THE WAY I FEEL
He kind of looks like Bobby Goldsboro with that haircut. If we ditch those wacky ears...
"The Way I Feel" re-invents Leonard Nimoy as a socially-conscious pop singer in the "B.J. Thomas" easy-listening category. Unfortunately, Mr. Nimoy has a new unpleasant surprise in store for us; he is also a SONG WRITER! By now, DOT Records doesn't care since they aren't going to get their money back...
The Spock voice is largely absent from the project, with the exception of the excreble "Where it's at". ("You knock upon my mind, and you beg to borrow a cup of wisdom... You've come to seek the truth... to ask me where it's at".) Like anyone was going to ask a guy in a nehru jacket where "it" was at in 1969...
On the album cover, Spock is relegated to a tiny oval portrait at the upper left corner of the collage.
All in all, Nimoy's pungent odes to peace, love and understanding are enough to make you think that maybe teaching the whole world to sing in perfect harmony isn't such a great idea after all.
Stand-out original tracks include "Here we go 'round again", "Billy don't play the banjo any more" and "the Hitch-hiker".
As anti-war protest songs go, "Billy don't play the banjo" really doesn't do the trick. By the half-way point in the song you are convinced that his fellow marines really shot him themselves just to stop that damn banjo playing. In fact, the listener is ready to enlist in the Viet-cong to make sure that Billy doesn't come home to play the mandolin either.
Similarly, the singer's empathy with the Charlie Manson like narrator of "the Hitch-hiker" leaves you with some doubts as to whether Nimoy might have been an occasional visitor out at the Spahn ranch. It is also the only song in the history of popular music to rhyme "greasy" with "queasy".
Cover song conspicuous in its absence from the LP: "The Way I Feel"
LEONARD NIMOY
The Way I Feel
Dot Records DLP 25883 - Stereo
Side One
I'd Love Making Love To You (2:53)
Please Don't Try To Change My Mind (2:16)
Sunny (3:17)
Where It's At (2:22)
Both Sides Now (2:51)
If I Had A Hammer (2:06)
Side Two
Here We Go 'Round Again (2:34)
Billy Don't Play The Banjo Anymore (2:17)
It's Getting Better (2:50)
Consilium (2:28)
Love Is Sweeter (2:42)
The Hitch-Hiker (2:48)
Please Don't Try To Change My Mind
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I'd Love Making Love To You
Who'd-a-thunk "The Way I Feel" would spawn a "hit" single?
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Consilium
If I Had a Hammer
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Sunny