When The Black Keys were looking for guest artists for their new album, they aimed high. Very high.
First, the duo of singer/ guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney contacted one of their abiding inspirations, the genre-hopping Beck.
Then they decided to “hit up” Noel Gallagher, Britpop hero and primary songwriter in Oasis.
Both their targets responded brilliantly, helping them make their 12th studio record, Ohio Players, a vibrant, freewheeling triumph.
Of the 14 tracks, seven are co-writes with Beck and three resulted from a whirlwind trip to London for sessions with Noel.
Reflecting on Beck’s involvement, Carney says: “I’ve had negative experiences of meeting my heroes, but he is a really funny guy, very dry and so cool.”
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On working with the older Gallagher brother, Auerbach adds, “We were really nervous because he is the chord lord.
“But he’s so likeable and man, we hit it off instantly.”
The pair found out later that this is the first time Noel has written songs for a band outside of his High Flying Birds and Oasis.
In anticipation of their new album’s imminent release, Auerbach and Carney are speaking to me from their adopted hometown of Nashville.
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As Americans would say, both are stoked by their efforts.
‘Dive into Memphis rap blew my mind’
Carney reports: “I’m excited to hear the reaction. We’ve worked harder on this than anything else we’ve ever made.”
While the title Ohio Players is a nod to their formative years in Akron, it is also a reference to the funk/soul band of the same name who were big in the Seventies.
Maybe it also acknowledges the Midwest state’s diverse music scene that produced Chrissie Hynde, Guided By Voices and Carney’s early favourites Devo.
I’ve been a lifelong rap fan. Ever since we were kids, it’s been the most popular type of music
Dan Auerbach
Auerbach says: “The original Ohio Players always seemed to have a woman’s backside prominently displayed on their album covers.
“Often being touched by pieces of ice,” laughs Carney, adding that their more modest cover shows a clothed rear view of Auerbach’s girlfriend in a bowling alley.
And Auerbach again: “That is about as gratuitous as we could get.”
There’s also room on Ohio Players for contributions by Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia (Paper Crown) and Lil Noid (Candy And Her Friends), continuing The Black Keys’ infatuation with rap and hip-hop.
“I’ve been a lifelong rap fan,” confesses Auerbach. “Ever since we were kids, it’s been the most popular type of music.
“But only recently did I get introduced to the Memphis underground scene of Tommy Wright III, Lil Noid and Three 6 Mafia.
“I’d never even heard of them but I took a deep dive and they blew my mind.”
When The Black Keys sent Paper Crown to Juicy J, he sent his vocal contribution back two days later.
“J also put the scratching on the top of the song,” says Auerbach. “We would never have thought to do that but he felt compelled. It’s a collaborative record!”
Ohio Players keeps up a creative streak that began with 2019’s Let’s Rock, continued into 2021’s collection of Mississippi hill country blues covers, Delta Kream, and then on to 2022’s Dropout Boogie.
“We’ve been working at a high level recently,” Auerbach tells me. “Sharpening the blade for the last five years.”
The new album confirms the duo’s growing willingness to let other artists into their world, something that never happened when they first set out from their childhood stomping ground hoping to make it big.
Auerbach remembers how it used to be: “Well, here’s the thing,” he says. “In the past, we were never able to collaborate.
“A) because we were from the middle of nowhere and didn’t know anybody. B) because we were always too insecure to ever truly collaborate in a meaningful way.”
By the time of Delta Kream, however, Auerbach and Carney opened the door to authentic hill country blues musicians who greatly enhanced their endeavours.
Then Dropout Boogie ushered in cameos by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Reigning Sound’s Greg Cartwright and their producer pal Angelo Petraglia, best known for his work with Kings Of Leon.
‘Beck was integral in our early development’
Auerbach picks up the story again: “When the time came to do our next album, we just continued with the process.
“Pat said, ‘Maybe we should dig into the Rolodex a little deeper’. And Beck was the first name.”
Why him in particular? I venture. “Because we’d been such huge fans for so long and he was integral in our early development,” he replies.
In 2003, The Black Keys were introduced to Beck at a Saturday Night Live after-party in New York. They gave him a copy of their newly minted second album, Thickfreakness and, to their delight, he responded by asking them to be the support act on his next tour of the States.
“Beck gave us a really good shot early on,” says Auerbach. “It was huge for us. We’d never played big beautiful outdoor places like Red Rocks before.
“He was right in the middle of the Sea Change record, which I absolutely loved, so I got to hear those songs every night in these echoey amphitheatres — it was amazing.
“He also introduced us to all these people in the music world who we’re still in contact with to this day.”
Among those playing in Beck’s band on that tour was Greg Kurstin, who went on to produce albums by Macca, Adele, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz and many more big acts. He co-writes the Ohio Players emphatic finale, Every Time You Leave.
We could understand where he was coming from. It was snotty, it was bratty, it was smart, it was stupid
The Black Keys on Beck
The Black Keys had been Beck fans since the mid-Nineties when, as teenagers, they started making music in a dingy basement in Akron.
They marvelled at the creative spark behind albums such as Mellow Gold and Odelay which were wonderfully unconstrained by convention.
Auerbach continues: “He showed us possibilities because we grew up in the hip-hop generation.
“So hearing hip-hop drums with slide guitar, I was like, ‘Oh, s**t, I understand both those things’.”
He also loved the “thrift store chic aesthetic” of Beck’s videos which, he says, had a “skater, handheld quality”.
“Being two kids from Akron everything about it was appealing to us.
“We could understand where he was coming from. It was snotty, it was bratty, it was smart, it was stupid.
Carney recalls the first time he heard Beck’s breakthrough song Loser.
“I was 14, in my mom’s car, and my ears perked up but it was Odelay that blew me away. My uncle Ralph Carney, a musician who played with Tom Waits and a bunch of people, had been sending me cassettes in the mail of really far out stuff.
“He was introducing me to Can, The Shaggs, Sixties comedy routines and lounge music. It was a broad, eclectic mix.
“And Odelay was like hearing someone taking a lot of these influences and making something amazing and pleasing to the ear.”
Since touring together in 2003, Beck and The Black Keys “always talked about working together” and, 20 years later, they finally managed it.
From day one at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Studios in Nashville, they knew they were onto something special.
They wrote This Is Nowhere, which became the opening song on Ohio Players.
It starts with a gloriously scuzzy baseline before flowering into a rip-roaring singalong. “That set the album in motion,” says Auerbach. “It was music discovery, interaction and collaboration — everything that we’ve been into recently.
“We’ve always gotten along with Beck. We’re studio rats and so is he. We’re there to serve the songs. That’s why we wrote so many with him and why it felt like second nature.”
Carney loved working with him, too, and says: “He’s the kind of guy who will actually listen to a CD if you hand it to him. He’ll follow through.
‘Studio the size of a broom closet’
“If you write a song with him, he’ll call you two weeks later just to change two words.
“He’s a perfectionist. It was a good combination because Dan and I are the opposite,” he adds, alluding to The Black Keys’ desire to keep things rough round the edges.
This brings us to the other very special guest on Ohio Players, a certain Noel Thomas David Gallagher.
“He was also at the top of our list but we didn’t know him,” admits Auerbach.
“We reached out and his people said, ‘He doesn’t do that type of thing but we’ll ask’.
“We crossed our fingers and a few days later, we heard he’d be interested but we’d have to go to him. So we booked flights and a week at our favourite hotel in London.”
They spent three days with Gallagher at Liam Watson’s Toe Rag studios in Hackney, known for its old-school recording techniques.
Auerbach says: “It’s the size of a couple of broom closets. Noel was sat to my left playing his Gibson 335, Pat was on the drum kit and our friend Leon Michels was on a weird little German keyboard.”
The sessions produced a song a day, the Beatlesesque On The Game, the down and dirty Only Love Matters and airy You’ll Pay with a great Auerbach falsetto.
“Pat and I were absolutely comfortable sitting back and letting Noel do his thing, to flex his superpower,” continues the singer. “He would endlessly cycle through chords and we would wait until he was satisfied with the sound.”
Carney offers his perspective: “Of course Dan and I are fans of Oasis, not just for their music but for the brothers’ sense of humour.
“Even when Noel was really focusing, he would make everybody laugh.
“Watching him cycle through transitionary chords, you could see his insane talent — and he lets you know he has it!”
Carney reveals that they considered pushing for a fourth track with Gallagher but decided that three was enough.
He says: “My biggest fear was trying to do another song and it sucked — and that being Noel’s last memory of us.”
As a postscript to their fruitful trip to Britain, Auerbach tells this funny anecdote.
“Toe Rag Studios is very cold and dingy but in a heartwarming way. The fact that it’s bare bones is its appeal and it’s why we had so much success there.
“But as Noel was leaving on the last day, the owner said, ‘Well, we’ll see you next time Noel!’ And he replied, ‘You’re not going to see me again, mate!’ ”
Auerbach accepts that the combination of The Black Keys and Fab Four superfan Gallagher was likely to produce a song with a Beatles vibe, hence On The Game.
“I came from a Beatles household,” he says. “Before I’d even heard Oasis, I knew every Beatles song. Before I knew I wanted to be a musician, I knew them — they’re part of my vocabulary.”
Having focused on their guest musicians, it’s time to ask Auerbach and Carney about their enduring relationship with each other.
The older I get, the more I appreciate the special connection that Pat and I have. It’s like we won the lottery
Ohio Players arrives at the same time as an unvarnished, officially sanctioned documentary about their journey called This Is A Film About The Black Keys, charting euphoric highs and crashing lows.
“It’s very squirm-worthy,” says Auerbach. “I’m glad I don’t have to watch it again. Ha! Ha!
“It tells our story, more or less, and maybe it’s interesting to young bands who can learn from the ups and downs. We didn’t want to make a movie that’s boring.”
Of Carney, he says: “The older I get, the more I appreciate the special connection that Pat and I have. It’s like we won the lottery.
“We didn’t know how to wield the power when we started. Then things got too big and we didn’t know how to pump the brakes and take care of ourselves.
“But now we’re in such a good place that I feel we can do this indefinitely. We’re in the groove.”
Of Auerbach, Carney says: “We’re closer now than we’ve ever been.
“Moments of success can be overwhelming and highly stressful but we’ve been lucky enough to figure things out.
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“It’s not just about support and understanding. We have a similar work ethic, similar tastes and we’re not afraid to express an opinion.”
Those teenage wannabes have come a long way. They are from Ohio and they are certainly Players.
