The White Stripes (album)
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The White Stripes is the debut studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, released in June 1999 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. It was produced by lead vocalist and guitarist Jack White and Jim Diamond. Musically, The White Stripes features elements of blues, punk, country and arena rock. It includes three cover songs and is dedicated to blues musician Son House.
Distribution of The White Stripes was limited as Sympathy was an independent label, and it failed to chart in the United States. "The Big Three Killed My Baby" was released as the only single and promotional effort. The album was rereleased in the UK and the US by XL and V2 respectively, and in 2013 was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. It received generally positive from critics, and Jack deemed it his favorite of the band's six albums.
Background and recording
The White Stripes formed in 1997 and began performing as part of the underground Michigan rock scene, releasing two singles over the next year. In 1999, they signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and recorded The White Stripes over a week with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders and Third Man Studios in Detroit, Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="linernotes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> The band covered "St. James Infirmary Blues" after being introduced to the song from a Betty Boop cartoon.<ref name="joolssolo">Series 40, episode 2, Later...with Jools Holland. Series 40. Episode 2. April 24, 2012</ref>
Music
Johnny Walker of the Soledad Brothers played slide guitar on two songs: "Suzy Lee" and "I Fought Piranhas". Walker is credited with having taught Jack how to play slide, a technique featured heavily on the White Stripes' first two albums. 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."<ref>Soledad Brothers: Band History Template:Webarchive Soundclick, (accessed June 20, 2008).</ref>
The White Stripes is a blues rock, punk rock, country rock, and arena rock album.<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref> It is dedicated to the blues musician Son House, who is an inspiration of Jack.
Outtakes
Outtakes for the album include "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground", "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me", "Let's Build a Home", and a cover of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book";<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> later, the second and third of these songs would be included on De Stijl (2000), and the first would be included on White Blood Cells (2001).
Critical reception
Template:Album reviews The White Stripes received generally positive reviews but only gained local attention on release. Norene Cashen of The Metro Times said the LP "serves better to remind us that [Detroit's] local identity has more options than a membership card to the latest cliché...or a one-way ticket to the coast."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Much of the media feedback came two or three years after its initial release, following the duo's fame spreading beyond Detroit. It has sold 300,000 copies in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
BBC DJ John Peel first spotted the album in a record shop and said, "I just liked the look of it and I looked at the titles – you develop an instinct, d'you know what I mean? And it looked like the sort of record I would like, so I took it out and I did like it, and started playing it."<ref name="bbcwslp">White Stripes, BBC.co.uk. Retrieved October 24, 2014.</ref> His endorsement was key in heightening the band's popularity in the UK.<ref name="bbcwslp" />
Chris Handyman of 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."<ref name=":0" />
Of the album, Jack said in 2003, "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."<ref>Fox, Darrin, "White Heat", Guitar Player, June 2003, p. 66</ref>
Track listing
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Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name=liner>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
The White Stripes
- Jack White – vocals, guitar, piano, production
- Meg White – drums
Additional personnel
- Johnny Walker – second slide guitar (tracks 4 and 17)
- Jim Diamond – co-production, engineering
- Ballistic – cover
- Ko Melina Zydeko – photography
- Heather White – photography
Charts
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (Official Charts Company)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 142 |
Certifications
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Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | June 15, 1999 | Sympathy for the Record Industry | LP album | SFTRI 577 |
| Compact Disc | SFTRI 577 | |||
| United Kingdom | November 26, 2001 | XL Recordings | Compact Disc | XLCD 149 |
| LP album | XLLP 149 | |||
| United States | June 11, 2002 | V2 Records | Compact Disc | 63881-27131-2 |
| Japan | March 19, 2003 | V2 Records Japan | Compact Disc | V2CP 148 |
| United States | November 30, 2010 | Third Man Records | LP album | TMR-042 |