Jack White Does Cool Stuff, Like Set World Records For Records

posted in: Music News

Former White Stripes mastermind Jack White inspires a lot of mixed reactions. Love him or hate him – it’s usually one or the other, with few music fans abstaining. We think that means he’s doing something right. As he branched out of the White Stripes, White took on some challenges as an artist and businessman. Starting The Raconteurs with Brendan Benson was a bit of a surprise, sharing the spotlight with a co-frontman and making slightly more accessible pop music. As a producer, he brought focus on some interesting music, with The Black Belles and The Greenhornes, among others, and helped create a fresh new work from country legend Loretta Lynn with her Van Lear Rose album. His work as head of Third Man Records has also brought us some interesting projects, including a studio, record store on wheels, a legacy label that re-releases rare albums, a “novelties lounge,” which includes a recording booth, and, most recently, the world’s fastest-released record. NME tells it:

At 10am on Saturday (April 19), the singer took to the stage in the Blue Room of his studio to record a limited edition direct-to-acetate single. The room is the only live venue in the world where artists can record live shows straight to vinyl. The masters were then rushed over to United Record Pressing plant in Nashville, which began pressing the 45s before they were delivered back to hundreds of fans queuing outside Third Man, some of whom had queued all night to be there.

…Some 3 hours, 55 minutes and 21 seconds later, White returned in a black car flanked by the two men on motorbikes dressed as police officers to sell the first copy of the 7″ on the specially constructed stall outside the Third Man shop. 

Come on, that’s pretty cool.

More like this:
Backtracking Forward: Third Man Records
Jack White’s New Album Now Streaming On iTunes
The White Stripes: A Retrospective