At age 18, before she had her first screen role, actor Sally Kellerman had signed a recording contract with Norman Granz of Verve Records. She did not record right away “because I was scared,” she acknowledged in a recent phone interview. “But that was the beginning of my musical foray. I made my first album in the early 1970s. Lou Adler produced it.”
Kellerman will bring her musical — and acting — talents to the area this weekend for shows in Philadelphia and New Hope, at respective Rrazz Room venues. She describes her act as “a little jazz, a little blues and a little rock and roll.”
She is not inclined to call her performance a cabaret act.
“I’m a singer. I sing songs I love, whatever I find. If I can sing them, I do. If the song doesn’t fit, I don’t. I’m lucky that as an actress-singer, I get to tell a story. It’s finding the center of what the song is about. It’s like acting, but there’s some beautiful music behind it. It’s a great combination. Only here, the stories are musical.”
After a beat, she added, “I get to be myself on stage. I discovered that I’m an entertainer. It’s me being myself, and it takes a lifetime to be oneself.”
Kellerman will most likely perform songs from her 2009 CD “Sally,” which includes jazzy tracks like “Over Over Night,” bluesy tunes like “Somebody Call The Cops” and a rock song or two.
She also enjoys performing slow numbers.
“I like the sound of ballads,” she said in her seductive, husky voice. “I have a beautiful ballad called ‘Say It Isn’t So.’”
The song has a real 1970s feel to it, in part because Kellerman has an appreciation for musical producers who worked with classic ’70s musicians, including Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor.
The 1970s were certainly an important period in the actor/singer’s career. She skyrocketed to fame, earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” O’Houlihan in Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” and later appeared in director Bob Altman’s subsequent comedy, “Brewster McCloud.”
She digressed for a moment to talk about Altman.
“Bob Altman, my hero! We were so close up to when he died.”
She explained that she was part of his stock company but said, in hindsight, after the Oscar nomination, “It went to my head. I was too big to be part of his stable.”
She turned down the Karen Black role in “Nashville” and waited more than a decade to work with Altman again in films like “The Player” and “Ready to Wear.”
In fact, Kellerman made the decision at the height of her acting fame to shift gears and move toward song.
“After the Academy Award nomination, I went on the road [to perform with a band] for three months when things were really starting to happen. I followed my bliss. I hope I’ve grown up by now, and am not so careless. It’s worked out. I’m loving it.
“Certainly when I was younger, I was relaxed — especially in the ’70s,” she added. “But I went through times when I was less confident. I have nothing not to be relaxed about now. I love to sing and be whatever I am in the moment. I love the audiences’ response. They seem to enjoy it. I have nothing to lose now, and I work with wonderful musicians.”
She champions Ed Martel, her musical director who will accompany her on keyboards at her performances. Kellerman previously worked with Michael Orland for a decade before he became a musical director for “American Idol,” and then found Martel, whom she waxes eloquently about: “Even when it’s just the two of us, he fills in all the holes.”
While Kellerman has a distinctive singing voice, she has also made a career doing narrations, both for advertisements (“Hidden Valley Ranch” salad dressing) as well as documentaries. She is particularly proud of her work with Ken Burns.
“I did a whole big thing on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the suffragettes who fought for women’s voting rights. I loved working with Burns, he was so specific.”
But right now, her love is singing.
“It’s great to sing professionally, or even just in the car. When I’m in the car, I listen to WAVE [97.4 FM, Los Angeles], the jazz station, and 101 FM, the rock station. If I like the song, I play it, or I move to the jazz station, and then back again.”
It’s a little jazz, a little blues, a little rock and roll. Just like her act.
Sally Kellerman performs 8 p.m. at The Rrazz Room at The Prince and 7:30 p.m. May 14 at The Rrazz Room at The Raven in New Hope. For tickets, visit http://princetheater.org/therrazzroom or www.therrazzroom.com.