The ultimate Jack White concert playlist

It might seem odd to start off this list with a cover, but The White Stripes’ rendition of Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breaking Down” really sums up what the band is about: taking elements of old blues and garage rock and turning it into something fresh and unique. Plus, the song was actually released on the band’s debut self-titled album in 1999. “Stop Breaking Down” was previously covered by the likes of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, so The White Stripes are in good company.

The White Stripes’ second album, 2000’s “De Stijl,” didn’t receive much attention until their third album, “White Blood Cells,” became a hit, but that fact isn’t a commentary on the quality of their sophomore effort. The standout single on the album was “Hello Operator,” a retro-esque garage song that showcases Jack White’s guitar prowess and Meg White’s ability to use simple drum beats (and cross-stick snare interludes) while keeping time. “Hello Operator” has also been a semi-regular mainstay at Jack White’s shows for almost two decades.

Although it wasn’t released until the band’s third album, we couldn’t ask for a better way for Jack White to start off a show than with the song that made most people fall in love with The White Stripes, “Fell in Love with a Girl.” We remember when the old-school rock track first hit the airwaves back in 2002, with its accompanying LEGO-inspired video. Allegedly, the band asked LEGO if they would consider making packages of LEGO pieces that the band could include with singles of the song, which could be used to build miniature versions of Jack and Meg White. The company refused, saying they don’t market toys to kids older than 12. However, when the song became an enormous success, LEGO contacted The White Stripes to attempt to cut a deal. The band refused.

The White Stripes proved their first hit single wasn’t a fluke when they followed it up with “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” the second single off of “White Blood Cells.” In comparison, not only did the song showcase a bit more musical range (while still keeping the band’s original raw sound), but it clocked in at nearly 70 seconds longer – meaning the song lasted for a full three minutes!

For a bit of an acoustic interlude during his live show, we hope Jack White would break out “We’re Going to Be Friends,” a light, little ditty from “White Blood Cells” that’s so innocent-sounding that you might mistake it for a children’s song. In fact, it was actually used as the intro for “PBS Kids.” However, pop culture fans generally remember it more as the opening song of the 2004 comedy “Napoleon Dynamite.” The film’s producers asked permission to use the tune by sending a copy of the movie to The White Stripes, who promptly approved.

The most famous song of Jack White’s career is still “Seven Nation Army,” the lead single from the band’s fourth album, 2003’s “Elephant.” After getting certified platinum and reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, the track has since become ubiquitous at sporting events and is instantly recognized as soon as the first few “bass” notes are played. Of course, as The White Stripes are a guitar-and-drums duo, the sound was actually achieved by Jack White using a Whammy pedal to set his guitar down an octave.

Although we’re tempted to give this spot to a different song from “Elephant,” like “The Hardest Button to Button,” we’ve actually seen Jack White perform “Black Math” live, and the performance was awesome enough for us to go with this distortion-filled ditty instead. After all, White rips into a guitar solo before the heavy song even hits the two-minute mark, and it’s intense enough to melt the faces off most audience members... in the best way possible, of course.

Okay, just one more from “Elephant.” After all, we know for a fact that Jack White likes to play “Ball and Biscuit” at many of his concerts, and who can blame him? The song starts off slow and bluesy with a killer guitar solo that kicks in right around the two-minute mark, followed by another at about four minutes. From there it’s just Jack jamming for the rest of the tune, which, contrary to most short-and-sweet White Stripes songs, actually stretches to nearly eight minutes in length, which allows plenty of room for improvisation.

Between albums, The White Stripes released their first live DVD, “Under Blackpool Lights,” in 2004. It featured a number of covers, including songs penned by the likes of Lead Belly, Bob Dylan, and Son House. Our favorite, however, was the band’s gritty and soulful rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” It was actually first released under the radar as a B-side single back in 2000, but eventually became so popular that it was later included on the band’s live album, 2010’s “Under Great White Northern Lights.”

“Blue Orchid” is an example of another song that perfectly encapsulates the sound of The White Stripes: a simple, distorted and repetitive riff combined with a pounding drum beat that drives the tune from start to finish. Plus, the line “get behind me” reminds us that it’s the first song from arguably the most complete and polished album by The White Stripes: 2005’s “Get Behind Me Satan.” We’re just glad Jack White doesn’t use a lot of imagery in his concerts, because the video for “Blue Orchid” is downright creepy.

A true crowd-pleaser, “My Doorbell” is an upbeat and fun love song with a lighthearted sound completed by a piano and a shaker. It reminds us that The White Stripes don’t always need to be heavy to have a hit single; after all, it contains no guitar, but still earned the band praise, including a 2006 Grammy nod for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

Before we move on from “Get Behind Me Satan,” we’re going to throw in a third and final song: “The Denial Twist.” Like “My Doorbell,” it also features Jack White on the piano instead of his guitar, but the sound is a bit more full and complex when compared to the previous song. It’s also a great tune to dance to – not that anyone at a Jack White concert needs another reason to get out of their seat and on their feet.

After the release of “Get Behind Me Satan,” Jack White teamed up with Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler to form a rock group they named The Raconteurs. The band came to fruition when White and Benson were jamming together one day and wrote an original song, which turned out to be “Steady as She Goes,” the eventual first single off The Raconteurs debut album, “Broken Boy Soldiers.” The band was short-lived but incredibly talented with a deceptively straightforward hard rock sound that contains elements of both pop and prog rock. If you need a song to sum up the band, “Steady as She Goes” is absolutely it.

With it’s eerie, creeping background sound (especially with the full intro), “Level” is quite different from “Steady as She Goes” and sounds a bit more like a White Stripes song than one by The Raconteurs... and that’s just fine with us. It’s still plenty heavy, very catchy and, with the two-minute runtime, it’s easy to put on repeat. If we’re seeing Jack White live, however, I suppose we can settle for just hearing it once.

After the release and success of “Get Behind Me Satan,” some fans thought The White Stripes were going a bit soft in their sound. However, in a critic-silencing move, the band came roaring back in 2007 with “Icky Thump,” the lead single off their sixth and final studio album of the same name. Not only did the song feature the return of crunching guitar riffs and devastating drum beats with all the swagger of any White Stripes song (and some wild tempo changes, to boot), but it clocked in at more than four full minutes. Get your headbanging fill, y’all.

Fans pleased with both “Icky Thump” and “Broken Boy Soldiers” might have been a bit concerned with the diverse and at times Americana-esque sound of The Raconteurs second album, 2008’s “Consolers of the Lonely,” but almost every Jack White fan can agree that the record’s first single, “Salute Your Solution,” is pure rock gold. It smacks listeners in the face with the very first guitar riff and doesn’t let up for a second, including numerous solos that could fit perfectly on the last White Stripes album. In fact, play “Icky Thump” and “Salute Your Solution” back-to-back and tell us they’re not cut from the same cloth.

“Hang You from the Heavens” was the first single off The Dead Weather’s debut album, 2009’s “Horehound,” but for a funky good time at a live concert, we’d rather hear Jack White play “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” the record’s second single. It’s just as dark as their previous one, but features more of White on vocals (and drums!), and it’s a sure-fire way to keep the party going.

The Dead Weather waste no time getting back to their hard rock sound in the band’s sophomore effort, “Sea of Cowards.” “Blue Blood Blues” has guitar work that’s almost Black Sabbath-esque, but keeps the mood light with lyrics (sung primarily by White) like “Check your lips at the door woman / Shake your hips like battleships / Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.” “Sea of Cowards” is a masterpiece start to finish, and we couldn’t pick a better song to kick it all off. Needless to say, we would be ecstatic to hear this one live.

In a rare move at the time, Jack White released a soulful and slow-paced duet in 2012 that shows how powerful he can be as a solo act, even with a minimalist song that contains no drums whatsoever. The lead single from “Blunderbuss,” “Love Interruption” is beautiful and sweet, despite some painful-sounding lyrics. At a live show, it would serve as the perfect break from his screeching, distorted guitar... for just a moment.

Many fans heard “Love Interruption” and once again worried about the direction in which White was headed – until they heard “Sixteen Saltines,” at least. In fact, the record sales for “Blunderbuss” were a bit sluggish until Jack performed this song on “Saturday Night Live.” It’s chock full contributions from the musician, as he provided the lead vocals, back-up vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and organ on the recording which is upbeat, heavy and groove-worthy.

“Freedom at 21” has a sound reminiscent of White’s days with The Dead Weather, as it has a creepy tone that builds as the song progresses. Of course, at its climax, White tears into a guitar solo that might feel more at home on The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” album. In other words, there’s a little something for everyone with this tune.

Although three songs from “Blunderbuss” received Grammy nominations, Jack White didn’t win one as a solo artist until after the release of “Lazaretto,” the lead single off of his 2014 album of the same name. And for good reason! The funky tune sounds like every one of White’s past and present projects combined into one guitar-centric, almost theatrical song that is like an exciting roller coaster ride packed with plenty of synth sound effects and even an electric fiddle that doesn’t sound one bit out of place.

If you just heard Jack White perform “Lazaretto” and don’t want the dance party to end, “That Black Bat Licorice” is the perfect follow-up tune. The aforementioned fiddle makes a return and, along with the usual guitar, drums and bass, there’s an upright bass, a mandolin, an organ, a clavinet and even a harp. Also, we’d be remiss not to mention White’s lyrical skills on display in the song, including lines like “I wanna cut out my tongue and let you hold onto it for me / ‘Cause without my skill to amplify my sounds it might get boring.”

You know what this playlist is missing? A song without any lyrics or singing. Although we were tempted to include a deep cut like “The Bane Rendition” by The Raconteurs, we’ll go with an instrumental track that’s a bit more popular: “High Ball Stepper” from “Lazaretto.” It’s four solid minutes of White wailing on his guitar, punctuated by plenty of piano and violin. Watching him perform an interpretation of the song live is like witnessing an epic jam session with some of the world’s most talented and underrated session musicians.

We’re still digesting Jack White’s latest album, “Boarding House Reach,” but one track has already emerged as our favorite: “Over and Over and Over.” Like much of White’s previous work, the tone is eerie, but unlike his stripped-down songs with The Raconteurs (and to a lesser extent, The Dead Weather), “Over and Over and Over” has so many layers of complexity, and even includes a guitar solo that it sounds like it could be the soundtrack for an epic 8-bit video game. Interestingly, the song was actually written some time ago and was almost released by both The White Stripes and The Raconteurs before getting shelved.