SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ANN-MARGRET – BORN TO BE WILD

Ann-Margret
Born To Be Wild
Cleopatra Records

These days, people forget that Ann-Margret, along with being a movie star, was also a very popular recording artist. She sang with Elvis Presley and The Beatles even covered one of her early hits during their BBC sessions. Born To Be Wild is her first album in over ten years and is her 14th album. For this album, she has enlisted some very big names to help her with her comeback album. And for the most part it works. She covers classic pop and rock songs and she does them in her own style.

Born To Be Wild opens with “Rock Around The Clock”, featuring Joe Perry and Jim McCarty. It is fun and she seems to be enjoying herself. This is followed with a duet with country legend T.G. Sheppard with their take on “Bye Bye Love”, and also features Pete Townshend. She seems to enjoy covering songs from her youth. And, again, you can hear the fun and energy in the music. Her duet with Cliff Richard on “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” is predictable and fans of both artists will enjoy it.

Although it is fun to hear her tear into “Born To Be Wild” with The Fuzztones providing perfect backing, she seems to be more comfortable  with pop/jazz songs such as “Somebody’s In My Orchard”, featuring Don Randi. The song fits her voice and style perfectly. And her laugh in the middle is absolutely brilliant. “Volare” works well too, with Stray Cats’ Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker providing the perfect, retro backing. “The Great Pretender” is another excellent choice for her, and it features Paul Shaffer!

But the best song on Born To Be Wild is her take on “Son Of A Preacher Man”, featuring Steve Cropper. Her vocals and the production are a perfect match and the song sounds like it was written just for her. Again she seems to be enjoying singing the song and the arrangement is perfect. It helps that Cropper produced a stunning version by Mavis Staples in 1969 and he seems to borrow some of that version for this one. Of course Ann-Margret brings her own vocal styling to this version and the end result is a thing of beauty.

Some songs just don’t work. Old friend Pat Boone speaking with her on “Teach Me Tonight”, which features Rick Wakeman, just does not come off well. “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” featuring Sonny Landreth would have worked better as a one-off single at Christmas rather than being out of place on this album. “Earth Angel”, featuring The Oak Ridge Boys and Harvey Mandel should be better than it is, given the combination. The vocals work, but perhaps this is not the best choice of songs for her.

Overall, Born To Be Wild is a welcome return for Ann-Margret. When the album works, it works well. Ann-Margret at 81 sounds every bit as good as she did over the past few decades. Her voice is strong as ever and her excitement comes across in most of the songs. Unfortunately, perhaps she is relying too much on the star power guesting on the album. Born To Be Wild is Ann-Margret’s album, and not a collection of rock stars. Ann-Margret has the the ability to carry the album on her own and when Born To Be Wild works, it is because of her and her wonderful voice.

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