William Shatner is feeling the blues

By: H&I Staff     Posted: October 6, 2020, 3:00PM

Image: Cleopatra Records 

From rock 'n' roll, country, and even a Christmas album, there are very few genres of music for which William Shatner won't boldly go to the recording studio. That is especially true now, as of this past weekend, with the release of Shatner's debut blues album, The Blues.

Obviously, with the title itself, Shatner wanted to make no mistake of what you're getting into with his new album. While talking with ABC Audio, he did shed some light on his perspectives of the beloved genre along with his hesitations of jumping in and of course what he could bring to the table.

"I'm a white guy from Montreal, Canada. What do I know about the blues? But everybody knows about the blues, everybody has had the pain of life and has wailed at one point or another."

William Shatner takes on the classic genre with some help from various guest musicians on the album such as James Burton, Ritchie Blackmore, Candice Night, and Brad Paisley. Shatner also recruited the help of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who also helped work on his 2019 Christmas album, to now play the guitar on his cover of "As the Years Go Passing By."

The Blues contains a variety of his own original songs as well as several covers of famous blues songs such as "I Put a Spell on You," "Sweet Home Chicago," and "The Thrill is Gone."

Check out Shatner’s debut blues single "The Thrill is Gone" featuring Richie Blackmore and Candice Night:

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