On April 9, 1962, 20-year-old
Ann-Margret earned a standing ovation for her performance of the Oscar-nominated title song to the
Bob Hope comedy
Bachelor in Paradise at the annual Academy Awards ceremony, another stepping stone on her way to stardom. Perhaps because it was still promoting her as a
pop/rock singer,
RCA Victor Records, her record label, which was just releasing its second
Ann-Margret LP,
On the Way Up, took a while to retool her image as more of a middle-of-the-road
traditional pop singer, and it wasn't until her fourth album, released the year following the Oscar show, that a recording intended to capitalize on the
"Bachelor in Paradise" triumph appeared. The
Ann-Margret of
Bachelors' Paradise was very different from the one who had hit the Top 20 with the bluesy
"I Just Don't Understand" less than two years earlier. This was no distaff
Elvis Presley, with
Chet Atkins behind the glass and
the Jordanaires on background vocals; this was a nightclub chanteuse working with an orchestra and performing a bunch of
pop standards written by the likes of
Rodgers & Hart (
"You Took Advantage of Me" from the 1928 musical
Present Arms) and
Styne and
Sondheim (
"Let Me Entertain You" from the 1959 musical
Gypsy and its just-released film version). The point of consistency between the younger
Ann-Margret and the mature 21-year-old who made
Bachelors' Paradise was her kittenish sexuality, which was even more accentuated by this lush
ballad approach. One of the LP's songs was
"Lovin' Spree," a 1954 hit for
Eartha Kitt, and
Ann-Margret displayed
Kitt's strong influence, though without the older singer's predatory bite. This new direction might have led to recording success if
Ann-Margret had pursued it; instead, she continued to focus on movies, in particular her latest vehicle, the film adaptation of
Bye Bye Birdie. ~ William Ruhlmann
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