billy dee williams

how pop pickers

well, this may or may not be interesting. once again, look you see, it is so that i find myself listening to vibes what were gone done by someone more renowned for being an iconic actor than any form of musician or singer. as the title gives you every indication of, yes, in this instance it is the music of no less than the first (and best) person to play the character widely regarded as the second best one in all of that Star Wars business, or at least the first three (3) films, the great billy dee williams. 

so, then, for clarity, this is all about the studio album recording off of billy dee williams, with the george cory ensemble, called let's misbehave. unlike other adventures in albums what actors gone done, this one stems from an improbable era when billy dee williams was an actor, true, but not the superstar, household name, fan favourite he would be. i am reticent, no reluctant, to say that this record was made in some sort of "pre-fame" days, but certainly it is true that he wasn't so well known when he did this. 

for the sake of completeness, or some inexplicable interest, other instances of me exploring the vibes gone done by actors include (and i select just two favourites here) the magic of peter wyngarde (here) and, but of course, the odyssey that is william shatner (click at own risk). yeah, sure i have a, say, thirty seconds to mars disc somewhere, and arguably bowie started as an actor, but let me distract no more. 

in truth i cannot recall how, or when, i learned of the man who would become lando calrissian gone done some songs. this was all recent, but my vague memory system does appear shot. on looking up the record, i found a website was selling it for (just) south of £5, which seemed reasonable. but, i didn't buy it, thinking do i really want or need this. and then the website sent me a discount for 5% (yes, five), which took about 20p (twenty pence, for americans a bit like "cents" but in actual, real money) off the price, so went yeah, go on then, f*** it. 

and how is the record? not that bad, really. it's thirty minutes (or so) of ten (10) songs what apparently come from or off of broadway. which i assume means out of broadway shows, as such being recorded in the quite early 60s, no "modern" broadway classics. in truth, and most of my broadway tune knowledge would be limited to ones what barbs has gone done, i think i'd only ever heard of one of the songs before. maybe two, but likely just one. 

rather unlike the efforts of wyngarde and shatner referenced above, and indeed as about as far removed from the realm of shatner as you like, this is of course meant, and intended, as an actual, proper, real musical album. significantly different, it most certainly is, from my usual listening tastes, but you know what, it's a rather pleasant listen. just a record to put on gently in the background, let it play its breezy, somewhat whimsical way over you, and relax for half an hour stuff. 

that above is, of course for the purposes of display here in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, a bit of the unexpected bonus with the disc. on the CD is a "multimedia" element, a five minute or so long "interview" with billy dee williams. filmed in the early 2000s at a guess, when someone discovered the album and set about a digital release. not really the single most exciting interview on earth. for those interested, he says that basically he does not see (or regard) himself as a singer as such, and then proceeds to list all the times what he has indeed been a singer. 

but also no, billy dee williams does give a fair assessment of his talents, really. listening to this record now is somewhat tempered by the fact that you know exactly who you are listening to, and so what you are hearing is a very or quite familiar voice. difficult, then, to be objective. if one were to try and be as reasonable and fair as possible, you'd say on the basis of this recording that billy dee had a competent singing range, serviceable enough for any role that required for him to sing, rather than relied on it. 

if everything has worked like what it should have, and i have not had complaints on video failing here for a bit, then you can indeed hear some of the magic of billy dee williams singing above. well, played on my current stag (i am contemplating a new one) and recorded on my phone. not the best conduit to hear it all then, but if you are pressed for time and are here now, there you go. 

whilst having done no research, i do believe that this record is it for the musical career of billy dee williams. from what i recall, though, if you go on that you tube thing you can find moments where he gone done a song or two with people, possibly diana ross or maybe it was donna summer in one clip. no, pretty sure diana. you would think at some point they would have had a quite class idea to have lando calrissian sing in Star Wars, but i don't think it ever got done. 

despite any sort of limitations on what time i may have left (or perhaps because of them, who knows) i shall not be too surprised if i encounter another actor based vibes trip of discovery at some stage. certainly i hope it to be so. whereas it's unlikely i will play this particular record frequently, i am all the same glad to have taken a chance on it, and the three or four times it's been played up to now have been, by and large, satisfactory. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!