Ann-Margret started recording for RCA in 1961, but her recording career was not as successful as her concurrent movie career. She had a sexy, throaty singing voice comparable to Eartha Kitt or Nancy Sinatra, and RCA attempted to capitalize on her "Female Elvis" comparison by her recording a version of Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" and other songs stylistically similar to Presley. She scored one minor hit, "I Just Don't Understand" (which entered the Billboard Top 40 in the third week of August 1961 and stayed 6 weeks, peaking at #17.) Her only charting album is The Beauty and the Beard (1964), on which she was accompanied by trumpeter Al Hirt. The contract with RCA ended in 1966.
Years later, she returned to music at the end of Disco era. Her 1980 album, "Ann-Margret" became a success with both singles, "Midnight Message" and "Love Rush" reaching the Top 10 of the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. In the early 1980s, the album was followed up with the single, "Everybody Needs Somebody Sometimes" and the B-Side "Hold Me/Squeeze Me." Ann Margret has continued to record music sporatically since then.
[edit]Film career
In 1961 she also made her film début for in Pocketful of Miracles, starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, and Hope Lange, a remake of the Oscar-winning 1933 film Lady for a Day; both versions were directed by the great Frank Capra. She followed that role with the successful remake of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's musical State Fair in 1962. Her next starring role, as the all-American teenager in Bye Bye Birdie, made her a major star. When she filmed Viva Las Vegas with Elvis Presley the two began an affair that received considerable attention from the gossip columnists in various media. The reports led to a showdown with a very worried Priscilla Beaulieu, which she recounts in her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, including Ann-Margret's attempt to "cut her off at the pass" with a press announcement that Ann-Margret and Elvis were engaged to be married. Although he ended the affair, Presley remained a friend and continued to send her flowers at the opening of each of her stage appearances until he died. Of all the Hollywood starlets he had worked with or had a relationship with, Ann-Margret was the only one to attend his funeral.
In 1963, Ann-Margret was featured and guest-starred, in animated form, in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones as "Ann-Margrock." Decades later, she recorded the theme song to the live-action film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas in character as Ann-Margrock. The song she recorded was a modified version of the "Viva Las Vegas" theme.\
In March 1966, Ann-Margret and entertainers Chuck Day and Mickey Jones teamed up for a USO tour to entertain U.S. servicemen in remote parts of Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia. She still has great affection for the veterans and refers to them as "my gentlemen". [1] Ann-Margret, Day and Jones reunited for an encore of this tour for veterans and troops at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in November 2005. [2]
In 1971, she starred in Mike Nichols's Carnal Knowledge, marking a change from her sex-kitten musical roles, garnering a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, while performing at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, she fell 22 feet from the stage and suffered injuries that put her out of commission for several months. Throughout the 1970s, Ann-Margret balanced her live performances with a string of critically acclaimed dramatic film performances that played against her glamorous image, including Tommy in 1975, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In addition, she has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning five times including Best Actress for Tommy. She also did a string of successful TV specials, starting with The Ann-Margret Show for NBC in 1968. Now in her mid-60s, she continues to act in movies.
In 1994, she published an autobiography titled Ann Margret: My Story (ISBN 0-399-13891-9). She has been married to actor Roger Smith since 1967. Smith suffers from myasthenia gravis, and Ann-Margret has devoted much of her life to caring for him.
In 2001 Ann-Margret made her first appearance in a stage musical, playing the character of Mona Stangley in a new touring production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
She has also filmed the movie "Mem-o-re", where she stars with Billy Zane and Dennis Hopper.
Bill Bailey
Ann-Margret Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sun was shinin' fine,
The lady love of old Bill Bailey
Was hangin' clothes on the line
In her back yard,
And weepin' hard.
She married a B&O brakeman
That took and throwed her down,
With a big gang hanging round
And to that crowd,
She hollered loud:
[Chorus]
Won't you come home, Bill Bailey
Won't you come home?
She moans the whole day long.
I'll do the cookin', darling
I'll pay the rent,
I know I've done you wrong;
'member that rainy eve that
I threw you out,
With nothing but a fine-tooth comb?
I know I'm to blame,
Well, ain't that a shame
Bill Bailey won't you please come home.
Bill drove by that door
In an automobile,
A great big diamond, coach and footman
Hear that lady squeal.
He's all alone
I heard her groan.
She hollered through the door
Bill Bailey, is you sore?
Stop a minute, listen to me
Won't I see you no more?
Bill winks his eye
As he heard her cry:
[Chorus]
The song "Bill Bailey" by Ann-Margret and Al Hirt tells the story of a woman pleading with her ex-lover Bill Bailey to come back to her. The lady love of old Bill Bailey was hanging clothes on the line in her backyard and weeping hard. She had married a B&O brakeman who had taken and thrown her down. The woman had a big crowd hanging out with her, and she appealed to them by yelling, "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey?" She moans the whole day long and says that she will cook for him and pay the rent, admitting that she knows she has done him wrong. She then recalls the rainy eve that she threw him out with nothing but a fine-tooth comb and admits that she's to blame.
In the next verse, Bill Bailey drives by her house in a luxury automobile with a great big diamond, a coach, and footmen. The lady love hears him and screams. She begs him to stop and listen to her. Bill winks his eye and drives away without a word. The song ends in a chorus where the woman keeps pleading with Bill Bailey to return home to her.
Line by Line Meaning
One one summer's day,
One sunny day in the summertime,
Sun was shinin' fine,
The weather was beautiful and sunny,
The lady love of old Bill Bailey
The woman whom Bill Bailey loves,
Was hangin' clothes on the line
Was hanging her laundry on the clothesline in her backyard,
In her back yard,
In the yard behind her house,
And weepin' hard.
Crying heavily,
She married a B&O brakeman
She got married to a man who worked as a brakeman for the B&O Railroad,
That took and throwed her down,
Who mistreated her and caused her to fall down,
Bellerin' like a prune-fed calf
Yelling and screaming loudly like an overfed calf,
With a big gang hanging round
With a group of people standing nearby,
And to that crowd,
Addressing that group of people,
She hollered loud:
She shouted out with great force:
Won't you come home, Bill Bailey
Please come back home, Bill Bailey,
Won't you come home?
Won't you come home to me?
She moans the whole day long.
She's sad and upset all day long.
I'll do the cookin', darling
I'll do the cooking, my dear,
I'll pay the rent,
I'll pay the rent for our home,
I know I've done you wrong;
I realize that I've made a mistake and hurt you,
'member that rainy eve that
Remember that evening when it was raining heavily and
I threw you out,
I kicked you out of our home,
With nothing but a fine-tooth comb?
Without anything except for a comb,
I know I'm to blame,
I accept responsibility for what I've done,
Well, ain't that a shame
It's such a pity,
Bill Bailey won't you please come home.
Bill Bailey, please come back home to me.
Bill drove by that door
Bill drove past that door,
In an automobile,
In a car,
A great big diamond, coach and footman
Wearing expensive jewelry and with a fancy coach and footman,
Hear that lady squeal.
Hearing the woman scream,
He's all alone
He's by himself,
I heard her groan.
I heard her moan in pain or sadness,
She hollered through the door
She yelled through the door,
Bill Bailey, is you sore?
Bill Bailey, are you upset or angry?
Stop a minute, listen to me
Pause for a moment and hear me out,
Won't I see you no more?
Will I never see you again?
Bill winks his eye
Bill closes one eye quickly,
As he heard her cry:
While he listened to her cry out:
Won't you come home, Bill Bailey
Please come back home, Bill Bailey,
Won't you come home?
Won't you come back home to me?
She moans the whole day long.
She's sad and upset all day long.
I'll do the cookin', darling
I'll do the cooking, my dear,
I'll pay the rent,
I'll pay the rent for our home,
I know I've done you wrong;
I realize that I've made a mistake and hurt you,
'member that rainy eve that
Remember that evening when it was raining heavily and
I threw you out,
I kicked you out of our home,
With nothing but a fine-tooth comb?
Without anything except for a comb,
I know I'm to blame,
I accept responsibility for what I've done,
Well, ain't that a shame
It's such a pity,
Bill Bailey won't you please come home.
Bill Bailey, please come back home to me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, KENDOR MUSIC, INC.
Written by: . TRADITIONAL, LOUIS J FAGENSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aaronw Scherer
There is something to say about classic beauty... It never gets old, and this woman is still stunning.
golfilloz golfilloz
Es una monada
Kara here
So true.
M.E.D.
Iconic beauty and talent
grocerygoat06
Red head to boot. 😎
Darren McCammon
She's got it, she knows it, and boy so do we. This recording is over 60 years old and it still gets a rise out of me.
April Smith
You should be ashamed of yourself sir.
Stephan
@April Smithwhy?
Ziggy Pop
literally?😆
Toasted Tarts
@April Smithmaybe that’s a real old expression that just has a different meaning in 2022