| The Transformed Man | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1968 | |||
| Recorded | 1968 [1] | |||
| Genre | Spoken word | |||
| Length | 37:08 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Producer | Don Ralke | |||
| William Shatner chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Transformed Man is the debut album by actor William Shatner. It was originally released in 1968 by Decca Records (Cat. #DL 75043), while Shatner was still starring in the original Star Trek series, and began his musical career. The album's cover refers to Shatner as "Captain Kirk of Star Trek".
Each of the first five tracks pairs Shatner reciting a monologue from a piece of classical literature (William Shakespeare is featured three times) with a spoken word interpretation of a contemporary pop song, with either section intended to complement the other thematically. The closing title track is an entirely original composition. Shatner is accompanied on the album by dramatic orchestration and, occasionally, backing vocalists.
In the decades since its release, most of the album's tracks (particularly the song lyric readings) have been used satirically, either on compilation albums meant to showcase bad celebrity singing (the Rhino Records "Golden Throats" series) or by radio disc jockeys looking for laughs.[ citation needed ]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [3] |
In a retrospective review in 2011, Greg Prato of music database website AllMusic rated The Transformed Man four-and-a-half out of a possible five stars, although with serious reservations. He stated that when listening to the album, "it's unclear if Shatner is merely having a good time and goofing around, or if he's embarrassingly dead serious, and creating an overly indulgent work. Most of the album turns out to be a bit too tedious..." He also noted that "you cannot tell if Shatner is play-acting or painfully serious. The result is a must hear, (unintentional?) comedy classic," comparing this attraction to that of comedian Andy Kaufman. [2]
In 2000, the album was voted number 3 in the All-Time Worst Albums Ever Made from Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [4] In 2006, Q magazine ranked it No. 45 in their list of the 50 worst albums ever. [5] [6] In 2016, the website Alternative Nation crowned the album number 1 on a "Top 10 Musical Oddities" list. [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | " King Henry the Fifth /Elegy for the Brave" | William Shakespeare · Don Ralke · Frank Davenport | 6:16 |
| 2. | "Theme from Cyrano /Mr. Tambourine Man" | Edmond Rostand · Music by Don Ralke, Translation by Frank Davenport · Bob Dylan | 6:49 |
| 3. | " Hamlet /It Was a Very Good Year" | William Shakespeare · Don Ralke · Ervin Drake | 7:45 |
| 4. | " Romeo and Juliet /How Insensitive (Insensatez)" | William Shakespeare · Don Ralke · Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, English lyrics by Norman Gimbel | 6:46 |
| 5. | "Spleen/Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" | Music by Don Ralke, Words and Translation by Frank Davenport · John Lennon, Paul McCartney | 5:54 |
| 6. | "The Transformed Man" | Frank Davenport, Don Ralke | 3:38 |
Because Shakespeare's and Rostand's work had lapsed into the public domain at the time of the recording, they are not credited on the album.
A Quick One is the second studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 9 December 1966. A version of the album with an altered track listing was released under the name Happy Jack on Decca Records in April 1967 in the United States, where the song "Happy Jack" was a top 40 hit.
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#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.
The "Theme from Star Trek" is an instrumental musical piece composed by Alexander Courage for Star Trek, the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that originally aired between September 8, 1966, and June 3, 1969.
Ahead Rings Out is the debut album by British blues-rock band Blodwyn Pig, released in 1969. The band had been formed in 1969 by Mick Abrahams, the former guitarist of Jethro Tull, and sales of Ahead Rings Out rivalled those of Jethro Tull’s next album, Stand Up, reaching No. 9 on the British album chart.
William Shatner is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994).
The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites is the third album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1965. The 1999 reissue contained four previously unreleased tracks.
The Star Trek franchise, begun in 1966, has frequently included stories inspired by and alluding to the works of William Shakespeare. The science fiction franchise includes television series, films, comic books, novels and games, and has material both Star Trek canon and non-canon. Many of the actors involved have been part of Shakespearean productions, including Patrick Stewart and Christopher Plummer.
