Jack White was part of a panel at Yale last night that also included pioneering rock critic Greil Marcus plus fellow music biz figures Dean Blackwood, Scott Blackwood, and Adia Victoria. The occasion was the imminent release of The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume Two, the reissue project from White’s Third Man Records and Dean Blackwood’s Revenant Records. Here’s a summary from The Yale Daily News, where a young Rory Gilmore once plied her trade:

The event primarily consisted of a listening session in which each speaker selected two songs from the Paramount Records collection to showcase the record label’s cultural impact. White had the audience listen to a pair of blues songs — Blind Blake’s “Diddy Wah Diddy” and Charley Patton’s “Spoonful Blues.” Marcus followed the blues theme in choosing “Hard Time Killin’ For Blues” by Skip James and “Last Kind Word Blues” by Geeshie Wiley. White said he chose “Spoonful Blues” because of the song’s emotional intensity as well as its blend of religious and secular themes.

And here’s a little more from White:

White highlighted the profound but unintended historical consequences of Paramount’s recordings, given the fact that the company never expected its records to be of any cultural value or influence.

“What’s beautiful about Paramount, though, is … the accidental capturing of American culture for the sake of a dollar,” White said.

The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume Two is out 11/18 on Third Man/Revenant. Pre-order it here.