Jack White’s Third Man Records knows how to put together an elaborate album package, and they’re outdoing themselves with the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the White Stripes self-titled debut.
Titled “White Stripes XX,” the package includes previously unreleased outtakes from the album’s recording sessions, the “Live at the Ritz – Raleigh, NC – 09/26/99” LP, a DVD containing performance footage from two 1999 Michigan performances, a 24-page archival booklet featuring rare photos, lyrics, flyers and other stuff, all housed in a hard-cover hinged case. You have to sign up to buy it — sign-up is open now through October 31 at 12am CST.
“With only a handful of days spent recording in the cold, amenity-free studio in a Detroit January, it is of legitimate surprise the bounty of previously forgotten alternate takes and unreleased tracks that exist from said sessions,” the announcement reads. “At a time when every last inch of tape meant dollars spent, the fact that ANYTHING extraneous was saved is not just remarkable, but a windfall for fans two decades later. While acolytes have previously heard ‘Dead Leaves’ and ‘Let’s Build a Home’ on a 7-inch single as part of Vault package 11 from 2012 (both included here), they have not heard the acoustic demo of ‘Dead Leaves,’ the alternate takes of ‘Jimmy the Exploder’ or ‘I Fought Piranhas’ or ‘Wasting My Time.’
“The tracks collected here present the listener with an alternate reality version of how — after a few non-aberrant turns and divergent creative paths — the White Stripes self-titled album could exist in a completely different space,” it continues.
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Packages are available for $60 US/$70 CAN/$80 INTL.
THE WHITE STRIPES XX:
Self-Titled Outtakes
Dead Leaves
I Fought Piranhas
Jimmy The Exploder
Let’s Build a Home
Little Red Book (Burt Bacharach)
Screwdriver
Slicker Drips
Sugar Never Tasted So Good
Wasting My Time
Why Can’t You Be Nicer to Me?
Live at the Ritz 9/26/99 LP
Astro (partial)
Jimmy the Exploder
Do
Sugar Never Tasted So Good
Little People
Broken Bricks
Suzy Lee
Let’s Build a Home
Jolene (Dolly Parton)
Good to Me (Brendan Benson cover)
I’m Bored (Iggy Pop cover)
The Big Three Killed My Baby
Trick Bag (Earl King)
Screwdriver
Live at Paycheck’s 3/13/99 DVD
Broken Bricks
Let’s Shake Hands
The Big Three Killed My Baby
Do
Jimmy the Exploder
Wasting My Time
Cannon – John the Revelator
Screwdriver
Astro
Sugar Never Tasted So Good
One More Cup of Coffee (Bob Dylan)
Lafayette Blues
Slicker Drips
Live at the Magic Stick 5/30/99 DVD
I’m Bored (Iggy Pop)
Broken Bricks
The Big Three Killed My Baby
I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (Bacharach/David)
Jimmy the Exploder
St. James Infirmary (traditional)
Astro
Cannon – John the Revelator (traditional) – Grinnin In Your Face (Son House)
Stop Breaking Down (Robert Johnson)
The Same Boy You’ve Always Known
Wasting My Time
When I Hear My Name
Lafayette Blues
Sugar Never Tasted So Good
Let’s Shake Hands