The White Stripes is an American rock duo, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consists of songwriter Jack White (vocals, guitar and piano) and Meg White (drums and occasional vocals).
After releasing several singles and three albums within the Detroit independent music underground, The White Stripes rose to prominence in 2002, as part of the garage rock revival scene. Their successful albums White Blood Cells and Elephant drew them attention from a large variety of media outlets in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The White Stripes use a low-fidelity, do-it-yourself approach to writing and recording. Their music features a melding of punk and blues influences and a raw simplicity of composition, arrangement, and performance. The duo is also noted for their fashion and design aesthetic which features a simple color scheme of red, white, and black.
The White Stripes' discography consists of six studio albums, two extended plays (EP), one video album, 26 singles and fourteen music videos. The band has sold approximately 12 million albums worldwide, 2 million in the US alone, and their latest three albums have each won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
Jack White (born John Anthony Gillis) first played as a professional musician in the early 1990s, as a drummer for the Detroit cowpunk band Goober & The Peas. This led to work with various other bands, such as the garage punk band The Go (on their 1999 album Whatcha Doin'), for whom White played lead guitar, and Two-Star Tabernacle. Also, neighbor Brian Muldoon (later of The Muldoons) played drums with Jack White – still known then as Jack Gillis – and the duo informally called themselves Two Part Resin. Their post-breakup 7-inch single Makers of High Grade Suites, released in 2000 on Sympathy for the Record Industry, is credited to The Upholsterers.
Gillis married local bartender Megan Martha White on September 21, 1996. In unorthodox fashion, he took Meg White's surname. While the newly-christened Jack White continued to play in multiple bands, Meg White first began to learn to play the drums in 1997. In Jack White's words, "When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing. There was something in it that opened me up". The duo then became a band, calling themselves The White Stripes. They first performed publicly on July 14, 1997 at the Gold Dollar in Detroit.
The White Stripes began their career as part of the Michigan garage rock underground music scene, playing with local bands such as Bantam Rooster, The Dirtbombs, The Paybacks, Rocket 455, and The Henchmen, among others. The White Stripes were signed to Italy Records, a small and independent Detroit-based garage punk label, in 1998 by Dave Buick. Buick approached them at a bar and asked if they would like to record a single for the label. Jack White initially declined, but eventually reconsidered. Their debut single "Let's Shake Hands" was released in February 1998. Its first pressing was 1,000 copies on vinyl only. This was followed in October 1998 by the "Lafayette Blues" single. Again, 1,000 copies were released on vinyl only. A third single, "The Big Three Killed My Baby" on Sympathy for the Record Industry followed in March 1999.
During the early phase of their career, Jack and Meg White provided various descriptions of their relationship. In many early interviews Jack claimed that he and Meg were siblings, a claim which was widely believed and repeated despite rumors that they were, or had been, husband and wife. In 2001, proof of their 1996 marriage emerged, yet they continued to insist publicly that they were brother and sister. The couple were divorced in March of 2000 just before the band gained widespread attention.
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jack White claimed that this open secret was intended to keep the focus on the music rather than the couples' relationship:
When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, "Oh, I see . . ." When they're brother and sister, you go, "Oh, that's interesting." You care more about the music, not the relationship -- whether they're trying to save their relationship by being in a band.
The White Stripes' debut album, The White Stripes, was released on June 15, 1999 on the independent label Sympathy for the Record Industry.
The self-titled debut was produced by Jack White and engineered by Jim Diamond at his Ghetto Recorders studio in Detroit. The album was dedicated to the seminal, Detroit-area Delta blues musician, Son House—an artist who greatly influenced Jack White. The track "Cannon" from The White Stripes contains part of an a cappella version, as performed by House, of the traditional American gospel blues song "John the Revelator". The White Stripes also covered House's song "Death Letter" on their follow-up album De Stijl.
Looking back on their debut during a 2003 interview with Guitar Player, Jack White said, "I still feel we've never topped our first album. It's the most raw, the most powerful, and the most Detroit-sounding record we've made."
Allmusic said of the album:
"Jack White's voice is a singular, evocative combination of punk, metal, blues, and backwoods while his guitar work is grand and banging with just enough lyrical touches of slide and subtle solo work... Meg White balances out the fretwork and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming cymbal, bass drum, and snare... All D.I.Y. punk-country-blues-metal singer/songwriting duos should sound this good."
Johnny Walker of the Soledad Brothers played slide on two songs; and claims to having taught Jack White how to play slide guitar, a trademark of the band. Walker explains, "[Jack] had a four track in his living room and invited me to come by and do some recording. In return, I showed him how to play slide."
At the end of 1999, The White Stripes released "Hand Springs" as a 7" split single with fellow Detroit band The Dirtbombs on the B-side. 2,000 copies came free with the pinball fanzine Multiball. The record is currently—like the majority of vinyl records by The White Stripes—out of print and difficult to find.
The musical and stylistic elements of The White Stripes are grounded and rooted in blues and early punk.
Specifically, the band's most prominent influences include blues musicians such as Son House, Blind Willie McTell and Robert Johnson, garage rock bands such as The Gories and The Sonics, the Detroit proto-punk sound of bands like the MC5 and The Stooges, and the early Los Angeles punk band The Gun Club. Jack has stated on numerous occasions that the blues is the dominant influence on his songwriting and the roots of the band's music, stating that he feels it is so sacred that playing it does not do it justice. Of The Gun Club's music in particular, Jack White has said, "'Sex Beat', 'She's Like Heroin To Me', and 'For The Love Of Ivy'...why are these songs not taught in schools?"
Traditional country music such as Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn, rock bands like AC/DC and The Rolling Stones, rockabilly acts like the Flat Duo Jets and Gene Vincent, and folk music like Lead Belly and Bob Dylan have also influenced the band's sound. Meg White has said one of her all-time favorite musicians is Bob Dylan; Jack claims "I've got three fathers - my biological dad, God and Bob Dylan", and has performed live with him.
The White Stripes are notable for having only two musicians, limiting the instruments played live. Jack, the principal writer, has said this has not been a problem, and that he "always centered the band around the number three. Everything was vocals, guitar and drums or vocals, piano and drums." Early on, the band drew attention for their preference for antiquated recording equipment. With few exceptions, Jack White has shown a continued partiality towards amps and pedals from the 1960s. Jack uses a number of effects to create his sound, notably a Digitech whammy pedal to reach pitches that would be otherwise impossible with a regular guitar. For instance, without the pedal, "Seven Nation Army" would require a bass guitar and "Black Math" would be very difficult to play without a 29th fret (which does not exist on most guitars) on the highest string. When performing live, Jack White uses a 1964 JB Hutto Montgomery Airline, a Harmony Rocket, a 1970s Crestwood Astral II, and a 1950s Kay Hollowbody. Also, while playing live, White uses an MXR Micro-Amp, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi distortion/sustainer, and an Electro-Harmonix POG (a polyphonic octave generator). He also uses a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal. He plugs this setup into a 1970s Fender Twin Reverb, and two 100-Watt Sears Silvertone 6" x 10" combo amplifiers. In addition to standard guitar tuning, Jack White also uses several open tunings. He sometimes uses a DigiTech whammy pedal, which allows him to play at one octave lower than standard tuning. He uses this pedal to achieve the bass guitar imitation effects most notably heard on "Seven Nation Army" and "The Hardest Button to Button", as well as upshifted pitches and whammy effects for lead guitar parts.
White also plays other instruments such as a black F-Style Gibson mandolin, Rhodes bass keys, and a Steinway piano. Jack plays a custom-made red and white marimba on "The Nurse", "Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)" as well as on the non-album tracks "Who's A Big Baby" and "Top Special".
Meg White's minimalistic drumming style has been the subject of much debate over the course of the twelve years she has been playing. Meg has never taken a lesson. She plays Ludwig Drums with Paiste cymbals, and says her pre-show warm-up consists of "whiskey and Red Bull." Jack White downplays criticisms of her style, insisting:
"I never thought 'God, I wish Neil Peart was in this band.' It's kind of funny: When people critique hip hop, they're scared to open up, for fear of being called racist. But they're not scared to open up on female musicians, out of pure sexism. Meg is the best part of this band. It never would have worked with anybody else, because it would have been too complicated... It was my doorway to playing the blues."
Of her playing style, Meg White herself says:
"I appreciate other kinds of drummers who play differently, but it's not my style or what works for this band. I get [criticism] sometimes, and I go through periods where it really bothers me. But then I think about it, and I realize that this is what is really needed for this band. And I just try to have as much fun with it as possible ... I just know the way [Jack] plays so well at this point that I always know kind of what he's going to do. I can always sense where he's going with things just by the mood he's in or the attitude or how the song is going. Once in a while, he throws me for a loop, but I can usually keep him where I want him."
While Jack is the lead vocalist, Meg does sing lead vocals on four of the band's songs: "In the Cold, Cold Night" (from Elephant), "Passive Manipulation" (from Get Behind Me Satan), "Who's a Big Baby?" (released on the "Blue Orchid" single), and "St. Andrew (This Battle is in the Air)" (from Icky Thump). She also accompanies Jack on the songs "This Protector", and "I Can't Wait" from their album White Blood Cells, the song "Rag & Bone" from their album Icky Thump, and sings alongside Jack and Holly Golightly on the song "It's True That We Love One Another", from the album Elephant.
Several White Stripes recordings were completed rapidly. For example, Elephant was recorded in about two weeks in London's Toe Rag Studio. Their 2005 follow-up, Get Behind Me Satan, was likewise recorded in just two weeks.
For live shows, The White Stripes are known for Jack's employment of heavy distortion, as well as audio feedback and overdrive. The duo performs considerably more recklessly and unstructured live, never preparing set lists for their shows, believing that planning too closely would ruin the spontaneity of their performances.
Seven Nation Army
The Hardest Button To Button
Blue Orchid
Icky Thump
Ball and Biscuit
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
Screwdriver
