â??I could probably outdo The White Stripes with a guitar

Pete Townshend vs. White Stripes

Pete Townshend is apparently not a huge fan of The White Stripes.

The Who guitarist has no love for the garage/blues duo, and isnâ??t afraid to show it. The rock veteran told Relix magazine that â??I could probably outdo The White Stripes with a guitar and a fucking drum machine.â?

Townshend will have his chance to show up the Whites this summer, as The Who is set to play several British festivals, including T in the Park, The Oxygen Festival and the Wireless Festival in Leeds in addition to a handful of headlining dates on the continent.

Jack is too old for Pete…

everyone's angry at jack white, although this story is a few months old.
Billy Childish hits back at Jack White

Billy Childish has hit back at Jack White's claims that the garage man has plagiarised The White Stripes.

As previously reported, White posted a missive on the band's official site on Monday (February 27).

He said: "As for Billy Childish, Meg and I really feel sorry for you. It must be lonely sitting in all of that garage rock bitterness Billy. You know children, when you take someone else's music and put your own lytics on top of it, it's still called plagiarism.

"Something Mister Childish hasn't learned yet….By the way Billy, we didn't have to have you play with us, and we didn't have to mention you in interviews, we were just being polite in a foreign land. But you're welcome anyways. The bitter garage rocker…"

However, Childish has now slammed White in an open letter, saying: "Though I have undoubtedly angered Jack White, I think it's a bit nasty of him to accuse me of plagiarism merely because his former admiration of my work was not reciprocated."

He added: "It all smacks of jealousy to me. I have a bigger collection of hats, a better moustache, a more blistering guitar sound and a fully developed sense of humour. The only thing I can't understand is why I'm not rich. Yours sincerely, Billy Childish."

Signing off the letter, Childish said: "P.S. I always stay well within the music industries recommended guidelines of never plagiarising more than 50% of my material. But no matter who my influences may be, I would never stoop so low as to rip off Led Zeppelin.

"P.P.S I hope I've gone and offended Led Zeppelin now."

The war of words was started after Childish spoke to the American GQ magazine about The White Stripes.

"I can't listen to that stuff," he explained. "They don't have a good sound…Jack's half into the sound and music, but then he wants to be a pop star as well, so you've got a big problem."

The White Stripes meanwhile are currently concluding the 'Get Behind Me Satan' world tour with dates in Japan.

Originally posted by The Jesus Nut:
Townshend will have his chance to show up the Whites this summer,

A chance to "show up"?

I think the White Stripes need to show they belong on the same stage as The Who before Pete even has to worry about showing the White Stripes up.

i've seen both live. and i don't want to sit here and get yelled at for being young or anything, but they are both extremely talented. i think Jack White is one of the finest guitarists that has come out of the last decade. but you obviously can't compare the two.

I have a bigger collection of hats, a better moustache, a more blistering guitar sound and a fully developed sense of humour.

this is absolutely true. while i do not hate the white stripes – in fact, i rather fancy their first couple of records – they do not hold a candle to the mastery of billy childish and thee headcoats. which, of course, is why billy is not rich.

The White Stripes would embarass "The Who" circa 2006 mano a mano. Period. Daltrey and Townsend?? They've got the songs, but they're washed up. W/out Moon and Entwhistle, the power and electricity isn't there. Townsend calling out Jack White is like the washed up boxer who knows he's lost it . . . like post-jail Mike Tyson . . . showing bravado almost as a defense mechansim, or requiem, for and energy that once existed, and is gone.

I wonder if people will still be discussing Jack White in 30 years time?

One can say a lot of things about the White Hypes, but for God's sake, don't call them "original"! Christ, the Flat Duo Jets and Bantam Rooster pre-dated the WS's guitar/drums 2 piece lineup (AND Crow and the BR drummer can at least play!) The best early review of them I ever read referred to them as "retarded Led Zeppelin". Now, yeah, they're hugely successful, but that's mainly due to their agent/publicity machine guru who meticulously planned every step of their career, starting with breaking them first in the UK. Getting into a "who's better" argument is always ridiculous, but I'd never compare them to The Who…..Billy Childish is a much more apt frame of reference (or the two bands I mentioned above, or The Black Keys, Soledad Brothers, Immortal Lee County Killers, etc.)

No one really said they were original. They obviously draw influences from a ton of people, and it shows. They also have their own thing going for them. And the fact of the matter is, whether you like the music or not (or rather, whether you're old and losing it or not), Jack White is an extremely talented guitarist. I will go very far to defend him. Boy can shred.

The originality comment stems from Jack W. accusing Billy Childish of plagiarizing from the Stripes….and BC, much like JW, is an amalgamation of many, many influences….most of which are readily apparent. I guess my point is - for anyone from a band who was accused of blatantly ripping off Led Zeppelin (as was pointed out in practically every review of the WS's debut), to be accusing anyone else of plagiarism - ???

And yes, Jack can play very well….even if his sister is a hopeless hack….

And BTW, Jack's new band The Raconteurs, gives ample proof of his obvious talent. Frankly, I think their debut album totally overshadows anything the White Stripes have ever done….which, to my way of thinking, shows that Jack has been holding himself down the past few years in playing with his sister/wife/ex-wife/whatever their relationship may be……

It would appear that Noel Gallagher has setup shop as a conslutant on how to get one's name in the press by creating a feud…

People could be talking about Jack White in 30 years if he can prove that he's got more up his sleeve than just the White Stripes. "White Blood Cells" is a solid songwriting effort with tunage that could be easily be done in variety of ways.

The Who weren't shy about pulling a few stunts in their day either.

And there is nothing wrong with breaking in UK first, there are US bands whose greatest popularity is overseas…

So do you think this reflects:

a. the lack of fine guitarists in the last decade
b. your limited exposure to music
c. the fact that you've probably been listening to music seriously for way less than a decade.

???

Originally posted by you be betty:
i think Jack White is one of the finest guitarists that has come out of the last decade.

Amen to that.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by The Jesus Nut:
Townshend will have his chance to show up the Whites this summer,

A chance to "show up"?

I think the White Stripes need to show they belong on the same stage as The Who before Pete even has to worry about showing the White Stripes up.

"And there is nothing wrong with breaking in UK first, there are US bands whose greatest popularity is overseas…"

No, there isn't….however, I think the whole strategy of breaking the White Stripes first in the UK was planned to take maximum advantage of the Jack/Meg White mystery (Are they brother & sister, husband & wife, original & clone?, etc., etc., etc.), which they played up to the hilt - in the land where sleazy tabloids outnumber legit newspapers by about a 10-to-1 margin. (Anybody remember the UK press singlehandedly killing off Jerry Lee Lewis' career when they discovered he married his 12 or 13 year old cousin?)

It was fucking brilliant strategy, and had absolutely nothing to do with their music to boot! Prior to their first UK tour, they were lucky if their first CD was even available at Tower Records. (I first saw it at Reptilian in Baltimore, where Chris showed me it and said -"this is something that might be up your alley - very primitive punk blues from Detroit"). From that beginning to now being challenged by Pete Townshend…..great work if you can get it!!!

Sorry, I wasn't alive in 1957.

Originally posted by JohnO:
(Anybody remember the UK press singlehandedly killing off Jerry Lee Lewis' career when they discovered he married his 12 or 13 year old cousin?)

word.

and yeah, people will be talking about jack white in 30 years time. for the record, when the hell did the who and/or pete townsend make anything worth talking about? who was president at the time? please don't talk to me about any of this solo townsend tripe. maybe the cut he did with vedder. maybe.

The White Stripes would embarass "The Who" circa 2006 mano a mano. Period. Daltrey and Townsend?? They've got the songs, but they're washed up. W/out Moon and Entwhistle, the power and electricity isn't there. Townsend calling out Jack White is like the washed up boxer who knows he's lost it . . . like post-jail Mike Tyson . . . showing bravado almost as a defense mechansim, or requiem, for and energy that once existed, and is gone.

excuse me, when was the last time they made anything worth talking about?