e02a3f741574306
"Surf's Up": https://open.spotify.com/track/5YniFjdw9nU8jCzvWlVVQC?si=5179c2acbf9c4f9a
I feel like I’m one of the few who prefer most other white stripes albums to Elephant, even though I really love elephant
And, I feel like the magician telling how he did the trick: I've not heard ANY of their albums, Chris! Obviously, I've been aware of this one song, although before I ran into Mark and began hearing more about and from Jack, I had heard "7NA" incessantly, without ever knowing the who and the what! Just that riff! I'd be watching sports highlights on TV, the crowd would break into it, and I'd go, "Huh! I know that riff they're all chanting! Wonder what it is! Oh, well......more chips?"
I know they've had a couple/few other hits (I recognized their titles in research), but it's great to finally hear more from a genuinely talented bloke. Plus, it's freeing to finally "out" myself as a previously-Stripe-ignorant music lover! I could've masqueraded as a longtime White Stripes fan, but homey don't play dat....my readers know me better than that, not to mention my friends!
But, now I'm out and proud as a flamin' flag-waving Stripes lover (certainly appreciator....a few more listens will make me a fan!), and from this day forward, I will never think Jack White was the buffoonish comic actor who hilariously starred in "School of Rock"!!!
Plus, my favorite find of the article is at the bottom....as a former baseball card and autograph collector, that signed Jack card had my eyes popping out over anything else! In fact, this article had a couple different directions it could've gone....Jack is intensely involved in sports from several angles (see my comment elsewhere), and that's def an article for another time! But, I also wanted to squeeze what I could from "7NA," mainly because of its emergence as a sports anthem!!
You are always thorough, but when you tackle an artist or band with whom you don't have a deep history, you go above and beyond, such as with this Inside Track! I also dig the unexpected images and links, like the Elephant 45 and the Coffee and Cigarettes clip. I saw that film (eons ago) and forgot they were in it!
I thought it was funny how drastically Rolling Stone changed the "Seven Nation Army" ranking in their "greatest songs" list a decade later. I suppose time makes the heart grow fonder?
And you've gone and given me a new earworm too! Dang it!
Earworm? I know....that lullaby cover, amIright? Well, thank you, Steve! I kind of started liking Jack "backwards".....discovering his post-Stripes career first, then appreciating what all got him to that point! And, Mark plying me with tidbits, free Third Man magazines, and telling me of his Austin afternoons spent with Jack's wife and chilluns (Jack often visits, especially around SXSW time, before for prep, and during).
Plus, Jack's attitude toward the song, after a couple decades, is refreshingly human, and a reaction I feel we "average folks" would have had if we had written a song that spread to different arenas (literally) the universe over, and being appropriately gobsmacked!
I just listened to the Playlist in its entirety for the first time, and it became amazingly clear how creative most of the artists were in performing usually a new and different way to present a song I generally thought could only be done ONE way...the way we already know it! Plus, a couple actually rose to the top of being early faves (although I can't recall...I'd need another listen).....any hit your "sweet spot" at all?
One of my favorite things about your newsletter, Brad, is that you introduce me to a lot of music I've overlooked in my life. But today, you are right in my wheelhouse. I'm a massive White Stripes/Jack White fan. I got to see them live a few times. The first time was at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS when they were touring to support Elephant, the only time I've ever been in the literal front row of any concert in my life, and perhaps not coincidentally, the best concert experience of my life. Jack White actually threw his guitar pick to my friend at the end of the set, but of course, he dropped it, and in the melee that ensued, someone else came away with it. The second time I saw them at Starlight Theatre in KC, MO during the Get Behind Me Satan tour, wasn't quite as intimate but was still an all-time great show.
Seven Nation Army is a truly great song on a truly great album, but I have mixed feelings about the way it blew up. I've been a fan of the Stripes since before they achieved mainstream success, and like a lot of people in that situation, I've always felt a little territorial about them. It's a weird paradox when you find a gem like that- on the one hand, you want it to have bigger success. You want the artist behind it to thrive and get to produce more music (or whatever the art form may be), you want more stuff like it from other artists (possibly including yourself) to find a bigger audience, and in a world where mediocrity often reigns, you want the collective taste of the world to get just a little better. But on the other hand, when you and your friends find something special, it makes it just a little bit less so when everyone else embraces it. So while I think it's cool that the song has found such a far reach, it's always a little strange to me when I see a whole stadium of football fans (many of whom probably have no idea who Jack White is or who have never heard another White Stripes song in their lives) chanting along to it. On the whole, I still think it's cool, though I do believe some stadiums/arenas/teams completely overdo it. Regardless of how ingrained it's become in their culture, I would like to remind whoever controls the music at Miami Heat games (for example) that there are other songs besides Seven Nation Army that you can use to amp people up.
All that said, anything that gets Jack White's music into more people's ears is a good thing. To me, he's just one of those innately cool people (something I will never be), in addition to being a great songwriter. And he loves baseball, which is obviously a big plus for me, even if he is a Tigers fan. Now, if Third Man Books will just agree to publish the novel I submitted to them a month or so ago, that would be the cherry on top. No matter how distant or vague the connection might be, you know I'd be telling everybody and their brother that Jack White and I are collaborating on a project!
Great to hear about your Stripes experiences, Patrick! That tossed guitar pick story is classic! Your territoriality-in-band-digging is classic, too, and I'm sure felt, at times, by most of us! One of my favorites was from the late '80s, and is here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1989-it-bites-eat-me
As I mentioned elsewhere here (with little fandom of the Stripes, having never heard their music, except "7NA" and a couple other hits), I was familiar with the sports-chanting of "7NA," but had no other reference point as to what/who/when! But, I can see how it might get tiring being overused....I'm sure I'd have a short fuse if, at many ballgames, the 6-note riff to Tull's "Aqualung" was played ad infinitum!
P.S. Don't discount or pooh-pooh your cool quotient, Patrick! You, Jack, and I are three of the few, I'm guessing, who love both music and baseball with equal passion! I thought of you (and a couple other 'Stack baseball/Astros writers!) when I dropped the signed Jack card in the article! That was like my Carol Burnett secret ear tug to the special few!
Good luck on your novel....I wish I could tell you I had an "in" with him/them to any degree to give 'em a push, but alas, I'M not that cool!!! I'm glad you dug this, though, on a musical level, as well!🎶🎶👍
Oh Brad, thanks for taking me back! The White Stripes are a dream memory for me because they represent my art school college days and then my first years in Los Angeles (my first move to a big city!) I went to a LOT of White Stripes concerts (and his other project with Brendan Benson, The Raconteurs) in LA in the early 2000's. Jack White remains at the top of my list of live performers. The talent that oozes out of that guy is unreal. As an aside, I was always disappointed in the reductive music media coverage of Meg White as a drummer and creative partner. Mo Tucker from the Velvet Underground was treated in a similar way back in the day.
Thank Mark (Jack's A&R cat whom I mention at the end of the article)! I see Mark virtually daily, and have wanted to do a White Stripes/Jack article for a long time! But, as I wasn't really on the Stripes' music as it unfolded, I also didn't want my figurative nose to be pressed up against the equally-figurative glass!
And, as much as I've been hounding Mark to provide me with an exclusive Jack quote, news, info........ANYTHING, alas, I'm left to my own devices, and Jack's upcoming 48th seemed like the perfect time to pull the trigger on a Stripes piece!
I will say, as much as you dig Jack's music (and, well you should....and, frankly I've joined you, now!), please know he's become one of rock's leading proponents and "protectors"!
Along with his own label, he's diversified into owning record-pressing plants, plus he co-owns (with former MLB second-baseman, Ian Kinsler) Warstic Sporting Goods (https://warstic.com/blogs/news/jack-white-ian-kinsler-autographed-warstic-baseball-auction?_pos=1&_sid=84a139476&_ss=r), which he often uses as a fund-raising platform (auctioning off autographed bats'n'baseballs, say, for charities)!
Plus, you may have caught Jack, recently, on an ep of "American Pickers," as the hosts helped Jack look for and secure a vintage mobile recording studio! I bet you can find clips or the coupla eps he was on....on YT or someplace!
In short, to my mind, Jack joins the likes of Paul, Ringo, Joe Elliott, and Dave Grohl as being, yes, fabulous musicians, but curators, if you will, and certainly protectors and loud, positive "singers" of rock, its history, and its preservation! As if you needed another reason to love Jack!
His role as a rock historian and preservationist is one of my favorite things about him. As a massive Prince fan, I fully appreciate that his team (at least as far as I’ve read) is working hard to resurrect Prince’s most famously scrapped album (Camille) back into the world. As a historian yourself, might I also recommend the documentary, “It Might Get Loud.” It’s literally a documentary where three rock gods (White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge) sit around and talk about music. It’s brilliant.
Mark has sent me the link, and encouraged me to see "It Might Get Loud," and I HAVE seen some clips. I'll have to ask Mark what he knows about "Camille" and its possible release.
Oooh, I’d love to have the insider info. How fun!
Well, I'll see what I can do. We're not called FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE for nuthin'! But, Mark's pretty tenacious about his job and responsibilities...in that way (if you can dig football analogies), he's like a guard or offensive tackle: His job is to protect "the quarterback," and, he's been awfully good against my all-out blitz! Stay tuned!
This just in: As you probably know, Jack bought the test pressing at an auction for $50,000. The pressing schedule now has "Camille" release slated for sometime after Nov. 1. Jack is making certain the track order and all music is just as Prince had wanted and planned! Happy Monday!
Thank you for sharing Brad! This feels like a birthday gift that can’t be topped. I’ll have to cover the event because it is, as you might remember from my Prince article, the most exciting project he’s ever worked on from a gender perspective. I’ve studied this album for years. The alter-ego “Camille” was taken from a 19th century intersex person whose life was depicted in the writings of Foucalt. Prince embodies all of the genders in this character, which would’ve been revolutionary if he’d been allowed to release the album as it was intended. I’d be interested in getting The Advocate and OUT magazine involved (I freelance for them) as it would’ve been an historical moment for the LGBTIA community.
Here’s my Prince article from April for more backstory on the Camille album. https://songsthatsavedyourlife.substack.com/p/no-4-if-i-was-your-girlfriend-prince
Neat! I'm gonna listen to a little White Stripes today.
"A little"? Just the Playlist alone would seem to relegate you to "a lot" of White Stripes, Andrew! I know you'll enjoy, little or lot, and are you as surprised as I to learn there are well over 100 covers?😱Have fun!
I know their St James Infirmary Blues cover! That's one of my favorite songs (not their version, but the basic structure/repeatability of the song).
Listening to their debut at the moment. Thanks for the inspirato!