While working on last week's post on Mr. Bojangles, I discovered that among the many talented artist who have covered this tune was William Shatner. Shatner's music and spoken word career has its own Wikipedia page.
In 1968, during the glory years of Star Trek, original recipe, Shatner recorded Transformed Man. The concept of the album was to match famous poetry with contemporary pop music. Most notably he paired "Theme from Cyrano" (Edmund Rostand 1897)with "Mr. Tambourine Man" (B. Zimmerman 1965) ) and "Spleen " Charles Baudelaire 1857) with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Anonymous 1960s?)
The resulting album has been a radio, TV and now Internet sensation. Shatner's mixture of over-the-top dramatic readings and perhaps heart felt musical tributes are comedic gifts that keep on giving.
Shatner moved on from Transformed Man to record to following albums.
- William Shatner Live (1977) – live double album - Lemli Records
- Captain of the Starship - William Shatner Live! (1978) – live double album - Imperial House (This is the William Shatner Live album rereleased under a different title with different cover artwork).
- Spaced Out: The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner (1996) – compilation album -Universal (Includes 7 tracks from The Transformed Man + 17 tracks by Leonard Nimoy)
- Has Been (2004) - Shout! Factory
- Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts (2008) - JMG/Jewish Music
- Seeking Major Tom (2011) - Cleopatra Records
- Ponder the Mystery (2013) - Cleopatra Records
- Why Not Me (2018) - Heartland Records Nashville
- Shatner Claus (2018) - Cleopatra Records
- Garbageman - split 12" single with The Cramps (2019) - Demented Punk Records
In the September 21, 2004 issue of Newsweek, Shatner was asked "Doesn't it bother you that your version of 'Mr. Tambourine Man' is a camp classic?" He replied,
"Yes, in the beginning it bothered me that people singled it out and poked fun at it. They didn't know what I was doing. The album The Transformed Man is much more extensive than that song. But since people only heard that song, I went along with the joke."He went along with the joke!
Isn't that what we expect from Captain James Tiberius Kirk?
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