Image: Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia Commons
William Shatner announced the release of his new album The Blues with a rendition of the 1970 B. B. King classic ‘The Thrill Is Gone’.
William Shatner is all set to treat us with new music. The actor and singer-songwriter announced the release of his album, The Blues on Thursday, August 27th. To commemorate the announcement, Shatner teamed up with Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore for a rendition of B. B. King’s 1970 classic, ‘The Thrill Is Gone’.
According to a press release on Shatner’s website, despite being popularized by King in 1970, ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ was actually written in 1951, the same year Shatner made his film debut.
Shatner and Blackmore’s rendition finds inspiration from this seminal version, serving as a prelude to what is to come.
On his collaboration with Blackmore, Shatner said in a statement: “‘The Thrill is Gone’ is the title of the song, but the thrill is there with Richie Blackmore and his great guitar!”
Blackmore isn’t the only guest feature that listeners can look forward to on The Blues. Over the course of 14 tracks, the album features Sonny Landreth, Canned Heat, Tyler Bryant, Brad Paisley, and many blues legends. Pat Travers appears on a rendition of ‘I Put A Spell On You’, along with Kirk Fletcher on ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’.
Earlier this year, Shatner gave a glimpse of the album through a reworked version of Canned Heat’s 1970 track, ‘Let’s Work Together’. This new version also featured the band with former member Harvey Mandel.
Since the late 1960s, Shatner has aided his successful TV career with an equally captivating musical one. Known for his spoken-word interpretative reading style, Shatner has released eight albums. His last work, a Christmas album titled Shatner Claus, featured Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and more.
William Shatner’s The Blues is out on Friday, October 2nd through Cleopatra Records. You can pre-order the album here.
Check out ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ by William Shatner feat. Ritchie Blackmore & Candice Night:
