The Upholsterers-Makers Of High Grade Suites (2000)

It's only fitting that the Aristocratic horseman of rock was a Detroit tradesman before he found world wide fame with The White Stripes-White had an upholstery company called Third Man Upholstery.

Patients, today we have an obscure Jack White project that came between The White Stripes and De Stijl. That's right, In 2000, White was in an unknown two-piece with Brian Muldoon under the moniker the Upholsterers. (Side Doctor's Note: White served as an apprentice under Muldoon). They cut 100 copies of the three song 7" ("Apple Of My Eye," "I Ain't Superstitious," "Pain") Makers Of High Grade Suites for the Detroit based label Sympathy for the Record Industry. You guessed it patients, the three song set is chalked up with White's raw shrill bark and raggedy fretwork along with Muldoon's two-fisted drumming.

In pure Jack White fashion he would put poems inside pieces of furniture that he re-upholstered and the Makers Of High Grade Suites single came with a collection of inserts: a piece of sandpaper and Third Man business cards.

White had this to say about Third Man Upholstery, I would go pick furniture up and take it back to the studio. My whole shop was only three colors: yellow, white and black. I had this yellow van, and I dressed in yellow and black when I picked up the furniture, and all my tools were yellow, white and black. It was pretty cool. I got so much into the cartooniness of the business, almost to the point of it being a joke to the people who would see me, and they wouldn’t really trust me to do a good job.. I starting trying to make an art form out of giving someone a bill for my services, like writing it with crayon on a piece of paper, or having a yellow piece of paper with black marker saying “You owe me $300.” People would be like “What the hell is this?” and I’d be like “I don’t know, I just want you to sign this and give it back to me and pay me, and that way I can have it as a… um…” People just didn’t dig it. It was two different worlds colliding. When I’d re-upholster furniture I’d take off the old fabric and I started to write poems and things inside the furniture, so if it was ever re-upholstered again one day they’d get little messages from the last person who upholstered it. I thought it’d be cool if we all wrote each other messages.

Give the tracks a listen and let us know yer thoughts.






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Enjoy these 3cc

Makers Of High Grade Suites (SFTRI 611)

Side A "Apple Of My Eye" - (Jack White)
Side B-1 "I Ain't Superstitious" - (Willie Dixon)
Side B-2 "Pain (Gimme Sympathy)" - (Jack Starr)