''Has Been'' (2004) is

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) 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 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

's second musical album after 1968's ''

The Transformed Man ''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 ...

''. The album was produced and arranged by Ben Folds and most of the songs are co-written by Folds and Shatner, with Folds creating arrangements for Shatner's prose-poems. The album features guest appearances from Joe Jackson (on a cover of

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

's "

Common People A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

"), Folds and

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

(backup vocals on "That's Me Trying"),

Lemon Jelly Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London that formed in 1998 and went on hiatus starting in 2008. Since its inception, the band members have always been Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for awards ...

(on "Together"),

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

(on "I Can't Get Behind That"), and

Brad Paisley Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...

(on "Real", which he wrote specifically for Shatner).

History

Joe Jackson explained his involvement in an interview, saying, "That came through Ben Folds, who's a big fan of mine. You’d have to ask him how he got hooked up with Bill Shatner, I don't remember. But I think he did a really great job of putting an album behind Shatner that is fun and not completely cheesy, though when it is too cheesy, it's deliberately so. (laughs) It's just a very musically satisfying record, and when he asked me to be a part of it, why would I not? How could I refuse? I went to Nashville for a few days and hung out with the two of them, and we created a couple of masterpieces." He ultimately said about working with Shatner, "He's wonderful, very musical, and very funny, because he's so obviously in on the joke". Originally,

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

and former U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

were set to be featured on the album but by the time Weezer responded, Clinton had already backed out. In 2007, a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

called ''Common People'', set to ''Has Been'', was created by

Margo Sappington Margo Sappington (born July 30, 1947 in Baytown, Texas) is an American choreographer and dancer. She was nominated in 1975 for both a Tony Award as Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the pla ...

(of ''

Oh! Calcutta! ''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in Lond ...

'' fame) and performed by the

Milwaukee Ballet The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company founded by Roberta Boorse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is located in Milwaukee, and is currently run by Michael Pink, the artistic director. History The Milwaukee Ballet was fo ...

. Shatner attended the première and had the event filmed. This footage became ''

William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet ''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'' is a feature-length documentary film about a ballet by Margo Sappington called "Common People", which was set to the music of William Shatner and Ben Folds from their album '' Has Been''.http://www.nashvillecityp ...

'', a feature film which premiered at the

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

on April 17, 2009. The documentary also features interviews with Shatner, Folds, and Henry Rollins.

Track listing

# "

" (

Nick Banks Nicholas David Banks (born 28 July 1965) is an English drummer, a member of the British band Pulp. He lives in Sheffield with his wife Sarah and two children. He is the nephew of Gordon Banks, goalkeeper of the 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning Eng ...

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

, Candida Doyle,

Steve Mackey Stephen Patrick Mackey (born 10 November 1966) is an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he has produced songs and albums by ...

Russell Senior Russell Senior (born 18 May 1961) is a British musician and the former guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp. Senior was born and grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the Dada Society (also known as the New Wave Soc ...

) with Joe Jackson on vocals – 4:40 # "It Hasn't Happened Yet" (Folds, Shatner) – 3:49 # "You'll Have Time" (Folds, Shatner) – 5:18 # "That's Me Trying" (Folds, Nick Hornby) with

on vocals – 3:48 # "What Have You Done" (Shatner) – 1:46 # "Together" (

, Elizabeth Shatner, William Shatner) – 5:39 # "Familiar Love" (Folds, Shatner) – 4:00 # "Ideal Woman" (Folds, Shatner) – 2:23 # "Has Been" (Folds, Shatner) – 2:18 # "I Can't Get Behind That" (Folds,

, Shatner) with

on guitar – 3:00 # "Real" (

) with Brad Paisley– 3:08

Charts

Album

Song

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2004 albums William Shatner albums Shout! Factory albums Albums produced by Ben Folds