| The Raconteurs | |
|---|---|
Performing at T in the Park, July 2008. Left to right: Patrick Keeler, Brendan Benson, Jack White, and Jack Lawrence. |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Saboteurs (Australia only) |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan |
| Genres | Alternative rock, folk rock, blues rock, garage rock, experimental rock |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Third Man, Warner Bros., XL |
| Associated acts | The White Stripes, The Greenhornes, The Dead Weather, Goober & the Peas, Blanche, Jape[1] |
| Website | theraconteurs.com |
| Members | |
| Jack White Brendan Benson Jack Lawrence Patrick Keeler |
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The Raconteurs /ðə ˌrækɒnˈtɜrz/ (also known as The Saboteurs in Australia) is an American rock band that was formed in Detroit, Michigan, featuring four members known for other musical projects: Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Dead Weather), Brendan Benson (solo), Jack Lawrence (of The Greenhornes, Blanche and The Dead Weather), and Patrick Keeler (also of The Greenhornes).
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The band is based in Nashville, Tennessee. According to the band's 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. Due to the various members' success in other bands, they were quickly dubbed a supergroup. The band, however, asserted they were not, saying that the term implies something pre-planned or temporary, whereas they are actually "a new band made up of old friends."[2]
The band has played a number of music festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America (including Oxegen in Ireland; Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Glastonbury Festival, and T in the Park in the United Kingdom; Heineken Open'er Festival in Poland; Vegoose in Las Vegas; Lollapalooza in Chicago; Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee; Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas; and Coachella in Indio, California), headlining many.
The Raconteurs were renamed 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 of money they were offered, and instead asked for a higher price from The Raconteurs' record company, who refused to pay the greater amount.[3] A member of the Queensland band said that they had not been informed of who was trying to buy their name and asked for the larger sum of money to see what would happen.[4]
The Raconteurs' full-length debut, Broken Boy Soldiers, was recorded at Brendan Benson's in-home studio located in Detroit. The first single was "Steady, As She Goes/Store Bought Bones" and was released as a limited-edition 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl record in Europe on January 30, 2006,[5] 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 first performed live at the Academy in Liverpool, UK, on March 20, 2006, launching a short British tour. Their first American date was the following month, on April 20 at New York City'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.
Broken Boy Soldiers was released on May 15, 2006, in the UK on Third Man Recordings/XL Recordings and May 16 in the U.S. on Third Man Recordings/V2 Records. It entered the UK charts at #2 and the U.S. charts at #7.
In November 2006, the Raconteurs played eight dates as the opening act for Bob Dylan on the north-eastern leg of his U.S. tour. On November 3, 2006, the Raconteurs performed the song "Store Bought Bones" and the title track, "Broken Boy Soldier" on Later with Jools Holland. According to Planet Sound (who had reporters in attendance), during "Store Bought Bones" White's guitar malfunctioned and they had to re-play the song. This eventually happened four times, with the band breaking up in laughter by the fourth take. The TV airing used edited pieces from all four performances and cut out any laughter. The band's cover of "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones appeared on a 40-year anniversary of the BBC live compilation. They played it live on a John Peel tribute.
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", Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?", Ron Davies' "It Ain´t Easy", Love's "A House Is Not a Motel", and Charley Jordan's "Keep It Clean". The band has also covered the song "Floating" by the Irish band Jape.
In December 2006, the band's debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, was awarded the title Album of the Year by Britain's Mojo magazine. In 2007, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The Raconteurs were nominated for two awards at the 49th Annual Grammys: one for Best Rock Album for Broken Boy Soldiers, and another for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Steady, As She Goes".[6]
The Raconteurs released their second album, Consolers of the Lonely on March 25, 2008. The first single, "Salute Your Solution", was released the same day.
The band also played tour dates including: Coachella on April 25, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4, Bonnaroo on June 13,[7] T in the Park in Scotland on July 12, Oxegen festival in Ireland on July 13 and The Open'er Festival in Poland on July 4. They played at "The Pyramid Stage" at the Glastonbury Festival 2008 on June 28, the Montreux Jazz festival on July 7, at Lollapalooza on August 1, and on the main stage of Reading and Leeds Festival 2008 on August 23 and August 24, also at Austin City Limits Music Festival September 26–28, 2008. They played "The Eden Sessions" at the Eden Project in Cornwall on June 29. The band also toured the U.S. during summer 2008.
In an interview in February 2010 Brendan Benson stated that the future of The Raconteurs was ambiguous, stating "I think we're all just really focused on other things." He went on to add that "it will come around and we'll get together again and hang out and maybe make a record or maybe not."[8] On April 17, 2010, Benson and Keeler performed Raconteurs songs as The Racontwoers at Jack White's Third Man Records venue to coincide with a repressing of Broken Boy Soldiers on copper-colored vinyl.[9] The pair was accompanied by Mark Watrous and Andrew Higley. On July 6, 2011, it was announced that the original line up of the Raconteurs will be playing at the MI Fest on September 17, 2011. The band has also announced a show on September 15 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. This was announced on August 1. The band also announced on August 26, 2011 an intimate live concert at Jack's Third Man Records in Nashville, TN on Wednesday September 14th. This will be their first show of 2011. Limited online tickets sold out on August 26, 2011 leaving just 80 physical tickets left for eager fans. Fans lined up at 6:00pm CST on August 30 and camped through the night in the Third Man Records Parking lot to purchase the last 80 tickets. The show is now sold out. On November 12, 2011 the band played the inaugural Orlando Calling festival in Orlando, Fl. The Raconteurs have announced an additional American show to play at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia on November 13, 2011.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [10] |
US Alt [11] |
US Rock [12] |
AUS [13] |
CAN [14] |
FIN [15] |
NOR [16] |
NZ [17] |
SWI [18] |
UK [19] |
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| Broken Boy Soldiers |
|
7 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 24 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 2 | |||
| Consolers of the Lonely |
|
7 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 34 | 11 | 21 | 25 | 8 |
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| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [21] |
US Adult [22] |
US Alt [23] |
AUS [24] |
CAN [25] |
DEN [26] |
FIN [27] |
NZ [28] |
UK [29] |
||||||
| 2006 | "Steady, As She Goes" | 54 | 19 | 1 | 47 | — | 4 | 16 | 22 | 4 | Broken Boy Soldiers | |||
| "Hands" | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | 29 | |||||
| "Broken Boy Soldier" | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | — | — | 22 | |||||
| 2007 | "Level' | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | "Salute Your Solution" | — | — | 4 | — | 79 | — | — | — | — | Consolers of the Lonely | |||
| "Many Shades of Black" | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Old Enough" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Consoler of the Lonely" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Steady, As She Goes" | The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show |
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