I gotta hand it to Jack White and his label Third Man’s handlers. They make every vinyl release seem like an event. In a festively worded press release, Third Man announced its newest round of goodies, in time for Christmas, including rarities and singles from now-defunct White Stripes, from actor and musician John C. Reilly and from Edgar Oliver.
Check out clips of some of these below.
First, with Jack and Meg White’s old band there are four records to be had, starting Dec. 6:
“The Big Three Killed My Baby” b/w “Red Bowling Ball Ruth”
Both originals. The A-side is an out-of-print single from The White Stripes’ self-titled debut. The B-side is exclusive to this single.
“Lord, Send Me an Angel” b/w “You’re Pretty Good Looking (Trendy American Remix)”
This little set was previously only available on the White Stripes’ Japan-Australia-New Zealand “Three Island Tour” in October 2000. The first song is a cover of Blind Willie McTell’s track, the latter… is an auto-tuned version.
“Candy Cane Children” b/w “Reading of the Story of the Magi”
Here’s one for Christmas, kids: the first song was recorded in 1998. The second — which is Meg singing “Silent Night” while Jack reads, well, the story of the Magi from the Bible — equals out to a “warming, heartfelt pile of Christmas goodness.”
“Hello Operator” b/w “Jolene”
The release points out “Hello Operator” was the first White Stripes single late, great U.K. tastemaker John Peel played on the radio. The latter Dolly Parton cover — heartbreaking, if you ever caught it live — marks the first time this track’s been available large-scale. This single was previously available on picture disc for Third Man’s The Vault record club members.
While that’s a lot of White Stripes music, check out the glut of special guests Reilly collaborated with for his two singles releases. “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar” b/w “Lonesome Yodel Blues #2” features Tom Brosseau harmonizing with Reilly on the Delmore Brothers’ tunes. “I’ll Be There If You Ever Want” b/w “I’m Making Plans” features duets with Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark on the Ray Price and Dolly Parton/Porter Wagoner covers, respectively. Jack White, his Third Man band The Black Belles’ Olivia Jean and Fats Kaplin show up on both.
Those two records will be out Nov. 29.
Tomorrow, there will be a spoken-word single from New York mainstay Edgar Oliver. (For those who watch the Discovery Channel show “Oddities”… yeah, it’s that guy.) His set is “In The Park” b/w ” Hunger and Light.”
In the words of Mel Brooks in “Spaceballs,” it’s all about moichendisin’, moichendisin’. The merch this time around is so sexy, I hope I get it all in my stocking. There’s a new USB-compatible compact turntable, at box for your 7″ records and a cleaning kit that leaves room for your “magic beans,” heh. Check out the description of each at the Third Man site.