Jack White sat down with Dan Rather in 2014 for an episode of The Big Interview. The AXS TV series aired hour-long interviews with artists and celebrities discussing wide-ranging topics. White, for example, spoke about his decision to leave Detroit’s close-knit yet cynical creative scene after achieving global fame. He also discussed abstaining from substances and performed an impromptu cover of Hank Williams’ “Tennessee Border”.
An interesting tidbit from the decade-old interview came when Jack White revealed his favorite songs. His own music has stayed pretty stylistically faithful across several bands and solo work, prominently dabbling in rock, country, and blues. White’s guitar playing is instantly recognizable in both The White Stripes and his solo records, with a stronger blues influence in the latter. Some of the music he gravitated toward could be considered a bit surprising when he was able to narrow down his favorites.
Rather started by asking White some of his favorite songs ever, starting with country. “It’s got to be something by, like, probably Hank Williams, like ‘Cold, Cold Heart’,” White began after mulling over the difficult question.
“Or something from Loretta Lynn,” he added. “I would probably say ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man’,” he offered, before correcting himself. “No, no, for Loretta Lynn, I would say ‘Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ With Lovin’ On Your Mind’. Because that went so many different directions, it was the female side of our species finally speaking for themselves out loud. And it got by the censors, and it became a hit in the country world.”
Jack White Revealed His Favorite Songs and Discussed the Evolution of Rock
For his favorite rock song ever, Jack White admitted to the struggle. He came up with an answer quickly, nonetheless, but it turned out to be a full album, and he couldn’t exactly nail down one particular song.
“I really like The Stooges album [Funhouse],” he said. “It’s hard when you get into rock and roll because there’s the Little Richard songs and the Jerry Lewis songs and the Gene Vincent songs that are so important. And people don’t realize how important they are.”
White spoke sagely about the impact of rock and roll on modern music and how far back that influence goes. He noted both the “flashy” mainstream way rock “changed the world,” but also the “underground” influence of rock and roll. Most importantly, White brought it all back to its source, explaining how rock music developed and grew out of the American South. Hearing him share that knowledge is enlightening, considering his own musical style.
“Art doesn’t come from comfortable places,” he added. “Art always comes from pain and from struggle.”
After discussing rock ‘n’ roll’s history and evolution for a bit, Jack White revealed more of his favorite songs. His favorite blues song? “There’s a song that Blind Willie Johnson recorded, and it’s called ‘Dark Was the Night’,” he answered. The full title of this gospel song is “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”, released in 1928. “[It] contains no actual lyrics; it’s just playing slide guitar and basically moaning. It almost feels like a religious spiritual.”
He continued, “And it also feels like blues, and it also feels like, I can’t believe the record label at that time really allowed this to be released.” He noted that, without any lyrics, the song manages to start out beautifully before evolving into something “evil-sounding.”
“That’s very, very powerful,” he said, “and that’s very, very hard to do.”
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