Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 [LP]

by Jack White

Overview

Natural-born archivist that he is, it is no surprise that Jack White would eventually choose to curate his own career. Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 is his first attempt at offering an alternative narrative of his own career, one that places his quieter side as the connecting thread running from the White Stripes through the Raconteurs to his solo work. It's a tactic that diminishes some of the conventional notions about White, particularly that most of his music is grounded in the blues. Despite Greil Marcus' mention of blues icon Son House in the liner notes, most of the music on Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 bears stronger ties to country and folk, even British Invasion pop; the latter is evident not only on the singsong whimsy of "We're Going to Be Friends" but the cinematic melancholy of "Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)." Neither version here is heard in an alternate version, underscoring how this spin on White's work isn't revisionist, it highlights what was already there, yet there are rarities scattered throughout the collection: remixes of the early Stripes tracks "Apple Blossom" and "I'm Bound to Pack It Up," alternate acoustic mixes of solo material from the 2010s, bluegrass versions of "Top Yourself" and "Carolina Drama," a song from the Raconteurs. What first grabs the attention are assorted White Stripes rarities -- the wry, funny Beck-produced B-side "Honey, We Can't Afford to Look This Cheap," the recently completed outtake "City Lights" -- and a stripped-down revision of "Love Is the Truth," a song White wrote for Coca-Cola in 2006, but what impresses is the consistency. Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 not only is a strong set of songs but it makes it plain that White has been mining the same territory, finding something new within it for nearly two decades. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/09/2016
Label:	Sony Music / Third Man Records
UPC:	0889853660117
Rank:	52928

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Sugar Never Tasted So Good
2. Apple Blossom [Remixed]
3. I'm Bound to Pack It Up [Remixed]
4. Hotel Yorba
5. We're Going to Be Friends
6. You've Got Her in Your Pocket
7. Well It's True That We Love One Another
8. Never Far Away
9. Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)
10. White Moon
11. As Ugly as I Seem
12. City Lights [Previously Unreleased]
13. Honey, We Can't Afford to Look This Cheap
14. Effect and Cause

Disc 2

15. Love Is the Truth [Acoustic Mix]
16. Top Yourself [Bluegrass Version]
17. Carolina Drama [Acoustic Mix]
18. Love Interruption
19. On and On and On
20. Machine Gun Silhouette [Acoustic Mix]
21. Blunderbuss
22. Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy [Alternate Mix]
23. I Guess I Should Go to Sleep [Alternate Mix]
24. Just One Drink [Acoustic Mix]
25. Entitlement
26. Want and Able

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jack White   Primary Artist,Drums,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Marimba,Bass (Upright),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
The Raconteurs   Primary Artist
The White Stripes   Primary Artist
Catherine Popper   Bass
Beck   Slide Guitar
Patrick Keeler   Drums
Nancy Blake   Cello
Norman Blake   Mandolin
Jack Lawrence   Bass,Banjo,Bass (Upright),Vocals (Background)
Brendan Benson   Guitar,Vocals,Mandolin,Vocals (Background)
Ruby Amanfu   Vocals (Background)
Meg White   Drums,Bongos,Shaker,Vocals,Floor Tom,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Karen Elson   Vocals (Background)
Timbre Cierpke   Harp
Fats Kaplin   Fiddle,Mandolin,Pedal Steel
Carla Azar   Drums
Dirk Powell   Banjo,Fiddle
Holly Golightly   Vocals
Bryn Davies   Bass (Upright)
Lillie Mae Rische   Fiddle
Joshua V. Smith   Vocals (Background)
Dominic Davis   Bass (Upright)
Ben Blackwell   Drums
David Swanson   Shaker
Cory Younts   Mandolin,Vocals (Background)
Pokey LaFarge   Mandolin,Vocals (Background)
Brooke Waggoner   Piano
Laura Matula   Vocals (Background)
Adam Hoskins   Guitar (Acoustic)
Joey Glynn   Bass (Upright)
Kate Elson   Vocals (Background)
Olivia Jean   Drums
Maggie Bjoerklund   Guitar (Acoustic)
Emily Bowland   Clarinet,Clarinet (Bass)
Ryan Koenig   Vocals (Background)
Ikey Owens   Piano
Master Combs   Percussion
Oliva Jean   Guitar (Acoustic)
Paul Henry Ossy   Violin

Technical Credits

Beck   Producer
Jack White   Design,Composer,Producer,Art Direction
Brendan Benson   Composer,Producer
Andrew Mendelson   Remastering
T-Bone Burnett   Producer
Rob Jones   Composer
Greil Marcus   Liner Notes
Jo McCaughey   Cover Photo
David Swanson   Photography
Nathanio Strimpopulos   Design,Art Direction
Molly Moormeier   Photo Booklet