Has Been
by
William Shatner
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Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
Oct 5 2004

Overview Edit

Has Been (2004) is William Shatner's second musical album after 1968's The Transformed Man.

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, and feature guest appearances from Joe Jackson (on a cover of Pulp's "Common People"), Folds and Aimee Mann (backup vocals on "That's Me Trying"), Lemon Jelly (on "Together"), Henry Rollins and Adrian Belew (on "I Can't Get Behind That"), and Brad Paisley (on "Real", which he wrote specifically for Shatner).

Henry Rollins also talks about the making of the song "I Can't Get Behind That" on his spoken-word album Talk Is Cheap Vol IV.

In 2007, a ballet called Common People, set to Has Been, was created by Margo Sappington (of Oh! Calcutta! fame) and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet. Shatner attended the première and had the event filmed. This footage became William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet, a feature film with a very well-received world première at the Nashville Film Festival on 17 April 2009. The documentary also features interviews with William Shatner, Ben Folds, and Henry Rollins.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Has_Been. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

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This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
DK 30349
Release dates:
  • Oct 5 2004 in United States
  • Jan 8 2007

Genres

Comedy, Spoken Word. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars The Surprise Of The Year
I would never have believed I'd give a five star review to a William Shatner album, and be serious about it. But I am serious. Kudos to both Shatner and to the producer Ben Folds for this brilliant little gem of an album.

For those sneering without hearing, I'll merely note that if you remember the William Shatner Priceline commercials, you'll have some idea what this CD is like. Only it's even better than those were.

The hard-rocking (yes hard-rocking!) Common People kicks the album off perfe…
Read the full review
Written by Dean Esmay
1 stars Find the mixer and break his fingers
"that's me trying" is awesome and simply fantastic ... if you could only hear it. BUT YOU CANT because the idiot mixer has the lame muxic louder than anything Shatner is saying!
Written by Pissantra "Pissantra"

Track listing Edit

  • CD : Has Been

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Common People
    4:40
    2
    It Hasn't Happened Yet
    3:49
    3
    You'll Have Time
    5:18
    4
    That's Me Trying
    3:48
    5
    What Have You Done?
    1:46
    6
    Together
    5:39
    7
    Familiar Love
    4:00
    8
    Ideal Woman
    2:23
    9
    Has Been
    2:18
    10
    I Can't Get Behind That
    3:00
    11
    Real
    3:08

Credits Edit

  1. arranger

  2. design

    1. Ben Folds [art direction]

  3. engineer

    1. Ben Folds [mix]
    2. Joe Costa [recording and mix]
    3. Ted Jensen [mastering]

  4. performer

    1. Adrian Belew [guitar on "I Can't Get Behind That"]
    2. Aimee Mann [guest vocals on "That's Me Trying"]
    3. Ben Folds [bass and synthesizer, piano, wurlitzer granny piano, guest vocals and background ahhs, wurlitzer organ and electric piano, Tack piano, drums/electric piano]
    4. Benita Hill [choir on "Familiar Love"]
    5. Brad Paisley ["Real"]
    6. Brad Paisley [guest vocalist and guitar on "Real"]
    7. Carmella Ramsey [Gospel choir on "You'll Have Time"]
    8. Curt Bol [choir on "Familiar Love"]
    9. Fleming McWilliams [backing vocals ("Goddess of Yosemite") on "It Hasn't Happened Yet"]
    10. Henry Rollins [vocals]
    11. Henry Rollins [guest vocals on "I Can't Get Behind That"]
    12. Jared Reynolds [Gospel choir on "You'll Have Time"]
    13. Joe Jackson [guest vocalist on "common people", piano on "You'll Have Time"]
    14. John Davis [Gospel choir on "You'll Have Time"]
    15. John Mark Painter [guitars on "Common People", bass on "It Hasn't Happened Yet," guitar on "You'll Have Time" & "Familiar Love," bass on "That's Me Trying," "Ideal Woman" & "Real," cowboy vocals, baritone guitar, trumpets on "Has Been"]
    16. Jon Auer [guitar on "It Hasn't Happened Yet," "Ideal Woman" & "Has Been"]
    17. Jon Auer [guitar and background ahhs on "That's Me Trying," electric guitar on "Familiar Love"]
    18. Kim Richey [Gospel choir on "You'll Have Time"]
    19. Laurie Wheeler [choir on "Familiar Love"]
    20. Lemon Jelly [all programming and instruments on "Together"]
    21. Lindsay Jamieson [drums on "Common People"]
    22. Louisville Common People Choir [backing vocals on "Common People"]
    23. Matt Chamberlain [drums on "It Hasn't Happened Yet," "You'll Have Time," "That's Me Trying," "Familiar Love," "Ideal Woman," percussion on "Has Been," drums and percussion on "I Can't Get Behind That"]
    24. Rick Wheeler [choir on "Familiar Love"]
    25. Sebastian Steinburg [bass on "You'll Have Time," upright bass on "What Have You Done?" "Familiar Love" & "I Can't Get Behind That," cowboy vocals on "Has Been"]
    26. Webb Wilder [Gospel choir on "You'll Have Time"]

  1. producer

    1. Alan Wolmark [executive producer]

  2. writer

    1. Ben Folds [all songs except "Common People," "What Have You Done?" "Together" & "Real"]
    2. Brad Paisley ["Real"]
    3. Candida Doyle ["Common People"]
    4. Elizabeth Shatner ["Together"]
    5. Henry Rollins ["I Can't Get Behind That"]
    6. Jarvis Cocker ["Common People"]
    7. Lemon Jelly ["Together"]
    8. Nick Banks ["Common People"]
    9. Nick Hornby ["That's Me Trying"]
    10. Russell Senior ["Common People"]
    11. Steve Mackey ["Common People"]
    12. William Shatner [all songs except "Common People," "That's Me Trying" & "Real"]

Other versions Edit

Has Been 11 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Shout! Factory
catalog number: DK 30349
release dates: Oct 5 2004 in Canada
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