At 50, White knows what it takes to impact the musical landscape. From penning one of the most iconic rock songs of the past 30 years to seeing his stripped-back gear ethos echoed by prog titan Alex Lifeson, his influence on modern guitar culture is undeniable.
Yet he remains acutely aware of the trailblazers who came before him — and the groundbreaking work they laid down, providing the foundations on which multiple generations have built.
During a new interview with Dan Rather for AXS TV, White named the Stooges’ self-titled debut album as the greatest rock record ever made. It’s a record he discovered after dumpster diving in Detroit, a unique pastime for the then school boy, but it’s what he says afterwards that really stands out.
“It’s hard when you get into rock and roll because there’s the Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Gene Vincent songs that are so important,” he explains. “People don’t realize how important they are and how they just changed the world.
“They changed the world in a kind of flashy way, but also in an underground way where they’re being played in people’s bedrooms and in garages, and there are all these bands that learn from them and pass that on to their kids.”
And as Rather interjects, the rise of Little Richard, who once had Jimi Hendrix in his band, and company also helped soothe race relations in America.
“It’s so interesting historically, because all that music was generated and invented in the American South, which makes sense,” White replies. “There’s so much more tension here in the earlier part of the century, that it really makes sense that all this music could come out of that scenario.
“Because art doesn’t come from comfortable places; art always comes from pain and from struggle. So it makes sense, but what’s even greater is that the rest of the world likes that music, too.”
Indeed, the British blues explosion, which brought the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck to the fore wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the Black artists who came before them. And there are countless examples beyond it.
That prompts Rather to ask him what rock and roll, at its very core, is all about. It’s here that White distinguishes key differences between a guitarist who plays the blues and one who cranks an electric guitar to play rock.
“Attitude,” he replies. “Where the blues feels like it’s about the truth, rock and roll for me is about attitude, whether that’s destruction, rebellion or any of those kinds of words.
“When I see a rock and roll band, I don’t want to see them be comfortable onstage. I don’t want to see them be kind to their instruments. I want them to be completely wild and uncontrollable, and I want to witness that, almost like children’s temper tantrums. And that’s what the early days of rock and roll were.
“Every 10 years, the wildness comes out of rock and roll,” White continues. “It gets tapered down. After Little Richard and Elvis, it was instrumental surf bands and the Patti Pages. A lot of the Nashville sound got into more orchestral music from the dirtier sound of renegade country artists. Then we get tired of the polite version and we want it to be wild again.”
Speaking of wild things, last year, Jack White tapped up Eddie Van Halen’s go-to luthier for a crazy guitar design that combines electric guitar and bass strings.
That followed the release of a suite of signature Fender gear that blends “innovation with history,” with the Triplecaster in particular earning admirers such as Kirk Hammett and Brad Paisley.
