NEWS

The 1960s British invasion was at full cry when singer Engelbert Humperdinck, who had been struggling in England for more than a decade, broke through with a pop version of an old country hit, Release Me (1967).

The ballad shot to No. 1 in Britain and No. 4 in the United States.

Fresh from a career-changing makeover — the 31-year-old singer darkened his hair and grew long, thick sideburns — Humperdinck also exchanged his given name, Arnold George Dorsey, for a new, gimmicky stage moniker borrowed from a German composer best-known for the opera Hansel and Gretel (1893).

He offered dreamy easy-listening songs and billed himself as “The King of Romance.”

The revamp is still paying off.

Since then, Humperdinck has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.

Now the 78-year-old singer — whose other hits include A Man Without Love (1968), Spanish Eyes (1969) and After the Lovin’ (1976) — has recently released an album, Engelbert Calling, and is in the midst of a North American concert tour.

He is scheduled to perform on May 10 at the Hard Rock Rocksino at Northfield Park in the village of Northfield, Ohio.

His first venture into recorded duets, the CD includes Something About the Way You Look Tonight with Elton John, Release Me with Wynonna Judd and Spinning Wheel with Gene Simmons.

Humperdinck also works with Charles Aznavour, Willie Nelson and Dionne Warwick.

“To have been in the same studio working with these people who are giants has

given me a new life, fresh blood,” Humperdinck said, by telephone from his Los Angeles home.

Born in Madras, India, the singer grew up in Leicester, England. His father was an Irish soldier in the British army; his mother, a half-German violin teacher with an operatic voice.

“I’m quite a mixture,” he said.

The singer has twice found it necessary to rebuild his career almost from scratch. Once came early on, when tuberculosis almost killed him, and the second came years later, as the result of an ill-advised business decision.

His breakthrough to success had come under the guidance of manager Gordon Mills, who had come up with the Humperdinck name, and also managed pop singers Tom Jones and Gilbert O’Sullivan.

Humperdinck, Jones and Mills were partners in Management Agency & Music, which included M.A.M. Records.

“My manager was very partial to Tom,” Humperdinck recalled, “and I got upset about that and decided to leave the company. It cost me millions and millions and millions of dollars. I had to remake everything.”

Besides Jones, Humperdinck also knew and was friends with another rival, Elvis Presley — who, he claims, swiped his long-sideburns look.

Humperdinck has had his share of highly publicized controversies, including a successful paternity suit against him and a failed libel suit against the National Enquirer for its report that his former mistress had alleged, falsely, that he was suffering from AIDS.

Through it all, he and his wife, the former Patricia Healey, have stayed wed for 50 years. They have four children, two of whom — Bradley and Louise Dorsey — sing with their father on the new CD.

The way Humperdinck tells it, his profession fell into his lap serendipitously.

At 17, working toward a career as a saxophone player, he sang an impromptu song at an English pub and got a standing ovation.

Working as Gerry Dorsey, singing and also doing Jerry Lewis impressions, he plugged away for a few years until, at age 25, he came down with tuberculosis. It stopped his career cold and almost did the same to his life.

Humperdinck did survive, though, and resumed his career. Thanks to Release Me, he became one of the music’s top acts almost overnight.

“What made me successful was the combination of changing my name, dyeing my hair and growing my sideburns,” he said, “and getting a song that was so universally appealing. With all those put together, I scored very heavily — and thank God for that.”

Engelbert Humperdinck: Sideburns intact, singer back in spotlight with new album

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE  •  Thursday October 30, 2014 7:57 AM

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2014/10/30/sideburns-intact-singer-back-in-spotlight-with-new-album.html