Customer Reviews

Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy

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I came here to see if I could find a list of the songs on this album, but when I saw there were no reviews, I couldn't resist. I was a die-hard fan of the original Star Trek, and Mr. Spock was my idol, so it should come as no surprise that this album was my prized possession. It was a fun album, with one side containing songs purportedly to have been sung by Mr. Spock, and the other to be some of Nimoy's favorites.

I personally liked Nimoy's voice. I can't tell you a thing about the instrumentation because I frankly don't recall it, but I can tell you that this album may have been the single most far-reaching philosophical influence in my life. I grew up in an evangelical Christian home and lived in a veritable cultural void for many, many years. But this album introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkein ("The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"), the philosophy of Desiderata ("Spock's Thoughts"), and Hurley and Wilkins "Love of the Common People" gave me just that.

My first professional singing gig was just me and my guitar in a small lounge in the heart of southern Iowa. Armed with nothing but two songbooks and these songs which I learned by heart, I created an eclectic repertoire that won me the hearts of many. But I remember when I once sang "Gentle on My Mind," somebody asked me, "whose version of that are you singing?" He raised an eyebrow when I responded, "Leonard Nimoy's."

Tracks (from Wikipedia)
Side one

1. "Highly Illogical" (Charles R. Grean / Fred Hertz)
2. "The Difference Between Us" (Cy Coben)
3. "Once I Smiled" (Grean / Leonard Nimoy)
4. "Spock Thoughts" (Grean / Max Ehrmannč) (The lyrics were actually those of Ehrmann's "Desiderata")
5. "By Myself" (Howard Dietz / Arthur Schwartz)
6. "Follow Your Star" (Grean / Fred Hertz)
7. "Amphibious Assault" (Grean / Mason Williams)

Side two

1. "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" (Grean)
2. "Cotton Candy" (Cliff Ralke)
3. "Gentle on My Mind" (John Hartford)
4. "Miranda" (Bart Howard)
5. "If I Was a Carpenter" (Tim Hardin)
6. "Love of the Common People" (John Hurley / Ronnie Wilkins)

I think just about anyone who calls themselves a serious fan of music probably has that one singer or group that they love but are embarrassed to admit to out of fear their sanity will be put in question. A guilty pleasure as it would be called. Well I am a serious fan of music and if I have a guilty pleasure it would have to be the album "The Two Sides Of Leonard Nimoy". OK there I admit it! But really this may not be a great album but it is still a good, albeit barely good, album. The concept of the record is unique I think with one side of songs that Mr Spock would sing, or more like sing-talk, and the other side finding Leonard stepping out from under his pointy ears and singing as himself. And call me crazy (shoot I have been called worst things) but I think it works. It works because Nimoy didn't approach making this record with the idea he was this great singer who was making outstanding music that the world was dying to hear. He simply did it for the fun of it. Part of the reason too for making this I am sure was to take advantage of the popularity of "Star Trek" which was still on TV in first run at the time. Among the better song on this record would be from Spock's side "Highly Illogical", "Amphibious Assault" and "Spock Thoughts". On side 2 as himself the better songs Nimoy does are "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and "Gentle on My Mind". Finally let me say I hope at some point they will remaster this and release this album on CD. I promise if they ever put this out on CD I will hold my head high and not care what people think of my guilty pleasure and by a copy!