Ben Blackwell | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Jesse Blackwell |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | June 12, 1982
Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Genres | Garage rock, rock and roll |
Occupation(s) | drummer, writer, archivist |
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels | Cass Records, Third Man Records |
Benjamin Jesse Blackwell (born June 12, 1982) is an American musician, writer, and record company executive. He is the creator and director of Cass Records, one of two drummers in the Detroit-based rock band The Dirtbombs, a co-founder and minority owner at Third Man Records, and the official archivist of The White Stripes.
Ben Blackwell was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 12, 1982, to Maureen Gillis and Morris Blackwell. He is the nephew of Jack White, whose birth name is John Gillis. He attended Wayne State University for three years, with a concentration in journalism, before withdrawing. [1]
Blackwell debuted live with The Dirtbombs on December 18, 1999, when he was only 17 years old. [2] According to Blackwell, Mick Collins (from The Dirtbombs) called Jack White and let him know they were looking for a drummer; White put his nephew on the phone. [3] Blackwell has since become one of the longest-serving members of the band, having played on four studio albums and having toured extensively all over the world.
Cass is kind of just trying to be a Detroit record label that really just focuses on 7-inch singles. It's my favorite format for recorded music. It kind of has been the premiere medium for upcoming artists since Elvis put out "That's All Right" in 1954. [1]
Beginning in 2003 with money given to him by his mother, Blackwell has put out over 50 releases on his Cass Records imprint. [4] Instead of signing artists, he makes one-time deals to release their songs as singles. [1] His label received some fame with the release of the song "Who's to Say..." from the country-rock band Blanche. [1] Through his label he has also released records from such artists as The Mooney Suzuki, The Waxwings, The Trachtenburg Family Slide Show Players, The Sights, The Muldoons, Kelley Stoltz, Dan Sartain, Turbo Fruits, Cheap Time, The Go, the Black Lips and many others.
In 2007, Blackwell was selected by Crain's Detroit Business magazine as one of their "Twenty in Their 20s", a yearly designation given to twenty emerging entrepreneurs in southeastern Michigan. Blackwell was selected because of his work with his Cass Records label and was recognized for his commitment to the 7-inch vinyl format. [1]
In November 2010, Blackwell self-released his debut solo album "I Remember When All This Was Trees" on his Cass Records imprint. Blackwell wrote, recorded and performed all the music on the album.
In March 2011 Blackwell participated in Esquire magazine's annual songwriting challenge along with Dierks Bentley, Dhani Harrison, Raphael Saadiq and Brendan Benson. [5] Each performer was asked to write a song using the lyric "Last night in Detroit" and Blackwell's song "Bury My Body at Elmwood" is based around Elmwood Cemetery on the east side of Detroit. [6]
Blackwell has written content for many magazines including Creem Magazine Online, [7] Careless Talk Costs Lives, the Metro Times, Chunklet Magazine, Ugly Things, Arthur, Plan B and others.
Blackwell has also contributed work to the following books:
Blackwell won Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 College Journalism Award in the field of entertainment for two tour diaries he wrote for Wayne State University's The South End paper in March 2003. [15]
In November 2006 Blackwell started his own blog titled Tremble Under Boom Lights named after an EP by the band Jonathan Fire*Eater.
Blackwell's poem The World's Most Important Swimmers was selected by members of the Guerilla Poetics Project to be printed as a letterpressed broadside for the November 2008 installment of their program. [16]
Since 2007 Blackwell has been a frequent contributor to Bagazine, [17] a Mail Art "magazine in a bag" that focuses on "assemblage, handwork and print making, photography, painting, chapbooks, graphic design, typography, letterpress, Visual Poetry and the unusual." [18]
In March 2010 an anonymous guerilla stickering campaign was started in Detroit asking "Where is Ben Blackwell?" Bumper stickers with this message can still be found in the Midtown neighborhood.
On March 1, 2014, Blackwell gave a lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston titled "A Contemporary Record of Rock 'n' Roll" covering topics ranging from vinyl records, archiving, musical archeology and his personal experiences relating to them. [19]
From the beginning of the Stripes' existence, Blackwell worked as the band's roadie and wrote much of the group's website content. Although he is not an accredited professional archivist, he is the "White Stripes' official archivist". [20] He wrote the liner notes to Under Blackpool Lights . He also appears in The White Stripes' feature-length documentary Under Great White Northern Lights , conducting the interview that is interlaced throughout the film.[ citation needed ]
With funding for music education being cut every day, Third Man feels a duty to do its part. What better way to do so than to record the kids themselves and put 'em on vinyl? [21]
Currently, Blackwell oversees vinyl record production at Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville, Tennessee, where his official job title is "Pinball Wizard and Director of Operations." [22] He is involved in the program School Choirs & Bands at Third Man: A Vinyl Recording Experience, and initiative which, according to the website, offers "students behind-the-scenes access to Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville, TN, as well as the chance to record their own " 45rpm vinyl records." [21]
Year | Title | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Ultraglide in Black | In The Red Records | |
2003 | Dangerous Magical Noise | In The Red Records | |
2008 | We Have You Surrounded | In The Red Records | |
2011 | Party Store | In The Red Records |
Year | Title | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | If You Don't Already Have a Look | In The Red Records | |
2013 | Consistency is the Enemy | Cass Records |
Year | Title | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | I Remember When All This Was Trees (album) | Cass Records | all vocals and instrumentation |
2011 | "Bury My Body at Elmwood" | Cass Records | all vocals and instrumentation |
Artist | Year | Title | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Quatro | 1995 | "The Ocean Song" | Quatrophonic Music USA | uncredited group vocal |
Clone Defects | 1999 | "Bottled Woman" | Tom Perkins Records | uncredited reverb crash |
Lost Kids | 2001 | "Explode" & "Whirling Dervish" | Gold Standard Laboratories | drums |
The Mistreaters | 2003 | "Ol' Sugarfoot" | Estrus | guitar feedback |
Detroit City Council | 2003 | "Mary's Lil Lamb" | Acid Jazz | drums |
The Come-Ons | 2005 | "Promise Me" | Unrecording Records | guitar solo |
Dan Sartain | 2008 | "Voodoo" | Cass Records | drums |
Jack White | 2011 | "Love is Blindness" | Third Man Records | drums |
2013 | "Alone in My Home" & "Entitlement" | Third Man Records | drums | |
Olivia Jean | 2019 | "Night Owl" | Third Man Records | drums |
The White Stripes were an American rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White and Meg White. They were a leading group of the 2000s indie rock and garage rock revival.
Elephant is the fourth studio album by the American rock duo The White Stripes. It was released on April 1, 2003, through V2, XL, and Third Man records. The album was produced by the band's guitarist and lead vocalist Jack White, and continues their "back-to-basics" approach seen in White Blood Cells (2001). It was mostly recorded at Maida Vale and Toe Rag Studios across two weeks in April 2002, and was produced without the use of computers, instead utilizing a duct-taped 8 track tape machine and various gear no more recent than 1963.
John Anthony White is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subsequent collaborations, and business ventures.
The Stooges is the debut studio album by American rock band the Stooges, released on August 5, 1969 by Elektra Records. Considered a landmark proto-punk release, the album peaked at number 106 on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The tracks "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969" were released as singles; "1969" was featured on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs" at number 35. In 2020, it was ranked number 488 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell, and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Detroit, and Soho in London—with multiple entities expanding upon the offerings of a traditional record label, including multiple live music venues, vinyl pressing plant, film studio and dark room, guitar pedal and gear company, mastering studio, vinyl subscription service, and a publishing arm.
The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul, while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup. The Dirtbombs were formed by Mick Collins as a side project and started recording songs by 1995.
"Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, Elephant (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single from the album. Worldwide, the single was issued through XL Recordings. Written and produced by Jack White, the song consists of distorted vocals, a simple drumbeat, and a bass line created by playing a guitar through a pitch shift effect.
The Cass Corridor is a neighborhood on the west end of Midtown Detroit. It includes the Cass Park Historic District, the Cass-Davenport Historic District and Old Chinatown. The corridor's main street, Cass Avenue, runs parallel with M-1, a main Detroit artery running north toward New Center. Though Cass runs from Congress Street, ending a few miles farther north at West Grand Boulevard, the Cass Corridor generally is defined as between Interstate 75 (I-75) at its southern end and Interstate 94 (I-94) to the north, and stretches from Woodward to the east and to the west: John C. Lodge north of Temple, and Grand River Avenue south of Temple.
Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit is a compilation album of American garage rock and punk bands from Detroit, released in 2001. Put together by Jack White of the White Stripes, it featured bands such as the Von Bondies, the Dirtbombs, and the Detroit Cobras. It was recorded in the home of Jack White, and he, along with nephew and the Dirtbombs drummer Ben Blackwell can be heard singing backup on "Shaky Puddin'," a Soledad Brothers track.
Blanche is an American alternative country band from Detroit, Michigan. Their music is based in Americana, early country, and folk blues, with a touch of haunting Southern Gothic stylings and garage rock mentality. Blanche is known for wearing vintage fashion of the early to mid-20th century.
Mick Collins is a musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Soledad Brothers were an American garage rock trio from Maumee, Ohio. Taking strong influence from blues rock, the band consisted of Ben Swank on drums, Johnny Walker on guitar and vocals, and Oliver Henry on sax and guitar. The band produced four albums: Soledad Brothers (2000), Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move (2002), Voice of Treason (2003), and The Hardest Walk (2006).
Jim Diamond is an American music producer, studio engineer, and bass guitar player based in Detroit, Michigan. He worked on the first two White Stripes albums and played bass with The Dirtbombs.
The Gories are an American garage punk trio that formed in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in 1986. They were among the first 1980s garage rock bands to incorporate overt blues influences. The band features Mick Collins, Dan Kroha on guitar and vocals, and Peggy O'Neill on drums.
Icky Thump is the sixth and final studio album by American rock duo The White Stripes, released through Warner Bros. and Third Man Records in June 2007, with XL Recordings handling the United Kingdom release. Its first release came on June 15, 2007, in Germany, with the release for the rest of Europe occurring on June 18 and the rest of the world on June 19.
We Have You Surrounded is the fourth album by the American rock music group The Dirtbombs.
Under Great White Northern Lights is a 2009 documentary film about the White Stripes' summer 2007 tour across Canada directed by Emmett Malloy. It contains live concert and off-stage footage. The film's accompanying album is a collection of various recordings from throughout the tour. The documentary was released on DVD and Blu-ray, and the album was released on CD as well as 180-gram vinyl LP. A special edition box set was also available. The CD, LP, DVD, BD, and box set were all released on March 16, 2010 in Canada, with other dates worldwide.
Jeff Gold is an American music business executive, author, music historian, Grammy Award winning art director, and music memorabilia collector and dealer.
The White Stripes Greatest Hits is the only compilation album by the American rock duo the White Stripes, released in America by Third Man and Columbia Records on December 4, 2020, and internationally on February 26, 2021. It contains a selection of songs from the band's six studio albums and the standalone singles "Let's Shake Hands" and "Jolene".
No Name is the sixth studio album by American rock musician Jack White. It was initially surprise released in physical formats on July 19, 2024, as a gift to customers of Third Man Records, before a wider digital release on August 2, 2024. The record was written, recorded, and produced entirely by White at Third Man Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Musically, it is a garage rock, blues rock, and punk blues album.