(updated 5/1/12; look for more updates on 2012 releases soon!)
 
Here are a few more articles from around this time, on pogues.com

• 1995 Boston Irish Reporter claims that Johnny played live dates with The Popes in November.  I have never seen verification of this; any information would be appreciated!
• 1996 Daily Mirror

     "I started yelling obscenities in his direction and he walked over to me and got about an eighth of an inch from my face and just looked at me and said, 'You little turd.' That was it and I was happy." - Johnny on meeting Iggy Pop for the first time.

    Iggy Pop and Johnny go back a long way.  All the way back in the early 80's, Johnny and his band The Kids opened for Iggy.  Later, Iggy contributed music for Arizona Dream and The Brave, and acted with Johnny in Cry-Baby and Dead Man.  On December 12, 1999, Johnny played guitar on both Hollywood Affair and Nightclubbing at a live show in Paris.  Check out some screen caps and a link to YouTube videos in the Live On Stage section.
   
    This studio version of Hollywood Affair features Johnny on guitar and Iggy on vocal and guitar.  Johnny also wrote the music and co-produced the track,  (as "Scaramanga Bros.")  Please see the Discography sections for scans of the liner notes from the above CDs.  Here is a blurb from the March 15, 2001 issue of Rolling Stone mentioning the Hollywood Goes Wild! CD:


     I am looking for articles or interviews that give any detail about how Johnny came to play guitar on the song Hollywood Affair.  Please if you have any information!

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5. Vanessa Paradis: Bliss, released in France on Oct. 17, 2000

     "Vanessa pulled me away from in front of a really fast train and saved my life. Not because I was self-destructive or poisoning myself, but because I had no sense of purpose. I didn't really understand what it was all about." - Johnny on Vanessa Paradis.

     In June of 1998, Johnny went to Paris to film The Ninth Gate with Roman Polanski.  He soon met French singer-actress-model Vanessa Paradis, and they immediately became romantically involved.  Less than a year later, their daughter Lily-Rose was born; son Jack joined the family in 2002.  They currently divide their time between the South of France, LA, and their Caribbean island.

     Johnny participates on Vanessa's 2000 studio album, Bliss, on several different levels.  He plays lead guitar on the song, Firmaman, and he co-composed the music to the songs Bliss and St. Germain.  Finally, he is credited for the album's cover photography.  Scans of the cover and liner notes can be found in the Discography sections.  Johnny also directed videos for two songs from the album, Pourtant and Que fait la vie.  See the Videography section.

     I am looking for articles or interviews that give any detail about Johnny's participation on Bliss.  Please if you have any information!

     As an addendum, Vanessa released another studio album, Divinidylle, in 2007.  Although Johnny did not contribute musically to this album, he did create the cover artwork.  Check for news about Vanessa's other projects on  Vanessa Paradis de A à Z  or its English Translation. or the Johnny Depp Rocks! Vanessa Paradis page!

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6. Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers: Too Close To The Sun, recorded in LA in the fall of 2008, released on the album, Pandemonium Ensues, on March 2, 2009 (April 7, 2009 in the US).

     "Both Johnny and Vanessa bring clout, wit, charm and tunefulness to 'Pandemonium Ensues'. For that, I'm very grateful."  - Glenn Tilbrook.

     Glenn asked Johnny to perform on his album after they met at one of Glenn's gigs in LA in September of 2008.  As Glenn tells the story in an interview with ITN, "We've got Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp on the record, which was one of the last things I would've thought when we started making the record, but  I was on tour and played in Los Angeles, and Johnny and Vanessa came to see us.  And, he's very keen on my guitar playing, it turns out. And so it happened, after the tour, we were going to mix the album; Bob Clearmountain's studio is in LA so I was going back to LA to finish off the record there.  So I asked Johnny and Vanessa if they'd like to sing on it.  Vanessa did sing on it, in fact we did a duet on one of the tracks, which is great, 'cause we sung it together and it's a very sort of, emotional and lovely thing to do.  Johnny narrates one of the tracks which is an instrumental track with speaking over the top of it called Too Close To The Sun, and it was really nice.  You know, I've never met anybody, any people who were that famous before.  And it was very nice to find out that they are sort of very unaffected, lovely, ordinary people who live an extraordinary life."  In another interview with Ultimate Guitar, Glenn elaborates that on Johnny's recording, he was given "minimal instructions and free reign."  He also specifies that Vanessa's contribution is a duet with Glenn on the song Interest & Love.

     Glenn first broke the news that Johnny and Vanessa would be on the album during an interview with This Is Nottingham in October of 2008, so the recording or at least the arrangements must have been made before then.  A Teletext report erroneously stated that Johnny would be playing guitar.  Maybe next time, Glenn!

     Some more interesting links:

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7. Babybird: Unloveable, recorded circa the fall of 2009, released on the album, Ex-Maniac, on March 1, 2010

     "[Stephen Jones] is a national treasure, if you're British.  For everyone else, he's a diamond waiting to be found! Lyrically, he's black as night, brilliant and sharp as a razor."  - Johnny Depp.

     Johnny is a longtime fan of Babybird, and has known frontman Stephen Jones since the early 00's.  Here is a blurb from a December 25, 2003 interview in Rolling Stone, in which Johnny mentions him:


     Stephen had parted company with his old manager and was releasing material under the name of Death of the Neighbourhood but had no other plans to release any new material with Babybird, until Johnny introduced him to Bruce Witkin.  That eventually led to plans to record a new Babybird album, Ex-Maniac, under Witkin's Unison label.  Johnny then became involved himself, both by playing guitar on the lead single, Unloveable, and directing the music video for the song (see the JD Rocks! Videography page for more information about the video).  The news that Johnny would guest on the album was first reported by NME. In an interview with The Star (UK), Stephen says, "It's the fourth track and Johnny played guitar on Unloveable.  He came to the studio for four hours and played some stuff over the top. That was the natural one for us to do." He further elaborates in the Yorkshire Post, "Unloveable was just really easy. Johnny came to play but you just have this massive fear because even though you know him you think,’Is he going to be good?’ because he’s just coming in for a few hours and I’m not sure I’d be able to do it. He’s quite shy and unassuming, but he came in and it all happened nicely.”  In an interview with the Islington Tribune, Stephen says, "I made it in LA and it was kind of paid for by Johnny Depp – it’s the best production of any album I’ve ever had. It’s got quite an American feel to some of the songs which I didn’t plan. I hope every song I write is different but you can’t change your voice that much so that always brands it as a Babybird record."  
     In 2011, Unison and Stephen released a video of footage Stephen had taken while making Ex-Maniac.  Included is a rare look at Johnny laying down his guitar track for Unloveable.  Watch it on YouTube.


    More cool links:

• The Bad Pages interview courtesy of the French site fluctuat.net (discusses the recording sessions and some of the songs)
• The Bad Pages Interview "Johnny has been a Babybird lifesaver"
• Babybird Official Online Community
• Unison Music Home Page

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8.  Shane MacGowan & Friends: I Put A Spell On You, recorded January and February of 2010, released for download on March 7, 2010

     "He is a great actor and a great guitar player too. We played together. He really heavied it up. His guitar playing releases all of his rage and frustration. We did one song together, but forgot to record it. But it sounded like an atom bomb going off!"  - Shane MacGowan on Johnny Depp

     The news was first reported in The Sun, and later picked up by Pitchfork and other sources, that Shane MacGowan was recruiting Johnny and other friends to perform on a charity single to benefit Haitian earthquake victims.  Photographer Danny Clifford blogged that a major recording session took place in London on January 29, 2010.  Singer Paloma Faith recorded a video log that included a few small glimpses of the recording session.  However, when it became known that Johnny was in LA on and around January 30 to film a documentary about Keith Richards, it was unclear how Johnny was to participate in this project.  Clifford and others did mention that some artists would be contributing from other parts of the world.  All became clear when a Daily Mail article reported that Johnny recorded his part in LA on February 18.
     The BBC reported that MacGowan introduced the video to the single during the NME Awards in London on February 24.  By the next day, the video was posted to YouTube.  In a Late Late Show appearance in late February, Shane and his longtime partner and co-organizer of this single, Victoria Clarke, told about how the project came about.  A short Q&A on DazedDigital.com with co-organizer Gerry O'Boyle adds to the story.  The choice of I Put A Spell On You is Shane's tribute to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the song's composer, who died nearly exactly 10 years before the earthquake in Haiti.
     The single was released as a digital download on March 7, 2010.  The song features Shane MacGowan, Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie, Glen Matlock, Chrissie Hynde, Paloma Faith, and Eliza Doolittle on vocals, Johnny, James Walbourne, and Mick Jones on guitar, Cait O’Riordan on bass, Carwyn Ellis on keyboards, and Rob Walbourne on drums.  The fire hydrant (extinguisher) was “played” by Mick Jones.  Please visit the JD Rocks! Videography page for screencaps from the video.

     More great links:

• Concern Worldwide: A Song For Haiti
• Photographer Danny Clifford's Portfolio of the London recording session
• Paloma Faith's video log that features a bit of the recording session
• Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke's promotional video supporting the single

 

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9.  Vanessa Paradis:  Angora, released on the album, Tels Alain Bashung, on April 26, 2011. 

     This various artists compilation is a tribute to the French artist Alain Bashung.  Johnny also did the arrangement along with Bruce Witkin.  The track was recorded and mixed at Studio 80 by Bruce Witkin.  I'm looking for any information about this recording session!

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10.  Babybird: The Jesus Stag Night Club, recorded circa 2011, released on the album, The Pleasures Of Self Destruction, on October 31, 2011.

     "Depp is on new album track Jesus Stagnite Club. That'll put the mockers on it no doubt for cynical press."  - Stephen Jones

     Unlike Johnny's participation on Unloveable, his contribution to The Jesus Stag Night Club was not publicized at all.  The only scant information about Johnny, including some remarks by Stephen, is on Babybird's unofficial fan site, The Bad Pages, a and a September 10, 2011 tweet on Stephen's official Twitter page.  Perhaps more information will be revealed in future interviews or articles.  Meanwhile, check out the JD Rocks! Discography page for scans of the album.

     More:

• Record Collector Magazine review
• December 6, 2011 Atlas Jams article regarding controversy over the song by the Christian Coalition
• December 2011 Atlas Jams interview with Ryan Dorn and Joey Malone regarding the controversy

 

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11.  Lulu Gainsbourg:  Ballade de Melody Nelson and Sous Le Soleil Exactement, recorded in 2011, released on the album, From Gainsbourg To Lulu, on November 14, 2011.

     "Few people know this but, before becoming an actor, [Johnny] was a musician. He is a very good guitarist, he has an incredible collection of guitars." - Lulu Gainsbourg

     Lulu Gainsbourg made his first full length album in tribute to his late father, French legend Serge Gainsbourg.  The first report that Johnny and Vanessa Paradis would be involved came from a Women's Wear Daily article in January of 2011.  The article is no longer available without a subscription.  In a July 2011 Purepeople interview (read the translation here), the younger Gainsbourg says that he's known Johnny since he was 12 years old and considers him an elder brother, and that Johnny was the first to come on board for the album.  The article also mentions Vanessa Paradis' involvement, saying that she would sing on Melody Nelson while Johnny would play guitar.  
     In an August 2011 Purepeople article (read the translation here), Lulu says: "Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis are friends. For them, I thought of The Ballad of Melody Nelson because I know they have a special affection for this title. Their daughter Lily Rose Melody called in reference to this piece. And then Vanessa had worked with him."  Finally, in a December 2011 Phosphorearticle, Lulu elaborates that it is Johnny who "makes the music" (indeed, Johnny provides bass, guitar, drums and percussion in addition to vocals for the song, and the only other musicians are Bruce Witkin on drums and percussion and a string quartet).  Lulu states that the song was recorded in LA in "the studio of Johnny Depp."  The recording was done at Studio 80 and Unison Music Studios in LA.  See the full translation of the Phosphore article here.
     While some of these articles mentioned Shane MacGowan's participation on From Gainsbourg To Lulu, none had mentioned that Johnny also contributes to Shane's track, Sous Le Soleil Exactement.  However, the liner notes give credit to Johnny for drums, percussion and guitars, and once again denote that the song was recorded by Bruce Witkin at Unison.  What a great surprise to have Johnny participating on not just one track, but two!  And it's nice to see Johnny and Shane once again collaborating on a song!
     Please see the JD Rocks! Discography page for scans of the album.

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12.  Paul McCartney:  My Valentine, video version, guitar part recorded in March 2012, video premiered on April 13, 2012.

     "The boy is good."  - Paul McCartney

     In 2012, Johnny appeared along with Natalie Portman in videos for Paul McCartney's song My Valentine.  Johnny appeared in one, Natalie in another, and both of them in a third.  The videos were directed by McCartney, based on an original idea by his daughter Stella, and featured cinematography by Wally Pfister.  They featured Johnny and Natalie using American Sign Language to sign the lyrics to the song.  They were coached by Bill Pugin of The Sign Language Company.
    According to Paul McCartney's Official Site, "Johnny Depp also plays guitar in his version and recorded the track's guitar solo live.  His guitar take was then mixed and mastered into the final track.  The original guitar solo on the studio version of the song was performed by Eric Clapton."  Paul elaborated in an interview with Vanity Fair: "Also, I must just point out also that Johnny is really playing the guitar solo. That's him playing. The boy is good.” As a photo of Johnny, Paul, and Bruce Witkin was posted to Unison Music's Facebook page in March of 2012, showing part of the headstock of the same guitar that Johnny used in the video, Witkin and Unison were presumably involved in the recording and mixing of Johnny's part.  Bravo to Johnny for holding his own against Guitar God Clapton's original version!

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13.  Marilyn Manson: You're So Vain, released on the album, Born Villain, on May 1, 2012.

"If you don't recognize my personal friend ... my personal savior, my personal guitar hero ... Johnny Depp!" - Marilyn Manson

     Johnny plays drums and guitar and is a producer on this song on Marilyn Manson's album Born Villain.  Bruce Witkin plays guitar, bass and keyboards, and Marilyn Manson plays guitar and keyboards; both coproduce.  Jason Sutter also plays drums.  Johnny's son Jack reportedly plays guitar, as well, though he's not formally credited.  Witkin and Keenan Wyatt recorded the song at Studio 1480.
     From MTV UK:  "We did a cover version together of a song which we thought was ironic for each other,” Manson continued: “He played drums and lead guitar, and I played guitar and sang. It’s a bonus track on my record and the video will probably be us looking at each other like a mirror.  Johnny’s son Jack – whose birthday I’m gonna be performing at – was in the room and he actually played on the song too. It’s pretty cool.”
     From Fuse.tv:  "...we've known each other for years. I've spent a lot of time with him, but we've never worked on music together before. He called me up a couple months ago and said, 'Hey, do you wanna come over and work on something?' "We started playing blues songs and then I said, 'My record's done, but we should really do a song to add to the end of it, as if it were a movie.'  It's like the movie's over and this is playing at the end title credits. So it's sort of the song that adds to it."
     From Billboard:  "I've known Johnny Depp since I was 19. He called me up a couple months ago and said, 'Hey, do you want to get together and record something?' . . . We recorded 'You're So Vain' because we thought the song would be an amusing complement to the record -- not a piece of the record as a whole but, as a bonus track, it really states the obvious about where he and I both are as artists."
     Please see the JD Rocks! Discography page for scans of the album.

More Links:

• March 19, 2012 Huffington Post article
• March 19, 2012 Hollywood Reporter article

 

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14.  PLACEHOLDER:  Patti Smith:  Banga, released on the album, Banga, on June 5, 2012.

"I think I might play on Patti Smith's next record... just a bit, a song or something." - Johnny Depp, in a June 30, 2009 radio interview with Edith Bowman

"There is an old Stella acoustic guitar that he cannot resist picking up and strumming quietly.  Johnny is working 12-hours shifts.  The day begins in the makeup trailer, long before the morning rush hour. Downtime is divided between press calls, stacks of pictures to sign, scripts to read, and family responsibilities- ever present and ever embraced. There is also the occasional hour of stolen sleep, often with his guitar resting on his chest." - Patti Smith

     Johnny "plays some guitar" on Patti's upcoming album, and it is reported to be the title track that he plays on.  Check back for updates as more information becomes available!

Links:

• September 8, 2010 La Nazione article (English Translation) mentioning Johnny's involvment on Patti's upcoming album
• April 2012 Uncut article
• April 13, 2012 Digital Spy article

 

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