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William Shatner Music Albums

William Shatner is best known as an actor who has portrayed Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, and Denny Crane. But he's also had a somewhat infamous career as a "singer." He's released several albums over the decade. I'm going to provide a list of his albums along with some commentary, but first, I have to share the greatest YouTube video of William Shatner the music of all time:

I could watch that video over and over again and never get tired of it.

Here's an overview of the William Shatner albums you could collect if you're that kind of completist:

The Transformed Man (1968)

William Shatner Albums: The Transformed ManWilliam Shatner's debut album, The Transformed Man, was released by Decca Records in 1968. At the time, Shatner was still starring as Captain Kirk on the television series Star Trek. Some more cynical types might suspect that the Shat and the record company were trying to cash in on his fame as a television star, but we don't really believe that, do we?

The Tranformed Man is considered by most people as one of the worst albums ever made, and one rarely hears any of the tracks from the album except when they're being made fun of. Shatner doesn't really sing on this album; he does more of a spoken-voice combination of poetry interpretation with music in the background. (And he combines classic poetry with pop music during these interpretations.)

Here's a listing of the tracks on the album:

  1. King Henry the Fifth - Elegy for the Brave
  2. The Theme from Cyrano - Mr. Tambourine Man
  3. Hamlet - It Was a Very Good Year
  4. Romeo and Juliet - How Insensitive
  5. Spleen - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
  6. The Transformed Man

If you click on the ones that are linked, you can hear for yourself just how great/awful (depending on your point of view) each of these tracks are.

William Shatner "Live!" (1977)

William Shatner Albums: William Shatner LiveWilliam Shatner "Live!: was Shatner's second album, released almost ten years after his first album, The Transformed Man. Again, Shatner doesn't really sing--he speaks, with musical accompaniment. According to the liner notes, this was performed live at Texas A&M University. Gig 'em, Aggies.

Here's a track listing:

  1. "Earthbound" (Irene Jackson) "Go With Me" / "High Flight"
  2. " The Flight of Man" / "Galileo"
  3. "6 Ways To the Moon"
  4. "War of the Worlds"
  5. "The Movie"
  6. "William Shatner -- Audience"
  7. "Starship's Facilities"
  8. "Peter" (time 4:18)
  9. "Summer Spaceship"
  10. "Three-Way Alchemy -- The Brain" / "Finale"

Most of these tracks are pretty long. The album actually consisted of two gold disks, and the total run time was 80 minutes long.

Spaced Out: The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner (1997)

William Shatner Albums: Spaced Out - The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy and William ShatnerI have fond memories of buying this one as a gag gift for a buddy of mine when it first came out. There's nothing new on the album; it's literally a "best of" that takes music from Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner albums that have gone before. And as cheesy as some of Shatner's singles were, he'd be hard-pressed to come up with something cheesier than "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy. You do come away from this album feeling like the two actors had fun making the records though.

Here's the track listing:

  1. King Henry the Fifth - William Shatner
  2. Elegy for the Brave - William Shatner
  3. Highly Illogical - Leonard Nimoy
  4. If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song) - Leonard Nimoy
  5. Mr. Tambourine Man - William Shatner
  6. Where Is Love - Leonard Nimoy
  7. Music to Watch Space Girls By - Leonard Nimoy
  8. It Was a Very Good Year - William Shatner
  9. Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town - Leonard Nimoy
  10. Hamlet - William Shatner
  11. A Visit to a Sad Planet - Leonard Nimoy
  12. Abraham, Martin, and John -Leonard Nimoy
  13. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - William Shatner
  14. If I Was a Carpenter - Leonard Nimoy
  15. How Insensitive - William Shatner
  16. I'd Love Making Love to You - Leonard Nimoy
  17. Put a Little Love in Your Heart - Leonard Nimoy
  18. Sunny - Leonard Nimoy
  19. Gentle on My Mind - Leonard Nimoy
  20. I Walk the Line - Leonard Nimoy
  21. Ballad of Bilbo Baggins - Leonard Nimoy
  22. Everybody's Talkin' - Leonard Nimoy
  23. Both Sides Now - Leonard Nimoy
  24. Spock Thoughts - Leonard Nimoy

You can listen to samples of all of these on the Amazon page for the album.

Has Been (2004)

William Shatner Albums - Has BeenAfter reading about and listening to some of the above "music," you might be surprised to learn that Shatner's albume Has Been actually received quite a bit of critical acclaim. The album consists mostly of prose-poems written by William Shatner, which were then put to music by Shatner and Ben Folds (of all people).

Has Been also features guest appearances from several notable vocalists, including:

  • Aimee Mann
  • Joe Jackson
  • Lemon Jelly
  • Henry Rollins

Here's the track listing for Has Been:

  1. "Common People"
  2. "It Hasn't Happened Yet"
  3. "You'll Have Time"
  4. "That's Me Trying"
  5. "What Have You Done"
  6. "Together"
  7. "Familiar Love"
  8. "Ideal Woman"
  9. "Has Been"
  10. "I Can't Get Behind That"
  11. "Real"

You can listen to samples from Has Been at Amazon too.

William Shatner has had an interesting career in the world of music, to say the least.

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