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Ebony and Ivory: Did Jack White and the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney get into a fight last night?


 
It’s tough when you’re in the nation’s top blues-based two-person rock combo, and another blues-based two-person rock combo comes along and gets some serious hosannas from the likes of Rolling Stone as well as some decent sales….. The blood between Jack White of the White Stripes and two fellas from Akron calling themselves the Black Keys has been pretty bad at least as far back as the time White urged his former wife, Karen Elson, to pull their two kids from the Nashville-area school that Dan Auerbach’s daughter had recently joined.

White has accused the Black Keys of ripping off the White Stripes sound. Then last year, there was some kind of reconciliation, evidenced by White’s statement of late May 2014 that he wishes “the Black Keys all the success they can get.”

Today has seen a kind of Twitter war (complete with truce) erupt between Jack White and Patrick Carney, the drummer of the Black Keys, however, including some indication that there might have been a scuffle or something like that. According to Pitchfork, Carney started the whole thing off with this series of tweets (which have since been deleted) in which he indicated that White, as a “40 year old bully,” “tried to fight” a “35 year old nerd” at “a bar in Nyc” and also called White “a bully asshole” and “basically billy corgan’s dumb ass zero t-shirt in human form.”
 

I’ve never met jack white.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

Until last night.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

He came to a bar in Nyc I go to a lot with a few friends and tried to fight me.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

I don’t fight and don’t get fighting but he was mad!!!
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

He is why I play music. The bully assholes who made me feel like nothing. Music was a private non competitive thing.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

Not sure what he’s unhappy with cuz I just liked Zeppelin a lot and wanted to play guitar. Cut my pinky off and ended up being a drummer
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

Not the best drummer but a passionate one. But any way jack white. A 40 year old bully tried to fight the 35 year old nerd.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

It might get loud but it might also get really really sad and pathetic.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

Jack white is basically billy corgan’s dumb ass zero t-shirt in human form.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) September 14, 2015

 
White’s first response to the tweets was to issue a statement to Pitchfork directed at Carney. The statement included the following: “Nobody tried to fight you, Patrick. ... Nobody touched you or ‘bullied’ you. You were asked a question you couldn’t answer so you walked away. So quit whining to the Internet and speak face to face like a human being. End of story.”

As is the way these things often turn out, somehow White and Carney immediately contacted each other and have done a complete about-face from the trash talking earlier in the day. At 11:03 a.m. Carney tweeted that he had “Talked to jack for an hour he’s cool. All good.” For his part, about half an hour later, White’s label Third Man Records tweeted, “‘From one musician to another, you have my respect Patrick Carney.’ -Jack White,” as a way of signaling that both sides of the dispute now view the matter as closed.

For observers, however, the incident remains puzzling. Did Jack White shove Patrick Carney? And if not, why did Carney suggest that such a thing happened? At a minimum, despite whatever olive branches are being flung into the fray, it remains obvious that the relationship between Jack White and his Nashville neighbors Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach might remain fraught. 

After the jump, the White Stripes play live in Germany from 2007…

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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09.14.2015
02:14 pm
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Black Keys sue casino in Louisiana for stealing their music
01.23.2013
06:25 pm
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The Black Keys when they were still touring by van.
 
We’ve discussed this here on DM in the past—corporations, big and small, ripping off rock and roll bands’ music without asking for or paying the groups for the rights to said music. The companies doing the thievery figure they can glom onto the band’s hip factor without having to pay for it… and this is how it’s done:

Take a song, slightly alter it and hope no one notices, particularly the band. In this case, the band did notice. The Black Keys are suing L’Auberge Casino & Hotel in Baton Rouge for using the riff from “Howlin’ for You” in their TV commercial without the band’s permission. The Keys claim the music in the ad is “substantially similar” to their tune. A spokesperson for the casino says they purchased “a licensed track inspired by “Howlin’ For You” by the Black Keys.”

“Inspired”? Ain’t that inspiration worth something? The casino clearly wanted people to associate their product with a very popular and fashionably cool band.

News sources say the casino’s ad was pulled from YouTube, but I found this. If ain’t the exact one, it must be close.

I’ve said it before kids, hold onto your publishing rights and don’t let anybody steal your music.

And for those who would argue that music isn’t identical, keep in mind that the casino wanted something that sounded like The Black Keys. That is what they paid for. But it’s not just about copping the riffage from The Black Keys’ music, their intent is to ride the band’s fame. They want to be associated with something cool and contemporary. Is that against the law? Probably not. But I do think the Keys have a strong argument based on what the casino claims they were paying for - they wanted to buy The Black Keys without having to pay Black Key prices.

Update 1/24: After reading more reports on the Keys’ suit, serious doubt has been raised in my mind as to whether the YouTube video that I had linked to is the same one that provoked the suit. While the riff in the commercial is similar to the Keys’ “Howlin’ For You,” the fact that new sources are claiming the video was removed from YouTube makes me believe I may have the wrong one. I’ve fired off a message to the Keys for more info. I’ll let you know if I hear back and will update regarding the video.

Posted by Marc Campbell
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01.23.2013
06:25 pm
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The Black Keys and Sonic Youth live in Austin
04.26.2012
01:09 am
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The Black Keys back when the world wasn’t their oyster.
 
I just returned from the The Black Keys sold-out show in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center which has a capacity of 17,000. It’s been a long uphill trip for Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney since they played Emo’s (also in Austin) to a couple hundred people back in 2003. The Black Keys’ overnight success was 10 years in the making. Good for them. They’ve earned it.

Tonight’s show was terrific - great playing, great light show and an absolutely adoring crowd coalesced in one of those rock and roll moments that are too fucking rare these days. Add my freshly cracked tooth with exposed nerve endings to the mix and the whole experience was electrifying.

My tooth is still buzzing despite two glasses of wine and 30 milligrams of codeine. Rock and roll afterglow with a bit of s&m thrown in.

Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. Here are The Black Keys and Sonic Youth playing Austin City limits in 2010 and the entire Black Keys 2003 Emo’s show (after the jump).

Guitar orgy.
 

 
Keys at Emo’s after the jump…

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Posted by Marc Campbell
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04.26.2012
01:09 am
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The Black Keys’ new video is groovilicious
10.26.2011
04:44 pm
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“Lonely Boy” from The Black Keys new album El Camino which drops on December 6.

Proof you don’t need a lot of money to make a totally groovy video.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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10.26.2011
04:44 pm
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