Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck.Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage; David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
A rep for Depp did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
During Wilson’s time in Missouri state penitentiary in 1964, he met folklorist Bruce Jackson who documented his poetry and toasts — which eventually made it onto Jackson’s 1974 bookGet Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me.Two years later, he released an album of the same name.
In “Hobo Ben,” Wilson wrote: “Ladies of culture and beauty so refined, is there one among you that would grant me wine?/I’m raggedy I know, but I have no stink/and God bless the lady that’ll buy me a drink./Heavy-hipted Hattie turned to Nadine with a laugh/and said, What that funky motherf—er really need, child, is a bath.”
Meanwhile, in Depp and Beck’s song, they sing “I’m raggedy, I know, but I have no stink,” later adding “God bless the lady that’ll buy me a drink” and “what that funky motherf—er really needs, child, is a bath.”
“The only two lines I could find in the whole piece that [Depp and Beck] contributed are ‘big time motherf—er’ and ‘bust it down to my level’, " Jackson, a professor at the University of Buffalo, toldRolling Stone. “Everything else is from Slim’s performance in my book. I’ve never encountered anything like this. I’ve been publishing stuff for 50 years, and this is the first time anybody has just ripped something off and put his own name on it.”
The album credits only cite Depp and Beck as songwriters, and make no mention of Wilson, Jackson or the book.
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Last month, Depp and Beckreleased their album, titled18, on July 15.
The duo also releasedan official music videofor “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr,” their first single off the new album. Depp previouslyteased the release of the song on Instagram.
“It’s an extraordinary honor to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats and someone I am now privileged enough to call my brother,” theSweeney Toddactor said in a release.
“I haven’t had another creative partner like him for ages,” Beck added of Depp. “He was a major force on this record.” The British musician joked, “I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it’s a hard thing for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock and roll.”
Depp’s recent performances with Beck across Europe come weeks after his defamation trial against ex-wifeAmber Heard.
In June,Depp won all three defamation claimsin his case against Heard, 36, over her 2018 op-ed about coming forward as a survivor of domestic abuse.
The jury awarded the actor $15 million in damages but Heard will only have to pay $10.35 million due to Virginia law capping punitive damages (the judge reduced the amount).
Additionally, the seven-person jury awarded Heard $2 million in damages for her counterclaims against Depp.
A source previouslytold PEOPLEthat Depp has “moved on” since the verdict, saying, “He is now able to get back to what he loves doing.”
“He enjoys performing and has a busy summer ahead,” the insider added. “He is also looking forward to continue working. He just wants his career back. He loves filming.”
source: people.com
