William Shatner has another record coming out:
- William Shatner is set to release a new album.
Guest musicians on the new disc, which was produced by Ben Folds of the Ben Folds Five, include former Black Flag lead singer Henry Rollins and country star Brad Paisley.
The new album isn't the first foray into recording for the Montreal-born actor best known for playing James T. Kirk, the captain of the starship Enterprise on the original Star Trek series.
In 1968, Shatner released his first album The Transformed Man, which includes spoken-word cover versions of the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man.
Although Shatner intended The Transformed Man to be taken seriously, it's become something of a camp classic.
The Hip Surgery Music Guide, an internet guide that celebrates offbeat musical genres, says the songs can be taken as examples of "either impassioned intensity or pompous overacting." [CBC]
Can he help it if he articulates well and with gusto?
Article comments
1 - Zudfunck
How did Shatner even Pop-up on your Radar screen? I mean, come on...I am glad he doesnt do those Priceline.com commercials. That dude's 15 minutes ran out long ago!...Z
2 - Mark Saleski
so Shatner was either making fun of his own 'talents' in those priceline ads...in which case the new cd might be kinda fun...or he wasn't...which scares the crap outa me.
what's next, Shatner poetry published on Rollins' 2.13.61?
3 - Jim Carruthers
You really need to see "Free Enterprise" to fully appreciate the Shatner Experience.
If you get the DVD, you find out that they wrote the movie around Shatner (who plays "Bill Shatner" in the movie) before they secured his services. If you are a first time filmaker, don't do that.
The movie includes as a plot element Shatner's efforts to do a one-man version of Shakespeare's "Julius Ceasar" and includes his rap version of Marc Antony's solioquy.
Apparently there is a sequel.
Shatner rules, since how many times in the last year has your name and the phrase "horse semen" been in the news?
4 - Eric Olsen
Shatner is a popular culture empire unto himself and has had a nice second career making fun of himself without ever getting as silly as Leslie Nielson.
5 - JR
"so Shatner was either making fun of his own 'talents' in those priceline ads...in which case the new cd might be kinda fun...or he wasn't...which scares the crap outa me."
Actually, it's not that clear cut. People who have met him aren't sure if even he knows whether he's serious or not. Shatner seems to live in some sort of Schroedingeran indeterminate state between self-parody and self-aggrandizement.
6 - visualsimplicity
Shatner rocks! Without him, what would Airplane II be?
7 - Jim Carruthers
It wouldn't be inappropriate to point out that both William Shatner and Leslie Neilson are Canadian. And both have moved their carereer forward via comedy.
8 - David
I think that he's funniest when he's serious. When I saw him on the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, I got the feeling that he was working a bit too hard to add "comedian" to his renaissance-man self-image.
Now to click on the links. Here's hoping for sound samples.
9 - David
I would like to rephrase that as "add a comedian knotch to his renaissance man belt." Much more poetic, don't you think?