Pop & Hiss

The L.A. Times music blog

Category: White Stripes

Five great White Stripes covers: Dylan, Beefheart, Son House and more

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The White Stripes announced their break up Wednesday, triggering the (St. James Infirmary) Blues among Internet comment sections, your cool uncle and lovers of primary color schemes and electric guitar everywhere. For purposes of posterity, self-aggrandizement and potentially alienating my editors, this writer's eulogy can be found here.

1,200 words can't sum up the impact and influence of Jack and Meg White. In a rock era in which commercial and critical fortunes are starkly divergent, the Stripes were the rare adhesive. They were outliers capable of earning airplay on KROQ, MTV and NPR. Maybe the only band under 35 capable of getting play on classic rock radio. KIIS-FM probably even spun "Seven Nation Army" a few times. 

One of the best measures of a band's versatility is its ability to perform cover songs. With the exception of My Morning Jacket, none of the White Stripes' peers could match their necromantic art of reanimation. In the process, the band exposed a generation to the old masters. In the interest of celebrating the band's stellar run, here are five of the White Stripes' finest renditions.

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Hymn for Her duo relies on cigar box guitars, Airstream trailer and vintage slides

Hymn For Her-Jeff Fusco 
There’s a raw, almost primitive electricity that sizzles off “Lucy & Wayne and the Amairican Stream,” the new album from Philadelphia duo Hymn for Her.  The husband-wife team, who use the stage names Wayne Waxing and Lucy Tight, have drawn comparisons to the White Stripes for their powerfully stripped-down sound, but there’s a more rural, old-school feeling to the music they create together.

A big part of their sound comes from the three-string cigar-box guitar that Lucy plays, a throwback to the kind of instrument many old blues players built for themselves because they couldn’t afford a bona fide guitar.

Hymn for Her will have it along when the duo reach Southern California on their current tour for stops Friday at Molly Malone’s in Los Angeles and the Viento y Agua coffeehouse in Long Beach.  Tight explained by phone on the way to a show earlier this week in Lubbock, Texas, that the instrument she’s come to adore came to her through a chain of events worthy of a “Twilight Zone”-meets-“Jackass” episode.

Previously, she and Waxing played in a trio called the MPE band with a third musician known as EJ. While staying in Memphis with their friend, cigar box guitar make Johnny Lowe, EJ was helping clean up his property after a big storm ripped through the area when a chainsaw he was using to clear some downed trees bucked and struck him in the head. Lowe gave the group one of his Lowebow guitars as an apology gift. After leaving it in a closet for several months, unsure what to do with it, she and Waxing decided it was worth exploring.

(For the Record: An earlier version of this post stated that the chainsaw accident put EJ out of commission as a musician. He suffered minor injuries but remains active in his music career.)

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White Stripes take issue with Air Force Reserve commercial

WHITE_STRIPES_LAT

The Who were far from the only rock band to take part in Super Bowl Sunday. Acts such as the Arcade Fire and Grizzly Bear were featured in advertisements debuting during the big game. Caught by surprise, however, were the White Stripes, who say an instrumental track used in an ad for the Air Force Reserve closely resembles their hit "Fell in Love With a Girl."

The White Stripes have posted a statement on their website and embedded videos of "Fell in Love With a Girl" and the ad, the latter of which is no longer readily available. 

"We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of the White Stripes, our publishers, label or management," reads the all-CAPS statement (screen shot below) from the duo of Jack White and Meg James. "The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserves presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support." 

Calls to Blaine Warren Advertising were directed to a press office for the Air Force Reserve. A spokeswoman for the latter stated that the 30-second television spot was created solely for the Super Bowl, and that it was no longer airing. The Air Force Reserve issued the following statement: 

"In response to the claims being made today regarding the Air Force Reserve regional ad that aired in select markets during the Super Bowl; The Air Force Reserve, through its advertising agency, hired Fast Forward Music of Salt Lake City to score original music for its commercial. There was never any intention to utilize any existing music, or to sound like any music by the band White Stripes or any other musical performer. Any similarity or likeness to any other music is completely unintentional."

Though the band stated that it does not support current military endeavors, it did express support for American troops. "We simply don't want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict," reads the statement. Read the White Stripes' full comments below, a screen shot taken directly from the band's site:

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'It Might Get Loud' director Davis Guggenheim stands behind digital distribution

ITMIGHTGETLOUD
 
Director Davis Guggenheim tracked three generations of guitar virtuosos in his "It Might Get Loud," focusing on the philosophies behind the sounds of Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. Sound in the film is paramount.

Yet when "It Might Get Loud" is released on home video, it won't be with a giant Blu-ray or HD push that advertises the latest in high fidelity. Instead, the film will be distributed digitally by Apple's iTunes store, which will sell "It Might Get Loud" exclusively from Dec. 8 through Dec. 22.

"I used to think that the quality of downloading music on iTunes was a barrier for me," Guggenheim said. "I just didn’t think it would be good enough. But in the last year, I’ve put 75 movies on my laptop … There are some movies you need to see in a theater or see on Blu-ray. I think for some fans that’s important. I think some people will need to see this on Blu-ray, but some will need to see it on a Tuesday night at 11 p.m. on iTunes. I don’t think it’s an either/or thing." 

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Jack White's Third Man Records to pop up in L.A.

For those who can’t schlep to Nashville to rummage through the recordings  that Jack White has been putting out since opening his Third Man Records studio and store in the country music capital in March, he’s Jack_white_getty__ arranging a brief opportunity to shop here in L.A.

Third Man will set up a pop-up store for three days, starting Wednesday, near 4th and Main streets downtown.  The shop, to be called Third Man Records and Novelties West, will be stocked with copies of the Dead Weather’s debut album, “Horehound,” as well as releases from the White Stripes, the Raconteurs and other acts that have recorded for the nascent label. There'll be T-shirts and other merchandise as well.

The pop-up store will be at 448 S. Main St., and it'll be open Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.,  and Thursday and Friday from noon to 8 p.m. Given that the store will turn up while the Dead Weather is in town for a few performances -- Tuesday at the Wiltern, Wednesday at the Mayan and Friday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" -- fans might reasonably be on guard for a drop-in by White or any of his three new band mates: singer Alison Mosshart, guitarist Dean Fertita or bassist Jack Lawrence.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Jack White. Credit: Getty Images


White Stripes documentary coming this fall

Whitestripes

While Jack White is running the road in support of his latest indie supergroup the Dead Weather, it was announced Tuesday that the band that originally catapulted him to fame, the White Stripes, will release a concert documentary in the fall.

Entitled “Under Great White Northern Lights,” the film follows the duo across Canada, where they went out of their way to play unconventional venues such as a city bus and a bowling alley (shades of the band’s long and storied history at the bowling alley-boasting Majestic Theater in their hometown of Detroit).

Directed by Emmett Malloy, "Under Great White Northern Lights" debuts at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 19. While there are no scheduled American screenings yet, the trailer and stills from the movie can be seen here.

White also appears in the guitar documentary "It Might Get Loud" with the Edge and Jimmy Page.

-- Scott T. Sterling

Credit: Dana Edelson / NBC


Dead Weather: Jack White's newest stripe

His new band, Dead Weather, plays a 20-minute set, sounding a lot like a stripped-down version of the White Stripes.

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Reporting from Nashville -- Jack White took the wraps off his new band here Wednesday night, launching phase three of his ever-evolving career with a 20-minute live performance by Dead Weather, fronted by the Kills singer Alison Mosshart, at the site of his new Third Man Records headquarters.

The private show, attended by about 150 invitees, took place in the downtown building that houses not only the label's offices but a performance space, a record store specializing in vinyl, a photo studio and a darkroom.

White, playing drums and singing with Mosshart, is joined in the new group by two of his Raconteurs bandmates, guitarist Dean Fertita (also from Queens of the Stone Age) and bassist Jack Lawrence.

During the four-song set, Mosshart writhed at the mike while Fertita and Lawrence provided the heavy blues-rock groove on sibling white single-cutaway Gretsch hollow body guitar and bass. Mosshart joined them with a matching white Bo Diddley cigar box guitar for "So Far From Your Weapon."

White took his place at the drums, the instrument on which he first learned to play music. He came out from behind his kit just once, duetting at the mike with Mosshart on "Weapon."

The band's debut album, "Horehound," is due in June, and the first single will be "Hang You From the Heavens," which Third Man is issuing on a 7-inch vinyl single as well as making it available for download.

Read more Dead Weather: Jack White's newest stripe

Photo: Jack White, right, with his new band, the Dead Weather. From left, Alison Mosshart, Jack Lawrence and Dean Fertita. Credit: Christopher Berkey / For The Times




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