The Raconteurs

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Jack Lawrence, Brendan Benson, Jack White, Patrick Keeler
Country	USA
Years active	2005–present
Genres	Indie rock, Alternative rock
Labels	Third Man Records XL Recordings (UK) V2 Records (US)
Members	Brendan Benson Patrick Keeler Jack Lawrence Jack White

The Raconteurs, also known as The Saboteurs in Australia, are a rock band, featuring several members previously known for other musical projects.

According to the current definition, The Raconteurs qualify as a rock-and-roll supergroup, featuring the songwriting of Jack White of The White Stripes and Brendan Benson, who are both from Detroit, Michigan. In the band's own words, however, they are not a supergroup, asserting that the term implies something pre-planned, whereas they are actually "a new band made up of old friends." ^[1]

1 Members
2 Biography
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 Live performances
5 The Saboteurs
6 Audio sample
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Members

Jack White (of The White Stripes) – vocals, guitars, keyboards, synthesizers
Brendan Benson – vocals, guitars, keyboards
Jack Lawrence (of The Greenhornes and Blanche) – bass guitar
Patrick Keeler (of The Greenhornes) – drums
Dean Fertita (of The Waxwings) as a live touring member only – guitars, keyboards

[edit] Biography

[edit] Formation

According to the official website, "The seed was sown in an attic in the middle of a hot summer when friends Jack White and Brendan Benson got together and wrote a song that truly inspired them. This song was "Steady, As She Goes" and the inspiration led to the creation of a full band with the addition of Lawrence and Keeler." The band came together in Detroit during 2005 and recorded when time allowed for the remainder of the year.

[edit] "Steady, As She Goes"

"Steady, As She Goes/Store Bought Bones" was released as a limited-edition 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl record in Europe on January 30, 2006,^[2] and in North America on March 7, 2006. A CD version of "Steady, as She Goes" was released on April 24, 2006, with the B-side "Bane Rendition."

The Raconteurs on the cover of NME

The video for "Steady As She Goes," directed by Jim Jarmusch, premiered on MTV2 on March 10, 2006. It was also available for streaming on the band's website. An alternate video, featuring the band racing each other in a soap box derby, with the first appearance by Pee-wee Herman in 15 years, premiered exclusively on Yahoo! Music June 19, 2006.

Entertainment Weekly ran an article discussing how the song has the exact same bassline as Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?".^[3]

[edit] Broken Boy Soldiers

The Raconteurs' full-length debut, titled Broken Boy Soldiers, was released on May 15, 2006 in the UK on Third Man Recordings/XL Recordings and May 16 in the US on Third Man Recordings/V2 Records. It entered the UK charts at #2 and the US charts at #7. The album was recorded at Brendan Benson's in-home studio located in Detroit.

NME reported on September 12, 2006 that the band will release "Broken Boy Soldier" as their third single to go with their UK tour in October.

When on the show Later with Jools Holland on November 3, 2006, they performed 'Broken Boy Soldier' and 'Store Bought Bones'. According to reporters from Planet Sound who attended the show taping, during 'Store Bought Bones' Jack White's guitar broke down and they had to re-play the song. This eventually happened four times, with the band breaking up in laughter by the 4th take. The TV airing used edited pieces from all four performances and cut out any laughter.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Album	U.S.	UK
2006	Broken Boy Soldiers	7	2

They have also released live performance albums in limited quantities at their respective concerts.

[edit] Singles

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. Modern Rock	UK singles chart	UK Download Chart	UK Indie Singles	Album
2006	"Steady, As She Goes"	55	1 (1 week)	4	5	1	Broken Boy Soldiers
2006	"Hands"	-	-	29	-	2	Broken Boy Soldiers
2006	"Broken Boy Soldier"	-	-	22	39	2	Broken Boy Soldiers
2006	"Level"	-	9	-	-	-	Broken Boy Soldiers

[edit] Live performances

The Raconteurs first performed live at the Academy in Liverpool, U.K., on March 20, 2006, launching a short British tour. Their first American date was the next month, on April 20 at New York's Irving Plaza. Nearly nonstop touring followed, bringing the band to audiences around North America and Europe. The high profile of Jack White meant that even though the band was new, they were able to sell out mid-size venues — a rarity for a band's first tour.

The band has played a number of music festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America, including London's Wireless Festival in Hyde Park (June 21), the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, Germany (June 24), the Southside Festival in Neuhausen, Germany (June 25), Rock Werchter in Werchter, Belgium (July 1), the Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark (July 2), theQuart Festival in Kristiansand, Norway (July 5), the Fuji Rock Festival at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata, Japan (July 30), Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago (August 4), the Pukkelpop Festival in Hasselt, Belgium (August 18), the Lowlands Festival in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands (August 19), the Tennents ViTal Festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland (August 22), the T on the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland (August 23), Rock en Seine in Paris (August 25), the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England (August 26 and 27), the Virgin Festival in Toronto, Canada (September 10), the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas (September 16), the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, Maryland (September 23), and Vegoose) in Las Vegas, Nevada (October 28).

In November 2006, the Raconteurs played eight dates as the opening act for Bob Dylan on the northeastern leg of his U.S. tour.

The band has performed a number of covers during live shows. For instance, the set list usually includes renditions of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (a song written by Sonny Bono and popularized by both Cher and Nancy Sinatra) and "Headin' For the Texas Border" by The Flamin Groovies. Other songs the band has covered include Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", George Thorogood & the Destroyers' "Who Do You Love?", and Love's "A House Is Not A Motel".

[edit] The Saboteurs

The Raconteurs were forced to rename themselves as "The Saboteurs" for the Australian market when it was discovered that a Queensland band was already using the name "Raconteurs". The Queensland band refused to give up their name for the amount they were offered, and instead tried to extract a higher price from the Raconteurs' record company. ^[4] A member of the Queensland band has said that they hadn't been informed of who was trying to buy their name and asked for the larger sum of money to see what would happen. ^[5]