You are listening to a highlight montage of songs from Rogue's Gallery Featuring:
Cape Cod Girls - Baby Gramps
Turkish Revelry - Loudon Wainwright III
Fire Down Below - Nick Cave
Mingulay Boat Song - Richard Thompson
Blood Red Roses - Sting
Rolling Sea - Eliza Carthy
A Dying Sailor To His Shipmates - Bono
Boney Was A Warrior - Jack Shit
Lowlands Low - Bryan Ferry w/ Antony
What do We Do With A Drunken Sailor - David Thomas
"The ocean: Its all about the vast blue that engulfs two thirds of the planet. The human being cast against that abyss creates an interesting bit of perspective. I think the sailors of the time were dancing with death, and these were their tunes. They resonate with people on some internal level that is not immediately obvious because its not in our memory, its in our blood. It operates on a cellular level. Its what makes us feel so alone."
--Gore Verbinski
Film director GORE VERBINSKI, actor JOHNNY DEPP and music producer HAL WILLNER have joined forces with ANTI RECORDS for the truly extraordinary two-CD set ROGUES GALLERY: PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS. Due out August 22, the collection is filled with contemporary reinterpretations of songs from a genre of music that has all but disappeared. BONO, STING, NICK CAVE, BRYAN FERRY, LOU REED, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, RICHARD THOMPSON, GAVIN FRIDAY, VAN DYKE PARKS, ANDREA CORR and RUFUS WAINWRIGHT are only a few of the distinguished artists who turn in uncompromising and honest performances that illuminate the power of traditional sea songs.
The idea for ROGUES GALLERY originated when Verbinski and Depp were working on their second film together, the upcoming Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest. "I slowly became fascinated by the idea of a contemporary reinterpretation of the sea chantey, explains Verbinski. I imagined the artists that I listen to and respect doing their take on this age-old music: the song of the sea."
Verbinski then "described the project in detail to my old friend Brett Gurewitz (owner of Epitaph and Anti) who immediately understood its wondrous and strange potential. I also asked Johnny Depp if it might be something that he would like to be involved with. He has a great musical aesthetic, and as my partner in the films, his opinion is one I value. I've always believed Johnny is a musician first and the actor thing is just his day job. We met with Brett and put together a list of artists that we intended to go after, but were immediately confounded with the question: who would produce? Who would be mad enough to take this on?"
The project took shape when Hal Willner became "the captain of this vessel," says Verbinski. "From that germinating withering pubic hair of an idea, Hal set sail and returned with what you hear today. He did everything." Willner brought his knack for matching maverick musicians with extraordinary material to the project, as shown on his best-selling Disney tribute album Stay Awake and his acclaimed tributes to Kurt Weill, Charles Mingus, Nino Rota and others.
Proud of what all of the artists have brought to the album, Verbinski says that the "recordings are vibrant, inspired, rough hewn, and imperfect in that way that only perfection achieves."
ROGUE'S GALLERY has a perfect home on Anti, the Epitaph Record-affiliated label known for releasing albums by classic renegade artists like Merle Haggard, Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Says Willner: "I think this was the original punk music in an odd way. You can hear it in songs like 'Bully in the Alley' and 'A Drop of Nelsons Blood.' Its there."
