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Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have been accused of stealing an incarcerated man’s poem for the lyrics of their music Unhappy Motherf—kin’ Parade, the fourth observe on their collaborative album, 18.
Rolling Stone first reported that the music seems to have most of the identical phrases because the poem Hobo Ben by Slim Wilson, the pseudonym of a self-proclaimed “cheat” and “pimp” who frolicked in jail for homicide and armed theft in Sixties.
A spokesperson for Depp and Beck informed Rolling Stone they’re assessing the validity of the claims concerning Unhappy Motherf—kin’ Parade.
“We’re reviewing the inquiry regarding the music Unhappy Motherf—kin’ Parade on the 18 album by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp. If applicable, extra copyright credit will probably be added to all types of the album,” the assertion stated.
Wilson, whose actual id is just not identified, met folklorist Bruce Jackson on the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1964. Wilson reportedly shared various poems and toasts — a type of traditionally Black poetry that tells heroic tales in an typically comedic manner — with Jackson.
In Jackson’s 1974 ebook about toasts, known as Get Your Ass within the Water and Swim Like Me, he included many works attributed to Wilson. In 1976, Jackson recorded an album primarily based on the ebook, on which Wilson performs a number of of the toasts.
The toast Hobo Ben describes the titular character at a celebration the place he says, “Girls of tradition and wonder so refined, is there one amongst you that will grant me wine?/I’m raggedy I do know, however I’ve no stink/and God bless the woman that’ll purchase me a drink.’/Heavy-hipted Hattie turned to Nadine with fun/and stated, ‘What that funky motherf—ker really want, little one, is a shower.’”
The music Unhappy Motherf—kin’ Parade options most of the identical strains. On the observe, Depp says “I’m raggedy, I do know, however I’ve no stink,” “God bless the woman that’ll purchase me a drink,” and “what that funky motherf—ker actually wants, little one, is a shower.”
Depp and Beck are the one songwriters credited on the observe.
“The one two strains I might discover in the entire piece that [Depp and Beck] contributed are ‘huge time motherf—ker’ and ‘bust it right down to my degree,’” Jackson, who’s now a professor on the College of Buffalo, informed Rolling Stone.
“The whole lot else is from Slim’s efficiency in my ebook,” he continued. “I’ve by no means encountered something like this. I’ve been publishing stuff for 50 years, and that is the primary time anyone has simply ripped one thing off and put his personal title on it.”
Jackson’s son, Michael Lee Jackson (who’s a lawyer), stated they’re presumably pursuing authorized motion, although no such submitting has been made.
“It’s simply not believable, for my part, that Johnny Depp or anyone else might have sat down and crafted these lyrics with out nearly wholly taking them from some model of my father’s recording and/or ebook the place they appeared,” Michael informed Rolling Stone.
Although Jackson owns the copyright to the recording of Hobo Ben, since Wilson informed Jackson he discovered the toast from his father (as most toasts are handed down orally), proving authorship could also be tough. (Jackson has by no means claimed to be the writer of Hobo Ben and has traditionally shared income with writers and performers like Wilson.)
For that reason, the accusations about Unhappy Motherf—kin’ Parade might show to be extra of an moral dilemma than a authorized one.
Jackson hopes Depp and Beck will change the songwriting credit score to incorporate Wilson.
“I don’t know if this file is promoting. I’ve seen some opinions that I’d be very embarrassed to have gotten had they been my album,” he informed Rolling Stone. “However whether it is promoting, Johnny Depp is making some huge cash on it. Ought to it go to him, or ought to it go to some place that helps the individuals who produced this tradition?”
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