Has Been

For the grammatical construction "has been (to)", see have been. For the word "has-been", see its Wiktionary entry.
Has Been
Studio album by William Shatner
Released October 5, 2004
Genre Rock, spoken word
Length 39:49
Label Shout! Factory
Producer Ben Folds
William Shatner chronology

Captain of the Starship
(1978)		 Has Been
(2004)		 Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
The Guardian neutral[2]
Pitchfork Media 7.5/10.0[3]

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 features 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.[4] 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.

Track listing

  1. "Common People" (Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Russell Senior) – 4:40
  2. "It Hasn't Happened Yet" (Folds, Shatner) – 3:49
  3. "You'll Have Time" (Folds, Shatner) – 5:18
  4. "That's Me Trying" (Folds, Nick Hornby) with Aimee Mann on vocals – 3:48
  5. "What Have You Done" (Shatner) – 1:46
  6. "Together" (Lemon Jelly, Elizabeth Shatner, William Shatner) – 5:39
  7. "Familiar Love" (Folds, Shatner) – 4:00
  8. "Ideal Woman" (Folds, Shatner) – 2:23
  9. "Has Been" (Folds, Shatner) – 2:18
  10. "I Can't Get Behind That" (Folds, Henry Rollins, Shatner) with Adrian Belew on guitar – 3:00
  11. "Real" (Brad Paisley) – 3:08

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
2004 Billboard Top Heatseekers 22[5]

Song

Year Song Chart Position
2004 Common People Triple J Hottest 100, 2004 21

See also

References

  1. ↑ Has Been at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Wyse, Pascal (1 October 2004). "William Shatner, Has Been". The Guardian (London).
  3. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7781-has-been/
  4. ↑ http://www.milwaukeeballet.org/about-us/artistic-director/blog-archive/william-shatner-ballet
  5. ↑ Has Been Billboard chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved November 18, 2011.

External links