Customer Reviews

Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing Off

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album has become surprisingly influential. It was the first album to feature celebrities singing badly. I remember the first time I heard it; I laughed my head off. It spawned three sequels and several imitations. Hey, it even helped revive William Shatner's career! Of course, Shatner's unforgetable renditions of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" are the highlights here, but there's much more. Shatner's first mate, Leonard Nimoy, who was the most prolific actor/vocalist (five albums!), has two amazing contributions here. Everybody's favorite butler, Sebastian Cabot, has two songs from his spoken word album where he overacts Bob Dylan lyrics. Speaking of overacting Bob Dylan songs, you should here what Eddie "Green Acres" Albert does to "Blowin' in the Wind". Jack Webb recites "Try a Little Tenderness" in his best Joe Friday monotone. I could go on and on, but I will get to the point and say that "this album is hilarious". I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes funny music.

This is one of the most enjoyable CD's I have ever owned and it's given me endless hours of enjoyment and hilarity. I actually listened (and laughed uproariously) to Bill Shatner warbling his torturously inept versions of Mr. Tambourine Man and Lucy in the Sky over 100 times the first week I bought this album. Have you ever imagined what John Lennon would have thought of Shatner's sickeningly bad cover version of one of his greatest songs? Give me a break! Even more hilarious are several other lesser-known songs on this gem of an album. How about Sebastian Cabot (Mr. French on that silly old 60's lame dog show, "Family Affair") seriously attempting to sing Dylan's classic It Ain't Me Babe. This is guaranteed to split your sides open with laugh. Cabot performs this as if he is Olivier at the Old Vic and takes himself w-a-y too seriously. Another classic of the absurd is Leonard Nimoy (possessing the worst voice known to mortal man) belting out Proud Mary. God, is this abysmal.

I will never watch a re-run of Green Acres again without cringing at the sight of Eddie Albert, who mutilates Blowin' in the Wind. No one can listen to this tragic version and not roll on the floor with laughter. Albert screams out the final verse in ear-splitting fashion, you can almost see him strutting around the recording studio, circa 1968, firmly believing he had just recorded a classic record. Poor Stevie Wonder must not be collecting many royalties form Jim Nabor's atrocious version of You are the Sunshine of My Life. If that record sold more than two copies I'd be surprised.

This is truly an hilarious album perfect for parties, playing for your friends or just listening to by yourself. Rarely have I ever laughed as hard and you will too.

This is an excellent gag CD. The singers on this collection of pop tunes are so bad that the entire CD is really very good, and worth owning. The CD cover is classic: The Drum to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This CD is very effective in clearing out a room in seconds. I played this CD at a diner party. Well, a thunderous silence filled the room as soon as William Shatner finished performing his magnificently horrible rendition of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." By the time Leonard Nimoy was tuning his pipes for a "Spockish" rendering of "If I Had A Hammer," everyone was in hysterics.

This collection of great pop tunes sang very poorly is wonderfully bad. This CD will definitely generate hysterically laughter. This is just the CD you need after a hard day at the job. . . It will cheer you up right away.

As far as the singing goes. . . well. . . what can I say?!? These stars can't carry a single note. However, the laugh value goes through the roof.

A great novelty CD to own. You'll have hours of fun with it.

GOLDEN THROATS/THE GREAT CELEBRITY SINGOFF-VARIOUS ARTISTS: William Shatner instantly qualified as Karaoke Kitsch King of the Universe when this kooky collection of actors-turned-would-be-rock stars hit the market. Leave it to retro masters Rhino Records to round up surreal soundbites of over a dozen Hollywood vanity projects from that "anything goes" decade, the sixties. Captain Quirk's hilariously wooden, neo-psychedelic recitations of MR. TAMBOURINE MAN and LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS are nearly matched by Leonard Nimoy's highly illogical renditions of PROUD MARY and IF I HAD A HAMMER, warbled in true emotionless Vulcan style. Try to picture Mae West belting out a "so-godawful-it's-great" TWIST AND SHOUT, or Eddie Albert tackling BLOWIN' IN THE WIND...naw, forget it...some things have to be heard to be believed. On the other hand, Mayberry icons Andy Griffith and Jim Nabors, who actually had singing on their resumes, acquit themselves decently here. Sebastion "Mr. French" Cabot narrates a pair of Dylan evergreens in his rich, embracing tones. Jack Webb recites TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS like a Dragnet script, the most mind-numbingly soulless Otis Redding cover ever executed, making it an album highlight. GOLDEN THROATS is as much fun as running across the odd Telly Savalas LP in your local thrift store bargain bin.

RATING: FIVE YOKO ONOS

I got this album primarily because, being a fan of old TV in general and the Original Star Trek in particular, I really wanted to have those tracks that Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner sing (mind you, I'm using the term "sing" loosely here). I had always heard how cheesy/bad Shatner's and Nimoy's tracks were, and I thought it'd be good for a laugh.

And of course, it is most certainly good for a laugh, particularly Eddie Albert's "Blowin' in the Wind" and Jim Nabors's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (Nabors's operatic voice was definitely wrong for an easy listening pop song.)

However, to my suprise, as another reviewer of this album has noted, most of the tracks are surprisingly listenable and good. Nimoy may not have the best voice in the world but he at least sings on key (more than can be said for most "modern rock" vocalists today, who whine and scream into a microphone and call it singing). Shatner of course is such a ham that it's enough to make you die laughing; but hey, he puts his heart and soul into it and you have to give him credit for that.

Sebastian Cabot's spoken-word renditions of old Dylan favorites are...well, odd and certainly are not my favorite tracks on the album (kind of bizarre to have Mr. French doing Dylan and there's not much oomph there).

Noel Harrison's "Whiter Shade of Pale" may actually be better than Procul Harum's; and Joel Grey's "White Room" may be better than Cream's version. On the original versions of both of these tracks, I was never able to understand what in the world the original artists were singing about, but with both Harrison and Grey I actually was able to make out what was being said (rock singers tend to mumble a lot and sing only for themselves, but Harrison and Grey both enunciate nicely so you can understand them).

Probably could've done without Mae West's "Twist and Shout," but hey, by the time she did this she was pushing eighty years old, got to at least give her credit for effort. And Andy Griffith's "House of the Rising Sun," while not nearly as good as the Animals' version, is an interesting interpretation.

So the upshot is - it will not only make you laugh, it may make you revisit your opinion of the "definitive versions" of old rock favorites! Buy it.

Rhino was kind enough to collect these Muzak atrocities because they know that some of us can't get though the day without one debilitating fit of laughter.

It starts with Leonard Nimoy taking a meat cleaver to CCR's "Proud Mary." Mr. French from "Family Affair" follows up with a reading of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" (one of FOUR Dylan covers!) No, it certainly ain't. William Shatner does "Mr. Tamborine Man" through the poetic template of a stage actor who just stepped on a curling iron.

Two of these tracks are actually decent - Jack Webb's "Just the facts, ma'am" approach gives "Try a Little Tenderness" a dignified, Metamucil quality. Andy Griffith makes "House of The Rising Sun" his own. If I hadn't heard the original, I *could* believe Griffith wrote the song.

It's a guilty pleasure to snicker at Gomer Pyle's cover of Stevie Wonder's "You are The Sunshine of My Life" since Jim Nabors was actually a good singer, and it's just so gol' darn sincere.

All these tracks cleanse the palate for Nimoy to tell us what he'd do "If I Had a Hammer." Um, I have a suggestion...

Yeah, yeah, yeah - "Why did these celebrities record these songs?" Well, stars and their agents forget the specificity of their talents; a good bartender doesn't NECESSARILY make a great tree surgeon.

If you don't need to pee, press "play" and you will. If you need to, do it NOW. Trust me.

Never before have so many done so much to prove that crossing over from actor to singer is not something that should happen on a regular basis. Heck, even Keanu Reeves - not exactly the brightest bulb - chose to stand back and play bass for his band, Dogstar, singing backup vocals only.

As far as entertainment purposes, this album is best used to get a reaction out of people. Normally, this reaction will be questions ranging from "What the hell is this?" to "What kind of drugs are you taking, and where can I get some?". However, that was the reason this compilation was created, obviously, because there is nothing to offer in the realm of serious musicianship. And since it was designed to make people wonder what's wrong with their stereos, I rated it with five stars because it performs that function with such efficiency.

But let's get to the point, shall we? This album is bad. The singing is bad, the overall performances are bad, and the choice of songs for the actors is, in my opinion, heavily influenced by hashish and various other pharmaceutical entertainment enhancers. I mean, Jack Webb "singing" a song called "Try A Little Tenderness"? I have no doubt that someone, somewhere, sat with his co-workers at a big table covered with a huge mound of the purest Colombian White Lady, and, after taking in a HUGE dram of Peruvian flake, said something like, "Hey...What if we got, like, William Shatner...Don't laugh, dude! You'll make me lose my train of thought...Where was I? Oh, yeah! Shatner. What if we got Shatner to cover a Beatles tune? People'd buy that, right? Right? You guys wanna order a pizza? Pizza, anyone? Wait! I've got it! I don't know why, but I suddenly realized why Cheech and Chong are so funny! Ooh! And what about Mister French? You gonna eat that donut? Man, I'm hungry..." You get the idea.

The only thing I can think of that would be more horrific is a sequel to this painful collection of tunes, and such a creature does exist.

Good lord, this was a bad CD.

I think I need a hug...

This is, simply put, the most disturbing collection of *music* ever collected. You'll laugh the first few times through it, and simultaneously cringe. A few more turns in the CD player, and it becomes sickeningly transcendent. Flee in terror, or click on Buy Now and grab a copy--either response is appropriate. "Golden Throats" is the "Blue Velvet" of trash music.

I took a road trip to San Francsico . . . but not before I took along "Golden Throats"! and "The Annoying Music Show CD!" Needless to say I laughed for thousands of miles. I ended up rarely using the car radio, because I couldn't stop popping in these horrible music CD's --because they are so unbelievable it's hilarious! Thanks Mr. Spock (and Capt. Kirk!) for some highly illogical selections of music!

What's so funny? I'm not laughing. I'm, er.. William Shatner is the greatest vocalist since Elvis. Check out Tamborine Man and find out how much gangster rappers owe me, I mean...OWE William Shatner.