AP

The Black Keys still raw, fast and loose on ‘Dropout Boogie’

May 10, 2022, 6:25 AM | Updated: May 11, 2022, 3:20 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two decades ago, two college dropouts from Akron, Ohio, recorded a rock album together and sent it to a tiny label in Los Angeles. But then came the hard part: Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney actually had to learn to play the music live.

Both in their early 20s, Auerbach had experience playing guitar in a bar band, but Carney had never played drums before they recorded “The Big Come Up,” The Black Keys’ first album, released in 2002.

At their first show March of 2002, Auerbach recalled the owners of the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland telling them they needed to fill 30 minutes. “We’re like, ‘No problem, we got that,'” Auerbach said. “We played everything twice as fast. Totally blacked out.”

“We did like 10 songs or something in 20 minutes,” Carney said.

The performance got them invited back for more shows, eventually selling out the venue. Turns out that failing at college was probably the best thing that ever happened to them.

“We realized that we weren’t really college material,” Carney said.

Instead, they built slowly but steadily off that first show, attracting bigger crowds, larger record labels and critical praise with each album.

On their 11th studio album “Dropout Boogie,” the Grammy-winning duo, now raising school-age children of their own, are reflecting on their early years when they bonded over records as varied as Junior Kimbrough, The Wu-Tang Clan and Captain Beefheart and played raw, fast and loose in local venues.

“We wouldn’t be paying for expensive private school if we hadn’t dropped out of school,” Carney says with a laugh.

Two decades into their career, the pair still operate mostly like they did on those first records. On “Dropout Boogie,” they wrote songs mostly in the studio, not bringing in a lot of pre-written material. Three or four songs on the record are just first takes at recording. The rawness and the imperfections were something they learned from those influential sounds of ’70s-era experimental rock and hill country blues. They’ve kept that creative momentum moving in recent years, as “Dropout Boogie” is their third record released in four years.

“That’s why we kept playing together when we were 16, 17, because as soon as we started playing, it was instant. It was so easy,” said Auerbach.

On the new record, they branched out with collaborators Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Greg Cartwright of the Memphis rock band Reigning Sound and songwriter and producer Angelo Petraglia.

“It opened up a whole world of possibilities of like, ‘Oh yeah, our Rolodex is pretty deep,'” Carney said. “We can just like call a lot of people, make a lot of music.”

Auerbach said when the frontman of ZZ Top stopped by their Easy Eye Studio in Nashville, he didn’t even bring his own guitar, just a bottle of wine, and went to work immediately. His solo on their song, “Good Love,” is classic Texas blues-rock that ZZ Top perfected, his guitar screaming with pinched harmonics over a distorted and fat bass line.

One song came to them from a musicologist named David Evans, a retired University of Memphis professor, who had been sharing with Auerbach rare field recordings of blues artists from Mississippi. One of those recordings he made was a cheerleading squad from Senatobia, Mississippi, in the ’70s singing “Hey, hey, over there/Your team is looking good/But not as good as ours.”

The lines stuck in Auerbach’s head and at the end of the recording session, when the album was pretty much wrapped, they decided to cover it. Singer Sierra Ferrell jumped in for harmony background vocals. After recording the song, Carney called the band’s attorney.

“I was like, ‘We have a job for you,'” Carney said. “And she’s like, ‘What’s that?’ ‘OK, there’s this obscure field recording of a cheerleading squad from the middle of nowhere, Mississippi. I need you to find the writing credit so that we don’t get sued.'”

The song was based on “The Girl Can’t Help It,” a song written by Bobby Troup and performed by Little Richard. So Troup has a songwriting credit on the song, “Your Team Is Looking Good,” with The Black Keys.

Carney joked that in the litigious music copyright world, it’s better to be generous with credits.

“We did the opposite of Robin Thicke,” Carney said laughing. “Get this money away from us. We don’t want the money. We want the song.”

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the chamber at the Capitol in Washingt...

Associated Press

McCarthy rejects Senate spending bill while scrambling for a House plan that averts a shutdown

A government shutdown appeared all but inevitable as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dug in Thursday.

1 day ago

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)...

Associated Press

Kari Lake reportedly plans to launch US Senate bid in Arizona for seat held by Kyrsten Sinema

Republican Kari Lake will soon launch her campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by independent Kyrsten Sinema, a senior adviser said Thursday.

2 days ago

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jers...

Associated Press

3rd Republican presidential debate is set for Nov. 8 in Miami, with the strictest qualifications yet

The third Republican presidential debate will be held in Miami on Nov. 8, a day after several states hold off-year elections.

7 days ago

During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get an equal ...

Associated Press

The fall equinox is here. What does that mean?

The equinox arrives on Saturday, marking the start of the fall season for the Northern Hemisphere. But what does that actually mean?

7 days ago

Ray Epps Ray Epps, an Arizona man who became the center of a conspiracy theory about Jan. 6, 2021, ...

Associated Press

Ray Epps, an Arizona man who supported Trump, pleads guilty to Capital riot charge

Ray Epps, the target of a conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge.

9 days ago

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, to ...

Associated Press

Trump refuses to say in a TV interview how he watched the Jan. 6 attack unfold at the US Capitol

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot.

13 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Importance of AC maintenance after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

An air conditioning unit in Phoenix is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat.

Home moving relocation in Arizona 2023...

BMS Moving

Tips for making your move in Arizona easier

If you're moving to a new home in Arizona, use this to-do list to alleviate some stress and ensure a smoother transition to your new home.

...

Ignite Digital

How to unlock the power of digital marketing for Phoenix businesses

All businesses around the Valley hopes to maximize their ROI with current customers and secure a greater market share in the digital sphere.

The Black Keys still raw, fast and loose on ‘Dropout Boogie’