Listen To Jeff Beck & Johnny Depp’s Cover Of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’
Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp have shared their cover of Venus In Furs, from their 18 album. You can listen to it below.
Written by Lou Reed, Venus In Furs first appeared on the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Jeff Beck says of the song: “I wasn’t so sure about it at first, but when I started messing around with a ring modulator on my guitar, Johnny started freaking out. He has good taste, so I went with it. I’m glad I did because this song is going to be quite powerful live.”
On 18, Beck’s first studio effort in six years, which is due out on 15 July, the artists coax unexpected performances from one another on 11 covers and two originals that touch on everything from Celtic and Motown to John Lennon, the Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground.
The result is a wild roller coaster ride through different genres where hairpin juxtapositions deliver some of the album’s biggest thrills. A remarkable example comes early on when the industrial stomp of Killing Joke’s Death And Resurrection Show gives way to the intense heartache of Dennis Wilson’s Time. Each performance stands on its own, but the sharp contrast created by sequencing them together heightens the emotional impact of both songs.
The duo recorded most of the album in Beck’s studio over three years while Depp lived on and off in the guitarist’s English cottage. Robert Adam Stevenson co-produced several tracks on the album and engineered many of the sessions remotely from Depp’s studio in Los Angeles. When the basic tracks were finished, they were fleshed out by musicians who’ve played with Beck through the years, including drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist Rhonda Smith.
The album’s cover illustration was done by Jeff’s wife, Sandra and pictures them when they were both 18. Beck says, “When Johnny and I started playing together, it really ignited our youthful spirit and creativity. We would joke about how we felt 18 again, so that just became the album title too.”