Biography
Sometimes the potential of the musician is so great that he is not enough for one project: in his baggage there may be a whole Pleiad group, in one of which he drummer, in another soloist, and for the third only writes songs. The Raconteurs is a bright example of a collective, whose participants could not be satisfied with the only project. The group consists of the musicians The White Stripes, The Greenhornes and The Dead Weather.The history of creation and composition
According to the official website of The Raconteurs, the history of the creation began in Nashville, Tennessee, in the middle of the hot summer of 2005, when Jack White and Brandon Benson wrote the song "Steady, As She Goes". She inspired musicians so much that they decided to create a full-fledged group. Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler joined their composition.
The world already knew White as a vocalist The White Stripes, with Lawrence he divided the the Dead Weather project. In turn, Lawrence and Cyler succeeded in The Greenhornes. Benson won the charts as a solo performer.
Due to the success of each participant in third-party projects The Raconteurs dubbed the supergroup. The musicians denied the cliché, because under this term implies a temporary project created for some presentation, while The Raconteurs is a "new group consisting of old friends."
In each musician, leadership qualities prevailed, so it was not so easy to distribute roles in The Raconteurs. As a result, Jack White and Brandon Benson, inborn frontmen, took over the vocals, guitar and keyboards, Jack Lawrence remained on the bass and backing vocals, Patrick Keeler - behind the drum installation, sometimes on the backing val.
The whole world knows the group under the name of The Raconteurs (from English. "Good narratives"), and the listeners of Australia - like The Saboteurs (from the English "saboteurs). The fact is that in the state of Queensland by the time of the heyday The Raconteurs already existed a group with such a name. Australians requested a "newbies" too high the price for their name, and the Americans decided that it would be cheaper to renamed himself.
Music
The Raconteurs Debut Album "Broken Boy Soldiers" came out on May 15, 2006. The musicians recorded it in the home studio of Brendon Benson in Detroit. The material was going out of what is. For example, the song "Store Bough Bones" was supposed to enter the Album The White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan", and "Call It A Day" and "Together" Berzon Bereg for the next solo collection. Therefore, it is not surprising that musical critics called The Raconteurs "The White Stripes 2.0" or the "Benson's long-awaited group".However, the similarity with the initial projects of The Raconteurs participants did not affect negatively at the "Broken Boy Soldiers" position in the ratings. In the UK, the album took confident 2nd place in the USA - the 7th. Track "Steady, As She Goes" has become a unconditional hit, hitting the British top 10 of the best singles.
On March 25, 2008, the Group released the second album "Consolers of the Lonely". The name of the album (translated from the English language "lonely") comes from the inscription made by the diplomat Charles William Eliot on the wall of the post office in Washington. It completely looks like this:
"The envoy of sympathy and love, a servant of the broken friends, a comforter of a lonely, scrap of a destroyed family, a magnifier of a common life."In general, critics reacted to "Consolers of the Lonely" is welcome, comparing the music of The Raconteurs with Led Zeppelin and The Who. The Rolling Stone magazine put the album on the 44th place in the list of the best releases of 2008, and "Spin Magazine" - on the 35th in Top-40. The Consolers of The Lonely rating was given to the criticism of the magazine Glide, removing him the 4th place in the ranking of the best albums of the decade.
In February 2010, Brendon Benson said in an interview that the future of The Raconteurs under threat:
"Now each of us is concentrated on other projects. Who knows, maybe we will meet together and create several entries. Or maybe not".From this started a long lull of The Raconteurs. In February 2013, Jack White announced that friends returned to the studio to record a new album, but a year later, Benson gave a less rainbow comment: work in the studio is not laid, and the temporary break of groups is becoming more and more like split.
Only in October 2018, after a long closure, two new songs appeared: "Sunday Driver" and "Now That You're Gone". Later, both fell into the playlist of the Album "Help US Stranger" released on June 21, 2019.
Long expectation of news from the Raconteurs has positively reflected in the album position in the charts. Help US Stranger headed US Billboard 200, for the first time in the history of the group. A week later, the plate "fell" to the 45th place.
The Raconteurs now
The Raconteurs decided to please the fans not only with new songs, but also by concerts. According to a tour of the tour, the musicians visited the United States, and in November 2019 - Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
Judging by the photo from "Instagram", the long break did not scare the fans, but by contrast, increased the number of fans. The Raconteurs, of course, do not collect stadiums now, but the platforms of medium capacity are still silent.
Discography
- 2006 - "BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS"
- 2008 - "Consolers of the Lonely"
- 2019 - "Help US Stranger"
Clips
- 2006 - "Steady, As She Goes"
- 2006 - "Hands"
- 2006 - "BROKEN BOY SOLDIER"
- 2007 - "LEVEL" (Live)
- 2008 - "SALUTE YOUR SOLUTION"
- 2008 - OLD ENOUGH
- 2018 - "Sunday Driver"
- 2018 - "Now That You're Gone"
- 2019 - "Help Me Stranger"