A collection of the most surprising songs William Shatner has covered
As has long been known, William Shatner is a man of many talents, and even at the age of 91, he continues to keep his fans on their toes. Of course, he is most famous for his role as Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. However, he has enjoyed a much more extensive career than one solely concerned with the adventures of the USS Enterprise.
Television is the area where Shatner has been busiest. In this realm, he has featured in hit shows such as The Twilight Zone, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 3rd Rock from the Sun and Boston Legal. Elsewhere, he’s guest starred as himself in a range of other long-running titles, including Futurama and The Big Bang Theory. As for the world of movies, outside of the many Star Trek-related romps he’s been in, he’s lent his talents to the likes of Miss Congeniality and DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story.
Despite his active acting career, though, for many fans of Shatner, the highlight of his work comes in the form of his musical flourishes. He started his life as a recording artist back in 1968 with his album The Transformed Man. A covers record, the songs on it included some of the biggest of the day, including The Beatles’s ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’.
However, these were not standard covers. They saw Shatner open the tracks with a monologue from a classic piece of literature before turning the songs into spoken word pieces, backed by inventive musical scores that pushed the originals in new directions.
At other points in his musical carer, Shatner has taken on a host of other classics such as Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Learning to Fly’, David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Nevertheless, outside of these mainstream hits, Shatner has also undertaken reworks of some more leftfield – but no less cherished tracks. These have shown him to be a fan of all things musical, from electronic to indie, and we hope that he continues to deliver covers that pluck from such a wide berth of genres, as there’s real imagination displayed.
There is an argument to be made that Shatner’s best musical flourish came in January 2018. This was his rendition of the psychobilly masterclass, ‘Garbageman’ by The Cramps. Recorded for Dr. Demento’s compilation Covered In Punk, the cover retains the original’s bite whilst Shatner’s vocals are truly demented, giving the late frontman of The Cramps, Lux Interior, a run for his money.
At other points, Shatner has blown fans away with covers of Pulp’s Britpop anthem ‘Common People’, The Byrds’ psychedelic masterpiece ‘Mr. Spaceman’, and Hawkwind’s thunderous piece of space rock, ‘Silver Machine’. He’s even undertaken pieces by The Tea Party and Golden Earring.
Clearly, as with his acting, when it comes to music, there’s nothing that William Shatner won’t try. This has produced one of the most consistently surprising recording careers to date, and whilst it might be deemed by many to be a joke, this is not the case. Shatner has proven that he is a musician of worth. Whilst most of his surprising covers came on 2011’s Seeking Major Tom, there are unexpected turns to be found in every chapter of his music career.
Duly, we’ve compiled a collection of some of the most surprising songs William Shatner has covered. Find it below.
A collection of the most surprising songs William Shatner has covered:
- The Cramps – ‘Garbageman’
- Pulp – ‘Common People’
- The Byrds – ‘Mr. Spaceman’
- Golden Earring – ‘Twilight Zone’
- The Tea Party – ‘Empty Glass’
- Hawkwind – ‘Silver Machine’
- K.I.A. – ‘Mrs. Major Tom’
