Leonard Nimoy’s name is almost instantly associated with Star Trek, and it’s hard to imagine the show without thinking of the venerable Vulcan fans know and love. While most fans know that Nimoy appeared on a variety of television shows before and after Star Trek, what they might not know is that he also enjoyed singing. During the 1970s, he attempted to establish himself as a singer and even released several albums. Let’s take a look at this odd phase of Nimoy’s career and how it happened.
Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space
Paramount approached Charles Grean, who worked for Paramount’s Dot record label, about making an album connected with Star Trek. Grean’s young daughter, a Star Trek fan, suggested that an album connected with the show should have Mr. Spock on it. When Grean approached Nimoy about participating, the actor was eager to do so, as he’d always been interested in music.
The resulting album, Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space, featured Leonard Nimoy singing several songs and spoken word pieces such as “A Visit To a Sad Planet.” The album, which featured Nimoy as Spock on the cover, holding a model of the Enterprise, sold surprisingly well, which encouraged the Dot label to make a second album featuring Nimoy.
Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy
This album is a “two sides of the same coin” offering, where Nimoy sings and speaks as Spock on side A and covers a few folk-flavored songs as himself on side B. The album also features the curious “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” which is still considered one of the oddest moments of Leonard Nimoy’s career.
The Way I Feel and a Touch of Leonard Nimoy
These two albums, released in 1968 and 1969, have little to do with Spock, other than the latter featuring “Maiden Wine,” which he sang in the Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” (S03E10). These two albums also feature improved production quality, with Nimoy covering a few standards and even a song he co-wrote called “Please Don’t Try To Change My Mind,” which was released as a single.
The 1960s closed out Nimoy’s singing career
Nimoy’s final album under the Dot label was The New World of Leonard Nimoy, which featured more of a country flavor that didn’t quite match Nimoy’s natural voice. Despite covering popular songs by Harry Nilsson and Johnny Cash, this album wasn’t popular, and Nimoy’s career with Dot ended by 1970.
Have you heard any of Leonard Nimoy’s albums or own them as part of your sci-fi music collection? Come on over to our social media pages and tell us what you think about this strange era in his career!