Rock pioneers line up to pay tribute to youngster Jack White on new album

In just over a decade, Jack White has altered the rock landscape while constantly paying tribute to the music’s storied past. Now it’s payback time.

As a founding member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, as well as an acclaimed solo artist and record label entrepreneur, White, 38, has often cited some of rock’s early pioneers as influences on his brand of garage rock. In a karmic twist of tribute, Cleopatra Records is releasing a collection of White covers performed by some of those very same influences.

“Rockin” Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White” will feature covers of White”s songs from all eras performed by rockabilly legends like White’s pal Wanda Jackson, Gary U.S. Bonds, Sonny Burgess, Big Jay McNeely, Johnny Powers, Joe Clay, Rosie Flores, and Bobby Vee, plus younger artists such as Shooter Jennings, Los Straitjackets, and Cyril Neville.

Check out the tribute’s boss vintage-style cover art:

Among the album’s highlights are Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers’ take on The Raconteurs hit “Steady As She Goes,” ’50s cat Bobby Vee’s version of The White Stripe’s jaunty “We’re Going to Be Friendshe, Los Straightjackets tackling the Stripe’s raucous “Icky Thump,” and Jackson’s cover of The White Stripes” spooky-sexy “In the Cold, Cold Night,” which can be previewed over at at Rolling Stone.

Watch White and Jackson perform on Letterman in 2011 below:

“Rockin” Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White” will be released November 19.