Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle) has put together a disc of head banging music.
It goes like this.
Put the CD in. Walk up to a wall, and starting hitting your head:
“I … can’t … believe … I’m … listening … to … this ..."
... and enjoying it.
Sony Legacy has released and remastered, “The Best of Jim Nabors.” This should not be confused with a different collection of songs, under the same title, released in 1995.
Truly, this guy brings out humor. He’s got a goofy smile. Undeniably. The pictures inside the CD jewel box all scream “seventies.”* Except for the one on the back which has a passing visual similarity to President Bill Clinton. The haircut is not, “now.”
But then, some things are timeless.
The voice coming out of this face, this mouth, surprises the hell out of you.
It should not. Nabors was “discovered” in Hollywood performing a cabaret act, according to the bio at IMDB.com.
The CD is an eclectic collection of 15 songs, including his award-winning sung rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer.”
“Sunrise, Sunset” is here, with all the gravitas it deserves. I have a strange facination of all things “Fiddler on the Roof” and so, this is a favorite.
Others include, “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of LA Mancha,” Ava Maria, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from “Carousel” and Joni Mitchell’s, “Both Sides Now.”
All but three of the songs were released before I was born.
One song on this “Best of …” CD, “Cuando Calienta El Sol/When the Sun Heats Up” is sung in Spanish for chrissakes. Not what you associate with the country bumpkin role.
I’ve never seen Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., I’ve never sat through an entire episode of the Andy Griffith Show. But I know his most famous lines. I know when I’ve seen clips, he made me laugh.
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Article comments
1 - Justene
When I was a kid, we had a Christmas album with Jim Nabors singing O Holy Night. I can still hear it with chills.
2 - Eric Olsen
the issue has always been such a large and unself-conscious voice coming out of such a dufus - he sounds more like an opera singer than a pop singer - andthe disconnect has fried many a synapse