“He’s very good at making sure you don’t know him.” – Jack White(laughing) on his friendship with Bob Dylan (To Rolling Stone Magazine)

Earlier this year Bob Dylan was honored at a tribute concert to benefit MusiCares. The lineup featured Jack White, Beck, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Willie Nelson, and many others. Jack White played One More Cup Of Coffee, a song he also did with The White Stripes some years ago.

The real connection between these to artists is of course their love of music, the love of blues and country music. Are there other similarities? The pencil-thin mustache, Jack White versus Jack Frost and the cool hats and canes. I read somewhere that Jack White once said he has three dads: his biological father, God and Bob Dylan. Dylan was the first concert he ever saw — he says he had seat No. 666 — and he shares with his hero a love for manipulating and obscuring his own persona.

 I know that the first concert I went to when I was ten years old was Bob Dylan, and I really wanted him to play ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ – but he didn’t play it. I wasn’t upset. I kind of thought it was cool he didn’t when I was ten years old. – Jack White (to The Observer)

White has done many Bob Dylan songs , especially with White Stripes , I will put those I can find into this post.

Let’s start with a fantastic version of Love Sick done by The White Stripes:

How did you first strike up a friendship with Bob Dylan? That was just by accident. I went and saw him play in Detroit and he said to me, “We’ve been playing one of your songs lately at sound checks.” I thought, Wow. I was afraid to ask which one. I didn’t even ask. It was just such an honor to hear that. Later on, I remember I went home and I called back. I said, “Can I talk to the bass player?” I called the theater. I was like, “Did Bob mean that he wanted me to play tonight? ‘Cause he said some things that I thought maybe – maybe I misconstrued. Was he meaning that he wanted me to play with him tonight? I don’t want to be rude and pretend that I didn’t hear or something like that.” So turned out yeah, we played together that night. He said yeah, come on, let’s play something, and we played “Ball and Biscuit,” one of my songs. It’s not lost on me that he played one of my songs, not the other way around. – Jack White to the Speakeasy (WSJ)

This happened in  Detroit, Michigan at the State Theater (March 17, 2004) and you can listen to it here Jack White played with Dylan  on at least three of Bob Dylan’s tunes, for two nights in a row.

Jack came on stage to do some very special songs. Meet me in the morning, One more cup of coffee and Outlaw blues Continue reading July 9: Jack White and Bob Dylan – The Connections – Happy Birthday Jack! →