The White Stripes is the debut studio album by American alternative rock duo The White Stripes, released on June 15, 1999. The album was produced by Jim Diamond and vocalist/guitarist Jack White, recorded in January 1999 at Ghetto Recorders and Third Man Studios in Detroit. White dedicated the album to deceased blues musician Son House.
Contents[]
[hide] *1 Recording and production
Recording and production[edit][]
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 White 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."[2]
Critical reception[edit][]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.3/10[3] |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [4] |
Allmusic said of the album:[1]
"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 thefretwork 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."
Track listing[edit][]
All songs written and composed by Jack White, except where noted [5].
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jimmy the Exploder" | 2:29 | |
| 2. | "Stop Breaking Down" (originally written/composed and performed by Robert Johnson) | 2:20 | |
| 3. | "The Big Three Killed My Baby" | 2:29 | |
| 4. | "Suzy Lee" | 3:21 | |
| 5. | "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" | 2:54 | |
| 6. | "Wasting My Time" | 2:13 | |
| 7. | "Cannon" (Influenced by Son House (See: John the Revelator)) | 2:30 | |
| 8. | "Astro" | 2:42 | |
| 9. | "Broken Bricks" (The White Stripes, Stephen Gillis) | 1:51 | |
| 10. | "When I Hear My Name" | 1:54 | |
| 11. | "Do" | 3:05 | |
| 12. | "Screwdriver" | 3:14 | |
| 13. | "One More Cup of Coffee" (originally written/composed and performed by Bob Dylan) | 3:13 | |
| 14. | "Little People" | 2:22 | |
| 15. | "Slicker Drips" | 1:30 | |
| 16. | "St. James Infirmary Blues" (Traditional) | 2:24 | |
| 17. | "I Fought Piranhas" | 3:07 |
| Japanese edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 18. | "Let's Shake Hands" | 2:01 | ||||||||
| 19. | "Lafayette Blues" | 2:15 | ||||||||
Personnel[edit][]
- The White Stripes
- Jack White – vocals, guitar, piano, production
- Meg White – drums
- Additional personnel
- Johnny Walker – 2nd slide guitar on "Suzy Lee" and "I Fought Piranhas"
- Jim Diamond – production, engineering
- Ko Melina Zydeko – photography
- Heather White – photography
Release history[edit][]
| 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 |