Sunday Conversation: Ann Margret On Her New Album, Being Wild, Pete Townshend And Motorcycles

Actress/singer Ann Margret is just one of those people who seems to have life figured out. “I’m a happy person” the Swedish superstar, now 82, says, with glee in her voice.

Margret is a life inspiration, a force of nature. She was married 50 years to her husband, Roger Smith, until he passed in 2017. And as she says when we talked about her new album, Born To Be Wild, they laughed every day.

That’s right, new album. At 81 (Margret just turned 82 April 28). Margret has released a raucous, joyful collection of covers of some of her favorite songs. The album. whose title track was inspired by her continued love of motorcycles, features guests such as Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Pete Townshend, Cliff Richard and more.

Margret talked with us about the new album, her friendships with Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley, her dream motorcycle route, where her love of bikes came from and much more.

Steve Baltin: So are you just this excited because it’s release day?

Ann Margret: Oh yeah, I can’t believe that I’m doing this at this time in my life [laughter]. It’s thrilling.

Baltin: Was there one song early on that really excited you and inspired you to do this collection?

Margret: I would say “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” Love that song. I love it. Bobby Darin was a really good friend of mine, bless his soul, and I love the way he did it and also I did “Splish Splash.” “Splish splash I was taking a bath” [laughter.] God we had some fun. We had a great time doing this.

Baltin: I hadn’t thought about that until you mentioned the fact that Bobby Darin was a good friend of yours. I’m sure that when you do these songs, there’s so many personal memories attached to it. So were there one or two songs that when you started doing them or started revisiting them that really surprised you in how many memories they brought back?

Margret: Everything surprised me. The thing about Bobby Darin, our connection started a long time ago. Mr. George Burns discovered Bobby Darin a year before he discovered me and that was like 1960, ’61. So that’s quite a connection. [laughter]. I did the movie State Fair and Bobby did that also.

Baltin: The title track of the album is ‘Born To Be Wild.” Do you remember the first time you heard that song?

Margret: Well, I always loved that song. There’s a part of me that is wild and I was given a motorcycle a long time ago by this nice gentleman. Anyway, I’ve had motorcycles. My uncle Kailen, my mother’s brother in Bosch-beat, Sweden, as I was growing up there, he had a huge bike. I don’t know if it was a BSA or an Indian but my daddy had an Indian and a BSA. So I have been surrounded by wildness. There’s something about it. It’s the freedom of the motorcycle and all that strength, that power beneath me. Freedom.

Baltin: Do you still ride today?

Margret: Yes, I do. My lavender bike, which was given to me years ago in Brainerd, Minnesota. And it’s got little white daisy’s going around each letter of the Harley Davidson. It’s a very girly bike [laughter].

Sage Bava: What song in this collection gives you that feeling of freedom the most?

Margret: Well I loved doing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” There was a sense of freedom there. And “Born To Be Wild” and “Bye Bye Love.” It’s freedom. “Teach Me Tonight.”

Baltin: Let’s talk for a second about the collaborators that you worked with because Joe Perry I’ve known for years and Pete Townshend I’ve interviewed. Talk for a second about the people that you were working with and what they brought to this collection.

Margret: Well I didn’t get to actually work with Joe Perry. I have not met him yet. He did his part and I had done mine before. Pete, of course I worked with on Tommy and but I didn’t get to work with him on this but I have spoken to him and it’s like we never left. We were chuckling and really having a good time. I spoke with him a couple days ago. Oh, he’s a good friend. Oh, I remember going to do Tommy in 1975. So I have not seen Pete since 1975. It’s like we never left. I’m just a happy person, I tell you. [laughter] I’m a happy woman. It’s hell being a woman, man. [laughter] Yes, especially today. This is all unbelievable. What a blessing.

Baltin: I love that attitude. Is this something that you’ve always had, this attitude or is it something that as you get older you appreciate things more?

Margret: I have always appreciated. I got that from my mother and father. They were the best mother and daddy in the world and they always appreciated everything that was given to them and happened to them and I got that from them.

Baltin: What’s the best thing that you would hear from someone when they hear Born To Be Wild?

Margret: They felt my excitement and the whole love of motorcycles.

Baltin: Are there particular songs on this record that you associate with your husband or that you feel his spirit?

Margret: Well one of our favorite songs was, and it’s not on the album, called “More.” That was one of our favorites and let’s see, I even taught him a Swedish song. My mother, bless her soul, she had quite a Swedish accent and there was a gentleman that was a very good friend of my whole family. His name was Gus Randall. And he had such a thick accent, Roger had to always said, “What?” Yeah, so many things. But he’s with me, Roger’s with me every day.

Baltin: You say “More” was a song for you guys. Obvious question: now that your record is out and you got to do this and share these songs, are you already thinking about songs for the next record?

Margret: That’s a very interesting question. No, I did not think that but it is doable. You opened the door.

Baltin: Is there one song for you that when you’ve heard it or that when you sing it, brings you closest to the universe? That one song that you just feel most connected to everything?

Margret: I did a gospel album and those were very close to me. One of the things that I loved, Elvis was a very good friend and when he did the Trilogy and when he went into “Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory,” that was so incredible every time I listen to it.

Baltin: What’s the best motorcycle ride in America? What’s the best route?

Margret: In my village in Sweden, I would love to have my big lavender bike there in the hills. Woo!