Happy 37th birthday to the man, Jack White III!!
My first memory of Jack White was seeing the video for The White Stripes' "Fell In Love With A Girl". All those Legos swirling red, white, and black all over the screen with that gritty guitar and Meg White's child-like drumming. It was sensory overload and I was enamored. My first live experience was at my first Coachella in 2003. The White Stripes played the main stage and somehow made the Empire Polo Fields feel like a 200 person capacity bar crammed with 50,000 audience members. I got to see them once again, after the tremendous Elephant came out, in my home town of Las Vegas. Jack walked on the stage, bit into a bright, red apple, tossed it into the voracious crowd, and hammered out "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground". His showmanship was beyond compare and still is.
Since then, Jack White has been in a number of crazy, successful bands (Raconteurs, Dead Weather), opened up his own label, Third Man Records, collaborated with artists ranging from Beck to Insane Clown Posse, and become a household name. He's a musician's musician with mainstream appeal, a tight-rope walk that barely anyone can pull off.
Jack does music for the right reason: because he has to!! It's his life. It's not blood that flows through his veins, but pure musical talent. I can't think of another performer besides maybe Prince or Beck that can pick up any instrument and play it like a master. I just want to be his friend one day and pick his brain, ha!!
In Jack White's honor, here's a song by Son House called "Grinnin' In Your Face". Jack has referenced this song in many interviews as his all time favorite tune. So here's to you, Jack White!! Many more birthdays and incredible music to come, I'm sure.
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