Leonard Nimoy :: Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town

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Beyond Spock, beyond his photography, beyond even In Search Of…: the late Leonard Nimoy, music maker. Best known for his novelty hit “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” there are deeper, more affecting cuts. See 1970’s The New World of Leonard Nimoy. Over stark country soul arrangements, Nimoy’s voice is worn-in on songs like “I Walk the Line,” “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” and “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Particularly haunted is his reading of Mel Tillis’ “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.” There are other great versions of the veteran ballad — Johnny Darrell first recorded it, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition made it famous, and Waylon sang it — but Nimoy’s version remains something special. words /   j woodbury

Leonard Nimoy :: Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town

Elsewhere: read more about the music of Leonard Nimoy via Aquarium Drunkard’s Jason P. Woodbury.