William Shatner’s on a musical mission, despite not being able to sing
TORONTO — When it comes to talking about his new album, William Shatner is like a kid on Christmas morning.
“I’m scared, I’m frightened, by how good I think the album is,” says the 87-year-old TV icon.
Shatner made the comments last August when he was in Toronto guest starring on the Jason Priestley/Cindy Sampson detective drama “Private Eyes.” He reprises a role he previously played on the Global series as a rival private investigator. The episode will air next year.
The new Christmas CD, “Shatner Claus,” features mainly holiday standards such as “Jingle Bells,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “White Christmas.” Earlier this year, he released a country album — “Why Not Me?” — a collaboration with Alabama’s Jeff Cook.
Two albums in one year? Not bad for a guy who admits he can’t really sing.
What the Montreal native does is interpret song lyrics as if they were poetry, wringing out meaning while surrounded by talented musicians and singers who carry the melodies. In the case of
“What About Me?” it is a blend of Shatner’s urgent, spoken-word style, infused with Cook’s country twang.
It’s an experiment in music that began in 1968. That’s when Shatner, then rocketing to fame as the captain of the starship Enterprise on the original “Star Trek,” recorded “The Transformed Man.” To reviewers at the time, his halting, high-volume take on Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” sounded like bad trips.
It was 36 years before Shatner tried again.