At age 93, William Shatner isn’t done making albums. Not by a long shot

Captain Kirk loves to make albums. After a agelong hiatus aft nan merchandise of nan cult/outsider euphony favourite The Transformed Man successful 1968, he recorded Has Been successful 2004, an medium that had an unexpected alt-rock power deed pinch his screen of Pulp’s Common People, William Shatner’s euphony output has been prolific, particularly since 2011.

If you’re counting, he now has a twelve albums, not counting compilations and bootlegs. His latest merchandise was done successful conjunction pinch Ben Folds, nan shaper of Has Been, and marks a return to thing much orchestral.

Shatner is nary alien to performing this way. We tin spell backmost to 2008 for Exodus: An Oratorio successful Three Parts recorded pinch nan Arkansas Symphony. And yes, it does show nan communicative of nan Jews’ travel retired of Egypt. This time, it’s a capacity astatine nan Kennedy Center recorded pinch nan National Symphony Orchestra entitled So Fragile, So Blue, his 12th album.

And there’s much to come.

Alan Cross: When my woman and I watched sum of your travel into abstraction aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin [October 13, 2021], I turned to her and said “We’re going to get different medium retired of this”…

William Shatner: (Laughs)

AC: …and it turns retired I was right.

WS: It’s an medium and I filmed it arsenic well. [Note: Shatner paid for nan signaling retired of pocket.] There’s a tv documentary coming, too.

AC: This came together very quickly. The Blue Horizon ngo was connected October 13, 2021. This was recorded nan pursuing April.

WS: I person a book retired location called Boldy Go, and I deliberation nan taxable is “the beingness is taking attraction of me.” Strange things person happened. For example, I was doing an arena successful upstate New York. About 5 years ago, a 10-year-old kid pinch an oculus rumor showed up [Shatner describes a young man pinch oculus information akin to that of Thom Yorke of Radiohead]. Then 5 years later, he appeared again. I told personification I wish I’d knew nan kid was coming because location was an oculus expert astatine 1 of these events immoderate clip ago. “If could only put nan expert and nan kid together, I cognize thing magical would happen. I don’t cognize his sanction aliases wherever he is.”

We were taking pictures afterward and nan kid was there. And down maine was a grey-haired man: nan doctor! I put him together pinch nan mother of nan kid. There was thing astir nary insurance, which is why nan kid’s oculus couldn’t beryllium treated. The expert said he could help. I was privy to a miracle.

In nan aforesaid magical way, this medium came together. I get a telephone telephone from Ben Folds. “I’m nan creator head of The Kennedy Center.” Would you for illustration to travel and perform?” My squad — shaper Dan Miller and songwriter Rob Sharenow — wrote a bid of songs and we recorded this album. It’s taken truthful agelong — are you alert really analyzable this is? Seventy musicians, nan national — it went connected and on.

AC: It sounds daunting.

WS: Performing successful beforehand of a symphony orchestra is an creator enactment successful itself. Seventy instruments are going and nan performer has to cognize nan cues erstwhile to travel in. I’m opinionated successful front. I can’t spot nan cues from nan conductor. I had nary idea. So successful nan hr aliases 2 we had for rehearsal connected nan Thursday, I realized that I’m lost!

AC: Wait: You had 2 hours rehearsal?

WS: I had three. I had 2 hours connected Thursday and 1 hr successful nan early day for a Friday evening performance. I person nary thought wherever to go, erstwhile to travel in. No idea! You’d deliberation that’s a spot of an exaggeration, but it’s not.

AC: When you perceive to this record, location are tons and tons of cues wherever you person to travel successful exactly correct.

WS: They quickly put up 2 teleprompters [for nan lyrics]. The feline who wrote nan orchestrations sat correct down beforehand successful nan first row, 5 feet away. He gave maine “fast” aliases “slow” signs. And that’s what we did. We began and he’d move his digit to nan right, saying spell faster and past to nan near to spell slower.

There’s 1 opus called To nan Bayou wherever I make a correction — I travel successful excessively early astatine nan extremity — but again, nan beingness takes attraction of me. The orchestra kept playing [and nan opus vanished correctly.] It was unbelievable magical infinitesimal successful time.

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AC: If you perceive to The Kingsmen’s type of Louie Louie, location are 2 aliases 3 blatant mistakes. Mistakes tin consequence successful awesome beauty and awesome success.

WS: If you’re lucky. If you spell pinch it, sometimes those mistakes consequence successful an creator appreciation.

AC: Sometimes beauty is successful nan mistakes.

WS: That’s right. Sometimes beauty is a mistake.

AC: There’s precocious fidelity pinch this recording. The CD is simply a hybrid CD/SACD disc. You person a two-channel stereo operation positive a five-channel Super Audio CD operation that tin beryllium played connected a typical SACD player. That’s rather uncommon these days.

WS: The Kennedy Center accumulation group are very weird, to put it kindly.

AC: Your repertoire of albums includes rock, classical rock, alt-rock, country, Shakespearean interpretations, a narration based connected nan Book of Exodus, a children’s medium …

WS: Blues.

AC: A blues record. And a Christmas album.

WS: And each of them sewage very popular.

AC: We request an physics creation medium from you next.

WS: I’m moving connected an medium now pinch Robert Sharenow and Brad Paisley. It’s astir an thought of mine. It’s not astir romanticist love. It’s astir nan unusual things I love. For example, I emotion my wellness because without health, you can’t springiness love. I emotion my chemoreceptor because nan scents of things punctual maine of different things. It’s things that lead to 1 benignant of emotion aliases another.

AC: Will this beryllium a state record?

WS: I don’t know. Brad is specified a brilliant musician and I dream that he makes immoderate of these songs into state euphony but besides into different kinds of music. One of nan songs is called I Love Music and nan lyrics are aimed astatine different types of music. We’re going into a workplace successful Los Angeles successful nan adjacent fewer weeks pinch Brad and his guitar and he will put melodic euphony to it. And wherever it’s appropriate, we’ll capable it in.

AC: I person 1 different request. Once this medium is done, please telephone up your friend Henry Rollins and do a hardcore record.

WS: That’s funny. Henry and I are connected a opus connected Has Been. It’s a spoken connection piece. It’s a really nosy hit song.

AC: OK, but I want a hardcore punk grounds from you.

[This question and reply was ever-so-slightly edited for magnitude and clarity.]

Alan Cross is simply a broadcaster pinch Q107 and 102.1 nan Edge and a commentator for Global News.

Subscribe to Alan’s Ongoing History of New Music Podcast now connected Apple Podcast aliases Google Play

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