Depp to play on lost Dylan album

Johnny Depp is to play guitar on a new album based on ‘lost’ Bob Dylan lyrics.

Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James are among the other artists featuring on Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, an album of “lost” Bob Dylan lyrics set to music, produced by T Bone Burnett.

Johnny filled in for Costello on the track Kansas City when the British musician was unable to make it to one recording session as he had a gig, NME.com reported.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star had gone down to visit his pal T Bone and watch the rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Capitol Studios – and ended up playing the guitar on the song.

T Bone said of the project: “Great music is best created when a community of artists gets together for the common good. There is a deep well of generosity and support in the room at all times, and that reflects the tremendous generosity shown by Bob in sharing these lyrics with us.”

Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes also feature on the record.

The artists have created music for two dozen unfinished Dylan songs and the album is due for release this autumn, alongside a documentary called Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, directed by Sam Jones. The lyrics come from Dylan’s 1967 Basement Tapes sessions.

Filmmaker Sam said: “The discovery of these previously unknown Bob Dylan songs that were thought lost since 1967 is the stuff of Hollywood fiction and a find of truly historical proportions. It is a unique opportunity to film T Bone and these great artists as they collaborate with a young Bob Dylan, and each other, to create new songs and recordings. These days and nights in the studio have been nothing less than magical.”