Maps of Music

White Blood Cells (2001)

Where the lyrics of White Blood Cells take you, and where it was really made.

The cover was meant to satirize the music industry, but after the breakthrough it became an 'accidental prophetic thing.'

Key places

Memphis studio, February 2001 (2001)

Recording site Ardent Studios — The White Stripes recorded the album over three days at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee. The marker is set at city-center level, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Wall by the former Tiger Stadium (2001)

Album cover Tiger Stadium (former) — The cover photo was shot on a wall by the former Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The marker shows the stadium's building-level coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• White Blood Cells: third studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes
• Released 3 July 2001 by Sympathy for the Record Industry; reissued by V2 Records in 2002
• Produced by Jack White; the band's first work mastered in a studio
• Garage rock sound replaces the blues-inspired roots of earlier work
• Lyrics explore love, hope, betrayal, and paranoia
• Name and cover art reflect disillusionment with fame and the mainstream music industry

Background

• Released two albums between 1999 and 2000 while building a following in the Detroit music scene
• Jack and Meg White divorced in the interim, but Meg insisted they keep working together
• Before this album, the band had no interest in a major label, fearing loss of artistic freedom
• Left Sympathy for the Record Industry in 2001 and signed with V2 Records in November 2001
• Originally envisioned as a double album; Jack purposely kept blues music off the album

Recording

• Rehearsed for a week, then recorded over three days in 12- to 13-hour shifts, February 2001
• Recorded at Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee, chosen over New York City and Los Angeles
• Production cost about $5,000; the process was rushed to capture a "real tense feeling"
• Jack recorded his vocals beside Meg's drumming to replicate the live performance dynamic

Cover

• Photographed on a wall by the former Tiger Stadium
• Shows Jack and Meg surrounded by people wielding television and video cameras

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The White Stripes was an American rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997.
• The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals).
• The duo began as part of the Michigan underground garage rock scene.
• Their debut single "Let's Shake Hands" was released on vinyl in February 1998.
• In 1999 they signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their self-titled debut album.

Members

• Jack White played guitar, keyboards, piano and sang.
• Meg White played drums, percussion and sang.
• Jack wrote all the original songs, while the duo composed and performed them.
• The duo performed without a bass player.

Career

• White Blood Cells (2001) brought the band commercial success and placed it at the forefront of the garage rock movement.
• Elephant (2003) won the band its first Grammy Awards and produced the signature song "Seven Nation Army".
• Get Behind Me Satan (2005) experimented with piano and marimba.
• Icky Thump (2007), the sixth and final album, returned to blues and punk influences.
• The band went on hiatus in 2007 and officially ceased recording and performing in February 2011.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Acclaimed widely; praised in the United Kingdom on initial release and in the United States after the V2 reissue
• Outlets in both territories praised the band's "back to basics" approach
• AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the mix of strength and sweetness, calling it one of the Stripes' finest albums
• NME called the lyrics great and the attitude unmistakable
• Pitchfork's Dan Killan and Ryan Schreiber wrote that the duo does not innovate rock but embodies it
• Rolling Stone said Jack's Delta-roadhouse fantasies, Detroit garage rock energy, and Meg's drumming all peaked at once
• The New York Times' Joe Hagan declared that the White Stripes made rock rock again

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: 86 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim"
• As of 2024, the second highest-scoring White Stripes album on Metacritic
• BBC's Jon Lusk credited the album's success to Meg's drumming and Jack's blues-based riffing
• Louder's Paul Travers called it one of the first great albums of the 21st century
• NPR described it as one of the most important recordings of the decade
• The A.V. Club and Uncut ranked it as the best album of the decade

Records

• Billboard 200: debuted at 185 on 23 March 2002, peaked at 61 on 20 April 2002, 53 weeks on chart
• UK Albums Chart: entered 18 August 2001, peaked at 55, 39 weeks on chart
• Charted in nine countries
• Platinum in the United Kingdom and the United States; gold in Australia and Canada
• Included on many best-of-2001 year-end lists

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was dedicated to Loretta Lynn, whom Jack had dreamed of meeting; over a year later her daughter Patsy Lynn contacted her, starting a friendship with the band
• Jack later produced Lynn's 2004 album Van Lear Rose
• Jack asked engineer Stuart Sikes more than once not to make the record sound too good
• It is one of two White Stripes albums with no covers of other artists
• Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald made an online-only project, Redd Blood Cells, adding a bass track to the album; the band later had the files taken down after more than 60,000 downloads

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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