While working on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the film's director, Gore Verbinski, and Johnny Depp began to discuss the idea of an album of sea shanties (or chanteys, as they have it) reinterpreted by modern artists. Bringing in the producer Hal Willner to helm the project, they - unsurprisingly - assembled a starry cast, ranging from those you might expect (Nick Cave, Richard Thompson) through to those you probably wouldn't (Andrea Corr, Bryan Ferry), via some you've never heard of (the pedal-steel player and Popeye soundalike Baby Gramps). Sometimes moving (Bono's Dying Sailor to His Shipmates), sometimes filthy (Loudon Wainwright's Good Ship Venus), but always intriguing.
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