The Raconteurs
What is a raconteur?
A person skilled at telling antidotes.
Jack White was big news. Whether the White Stripes leader produced a record for a Country legend (Loretta Lynn), punched out the Von Bondies frontman or got married, he generated press.
On the other hand, Brendan Benson had been recording longer than the Stripes but without nearly the notoriety.
He and White began working together in ‘04. Benson had the music but no lyrics for a song called “Steady, As She Goes.” So he asked White to help out. With the song finished, they continued working together. Here was Benson’s opportunity to reach a larger, much larger audience. Add a pair of Cincinnati garage Rockers, bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler and you have The Raconteurs. Their debut album “Broken Boy Soldiers” was issued in May of ‘06.
Steady As She Goes
Salute Your Solution
Having relocated to Nashville, The Raconteurs recorded their sophomore album. With little prior notice, they rolled out “Consolers Of The Lonely” containing “Salute Your Solution.”
“We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and then marketing and promoting it thereafter,” read a band statement.
With the tour in support of “Consolers Of The Lonely” completed it was time to take a break. But White, apparently never one to sit still – for too long, had a productive ’08. First, he wrote and recorded, with Alicia Keys, the theme for the James Bond flick Quantum Of Solace.
Unfortunately, it was not a wholly pleasant experience. White voiced his displeasure that the theme song got a less than impressive debut. “We are disappointed that you first heard the song in a co-promotion for Coke Zero, rather than in its entirety,” read a statement from White’s management.
White’s next film project, later in the year, was the documentary It Might Get Loud with fellow guitarists Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and The Edge (U2). The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and focused on the three guitarists and their instrument of choice.
Eventually, The Raconteurs regrouped. “Help Us Stranger,” recorded at Third Man Studio in Nashville, was their first effort in over decade. White and Benson wrote all but one track, a cover of Donovan’s “Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness).” The ’19 set featuring the title track, went to #1 on the Billboard 200 and the Rock Albums chart – a first for the band,
###.
