By LINA DAS FOR WEEKEND

PUBLISHED: 17:31 EST, 9 November 2018 | UPDATED: 04:55 EST, 10 November 2018, DAILY MAIL

A career spanning more than 50 years, record sales of more than 150 million and friendships with legends such as Elvis Presley and Dean Martin might be accomplishment enough for most people.

But Engelbert Humperdinck, purveyor of classics such as Release Me and The Last Waltz, has yet another, rather surprising string to his bow.

He chanced upon it several years ago while on tour in Germany.

Suffering from a viral infection that he hadn’t been able to shake for over four months, Engelbert visited an iridologist – an alternative therapist claiming to diagnose health problems by studying the eye’s iris – who cured him within two weeks.

‘He then said to me, “You have healing powers”, so of course I just laughed at him,’ says Engelbert.

‘But he insisted I had an aura. So I pray over people and sometimes it works.

‘There was a lady in Leicester who had cancer and came to see me for treatments.

'She’d been given about six weeks to live, but she lived another nine years, so maybe I’m part-ly responsible.

'Another guy I knew had Bell’s palsy [a type of facial paralysis] and his mouth was up here,’ he says, pulling his lip upwards.

‘I prayed for him and within three minutes his lip came down. People think I’m crazy, but I don’t care. If I can help somebody in any way, that’s fine by me.’

Engelbert, or ‘Enge, as in Stonehenge’, is himself looking in fine fettle.

Now 82, he could pass for a good couple of decades younger, courtesy of that trademark lushly coiffed hair (‘I’ve been dyeing it since my 20s, but it’s still all mine,’ he says, giving it a sharp tug) and a newly-honed physique.

He has a new Christmas album coming out, ‘and I also recently filmed a special in Hawaii, so I decided to lose some weight.

'I’ve been drinking shakes, working out in my gym and spending half an hour in my sauna. I’ve lost two stone.

'I also lie on my deck to get a tan, but I don’t use regular suntan lotion – I use a mixture of olive oil and vinegar.

'It makes your skin smooth and darkens you in a real hurry.

'Here, look,’ he says, helpfully ripping open his shirt and displaying an impressively taut, tanned expanse of chest. ‘I’m in good health.’

While Engelbert appears to be in scant need of his own healing powers, he admits that the one person in the world he would most like to help is sadly beyond his reach.

'With any healer, they say that the only person they can’t help is their spouse because they’re too close. I still pray over my wife, though. I do everything I can.’

Just over ten years ago, his wife Patricia, now 79, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has 24-hour care at the family home in Bel Air, California, where we meet.

The couple have been together for 62 years and have four children. Engelbert’s eyes moisten as he talks about his wife.

‘She’s doing OK considering that she’s had it for the past ten years,’ he says.

‘In fact, she still knows me and knows everybody. Our son Scott came over from Australia a couple of days ago and she called him by his name.

'That’s totally unheard of because after ten years [of Alzheimer’s], nobody can say people’s names like that.

'And when Scott went back to Australia, she cried, so she knows who he is.

‘But we’re doing everything we can to help her. I have acupuncturists see her, as well as my regular doctor, who’s wonderful.

'I also have people from the holistic world and I’ve taken her to see healers. I want her to see everybody because I think it’s important to investigate every avenue.

'Somebody will touch that nerve that will help cure her. That’s what I’m looking for and I’ll search until I find it.’

Although there is no cure as yet for the disease, Engelbert remains touchingly and firmly convinced that his wife’s health will improve.

‘She’ll be back. I know she will,’ he insists.

‘And she’s already shown signs of improvement. Before, if you walked into her room, she’d just stare, but now she’ll turn around and look at you and smile.

'It’s wonderful to see the changes taking place. When the kids come over, she remembers them. And she remembers me.

‘Whenever I go in to see her, she puckers up for a kiss.

'Oh God, she gives me a lovely kiss every time,’ he grins, ‘so I don’t kiss her just once, I kiss her several times to make sure my lips are registered in her mind.

'It’s quite wonderful. But of course I miss her. We’ve been married for 54 years and I miss her in my boudoir.

'I miss holding her at night very much and feeling her presence.’

He first noticed a problem when Patricia started to forget phone numbers, ‘and when we got the diagnosis, it was such a shock’, he says.

‘But right from the start, I wanted to take care of it.

'I heard from a good friend about a doctor in Germany who did stem cell operations, so I took her over there immediately and paid a large amount to have this operation done.

'They said if she had this operation she’d be OK, but it didn’t work.

'This was about eight years ago and I think it was a little early in the stages of stem cell therapy at that point.

'But who knows? Maybe it contributed to her longevity, which I’m thankful for. But she gets good medical attention and as long as I have a breath in my body, I’ll provide that.

‘She doesn’t speak too much,’ he continues, ‘but I think it’s important to talk to her like there is nothing wrong because I know she can still understand.

'I’ll go in to see her and say, “Good morning, my darling”, and sometimes she’ll say, “Good morning” back, and sometimes not.

'But when I say, “How’s my baby?”, she’ll sometimes say, “You’re my baby”, which is wonderful.

'I pick her up and try to hold her. She doesn’t walk very well right now, but she will walk again, I promise you.

'I’m doing everything I can, and I have faith.’

While Engelbert’s optimism is moving, in quieter moments he admits that his wife’s condition can be hard to bear.

‘It is difficult,’ he says. ‘When I’m performing, sometimes a lyric will touch on my personal life and it can be difficult to sing.

'For instance, when I sing How I Love You, I’ll choke up.

'But I think my audience understands and forgives me. My last album, The Man I Want To Be, is really a love letter to my wife.

'I don’t really talk to anyone about her illness and I try to cope as best I can on my own. It is what it is and you just have to take care of your responsibilities.

'A lot of people would have put their wife or husband in a home, but that never crossed my mind.

'But I do miss my wife, our communication,’ he says. ‘It’s lonely at times without her.’

It was love at first sight when the couple met in 1956 at the Palais de Danse in Leicester, where Engelbert grew up (he was born in Madras, India, and moved to Britain aged 11).

Just 20 years of age and then plain old Arnold Dorsey, he was trying to make a name for himself as a singer.

The couple married in 1964 and, a year later, he teamed up with manager Gordon Mills, who also managed Tom Jones.

Mills convinced young Arnold Dorsey to change his name to the much more memorable Engelbert Humperdinck and success shortly followed.

He had a No 1 hit in 1967 with Release Me – notable for spending 56 weeks in the charts and for being the song that prevented The Beatles from attaining their 12th consecutive chart-topper with double A-side Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever – and the couple went from living in a tiny flat in London’s Hammersmith to having a Beatle as their neighbour in a luxurious enclave in Surrey.

‘We had a dog named Cheb,’ he says, ‘and he used to go down to John Lennon’s house and steal the bread from his doorstep.

'John would shout out, “Tell that Humperdinck to get his bloody dog tied up!”’

Elvis was a friend (he even copied Engelbert’s sideburns), as was Dean Martin, who used to rent Engelbert’s Las Vegas home when he was away.

‘I’d come back to the house and find cigarette burns on the furniture,’ he says, ‘but I never said anything because I adored the man.’

While Engelbert continued to enjoy huge worldwide success, by the late 1970s he had severed ties with Gordon Mills.

He now refers to the move as, ‘the worst business decision I ever made, because I didn’t realise I had to give up all my possessions in the company and basically start from scratch again – his lawyers bamboozled me quite a lot’.

It also led to a decades-long feud between Engelbert and Tom Jones, who, says Engelbert, never really forgave him for not staying with Mills.

‘But I’m still here, still working. My walls are covered in gold and platinum albums and maybe it’s because of the amount of albums I’ve sold that he’s got a bee in his bonnet about me.

'Because,’ he says with a grin, ‘I’ve sold double what he’s sold!’

When Tom Jones’s wife of 59 years, Linda, died of cancer two years ago, did Engelbert get in touch? ‘Oh yes, I sent my condolences,’ he says, ‘but I never got a reciprocation.

'But that’s OK. I played my part. And I would shake his hand in a heartbeat.

'It was so sad when Linda died as she was a lovely girl. She was a very dear friend of my wife too.

'Tom likes my wife and my family – he just doesn’t get along with me and I don’t know why because I tried to make up with him many times.

'I hate holding grudges.’

The froideur between the two men exists despite, or perhaps because of, them having more in common than they care to acknowledge: those magnificent voices, the longevity of their careers and, of course, their fondness for women.

Neither has made a secret of the fact that they haven’t always been faithful in their marriages (Engelbert once claimed he’d had ‘more paternity suits than casual suits’) and as he says now, ‘You think the grass is going to be greener, but you find it’s not.

'I think it’s because you only live one life and want to try things out, so you do.

'Yes, I hurt my wife, but my true love has always been where it began.’

He admits that he was never confident about his looks.

‘I was very unsure of myself when I was young and an ugly little beggar with protruding teeth, so I used to lie on them at night to try to straighten them’, and concedes he was, ‘flattered by all the attention I got from women.

'There have been temptations along the way, and if you’re in this business you’re expected to get that sort of thing happening.

'But I’m living a very happy and contented life now.’

Does he still get women throwing their underwear at him on stage? ‘Sometimes. And it was wonderful when it used to happen,’ he admits.

‘I used to have truckloads of them, and after the show I’d give them to memorabilia museums.’

His fan base is still considerable, although it perhaps doesn’t include the voting panel of the Eurovision Song Contest, who placed him second last in the 2012 competition – something that still slightly rankles.

‘Half the performers were not professional,’ he says, ‘and one act was cooking on stage’.

The Russian entry featured six singing grannies who opened their performance by sticking some bread in an oven; they came second.

‘But I was proud to represent my country.’

He still tours, but admits he finds it difficult, ‘because I don’t like to leave my wife.

'As soon as I get to the airport, I’ll call home and ask, “How’s my baby?”, and when I get to the other end I’ll call again.

'I miss taking her to the shows – she used to come until a couple of years ago. But she’ll be back.

'We still have a home in Leicester and I’m hoping my wife will be more capable of travelling next year so that we can spend next Christmas in England.’

It’s a festive time that’s always been important to Engelbert and his latest album, Warmest Christmas Wishes, will be his first Yuletide offering in four decades.

Featuring classics such as Silent Night and White Christmas, as well as hits such as Chris Rea’s Driving Home For Christmas and his pal Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Christmas Song, it is proof that Engelbert’s honeyed vocals, like the man himself, are still going very strong.

Interview over, he shows me into the dining room and offers me ‘some moonshine a friend made for me’ – it almost takes my head off, but has no discernible effect on The Hump, who’s clearly made of sturdy stuff.

‘Oh, I am,’ he says.

‘People always ask me when I’m going to retire, and I say, “What for?” As long as I have a career and a following, why should I stop? The best feeling I get is when I walk on stage. And,’ he adds, ‘I’ll keep going until God calls me.’  

Warmest Christmas Wishes is released on Friday.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6358733/Engelbert-Humperdinck-believes-curing-wifes-Alzheimers.html

 

 

October 26, 2018 Goldmine by Warren Kurtz

We catch up with Engelbert on his two new albums and Joel on his work with Engelbert, Al Martino, Benny Mardones, an upcoming lifetime achievement award, and a special duets project with his wife Rebecca Holden and iconic male vocalists.

Part One – Producer Joel Diamond

GOLDMINE: On November 7, in one of our favorite states, Nevada, you and your wife Rebecca Holden will be in Las Vegas, as you receive your award for Lifetime Achievement Music Producer from Hollywood F.A.M.E. (Film, Art, Music and Entertainment). Congratulations! You certainly have given me a lifetime of music to enjoy with Engelbert Humperdinck, Al Martino and others. You have also had unbelievable success in Europe with the music of someone my wife Donna and I have been amused by in the Sharknado films, David Hasselhoff.  

JOEL DIAMOND: Thank you. Funny that you mention Sharknado. When most people think of David, they say “Knight Rider,” which is true for Rebecca too, where she played the role of April Curtis. For the past five years, Rebecca and I have been working on the Dreams Come True project, featuring her title tune vocal duet with Jon Secada, with the music based on Pachelbel’s “Canon.” It is a unique packaging of the album, with high end jewelry. The album is a flash drive within the pendant and is real classy. Rebecca sings duets with Engelbert, Tony Orlando, Bill Medley, Gary Puckett, Jack Jones, Little Anthony, Tommy James, Trini Lopez, David Clayton-Thomas, Robert Tepper, Benny Mardones and more. It will be available very soon.

GM: Rebecca isn’t the only female singer you have worked with over the years. Both sides of Helen Reddy’s final U.S. charting single in 1981 from her Play Me Out album are so different and entertaining. “I Can’t Say Goodbye to You” is sophisticated and the flip side, “Let’s Just Stay Home Tonight,” with Charlie Calello’s arrangement, is a fun dance number, reflective of the late ‘70s sound. The following year we began hearing one of my favorite female singers from the ‘80s, Laura Branigan. What class and power. I was so sad when she passed away in 2004.

JD: I was heartbroken too. She was just magnificent. We recorded a song that she had written early on called “Memories.” We also recorded “A Much, Much Greater Love,” which made our Love Songs compiliation CD.

GM: That compiliation begins with Benny Mardones’ 1989 second hit version of “Into the Night.” When I was selling records at Peaches in 1978, while in college in Cleveland, we were rooting for Benny, a Cleveland native. We loved the first song on his 1978 Thank God For Girls album, “All For a Reason,” and we carried the single version of it too, where they kept the five minute length of the song. The female background vocals were so strong. On the album cover Benny was wearing a shirt with a label of “The King 1935,” as a tribute to Elvis. We played side one as often as we could, but sales were slim and radio play was pretty nonexistant. Then, in the summer of 1980, after my wife Donna and I had moved from Cleveland to Dallas, we finally heard Benny on the radio with “Into the Night.” I have also been enjoying your new sophisticated “Re-Recorded 3rdTime – Official Video – Producer’s Cut” version online.

JD: In 1969 I was new at Mercury. Benny got off of the bus, came to my office and said “I want to sing for you.” I knew right away that he had potential. I have enjoyed working with him throughout his career. At the end of the ‘80s DJ Scott Shannon had a nightly “One Hit Wonders” radio show. Even though “Into the Night” reached No. 11 in 1980, a lot of people still hadn’t heard it, maybe these were younger listeners, who missed it at the beginning of the decade. The switchboard lit up with requests for “Into the Night.” There were record label sniffers interested, after they found out about this resurgence. I called Mike Curb to record a second version of the song. “Into the Night” became a hit for a second time in 1989. Now there is the new recording with a great arrangement by Ted Perlman. Wouldn’t it be something for the song to be a hit for the third time?

 

GM: Going back to 1978 again, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Al Martino’s The Next Hundred Years album featuring the title tune, his final Top 100 charting single. It’s flip side was a gentle version of “After the Lovin’,” which you helped to make a hit the prior year with Engelbert.

JD: Half of the songs on the album are written by a pair of my favorite writers Alan Bernstein and Richie Adams, including both sides of that single. You can hear the use of female background singers prominently on “The Next Hundred Years,” as I had done on Engelbert’s recordings. Linda November is a great singer and she would bring a group of other singers with her. For the flip side, I used a music box sound at the beginning and the end of “After the Lovin’” after asking myself, “What can I do differently versus the Engelbert version?”

GM: The second single from the album was another pair of favorites of mine “One Last Time” / “Here I Go Again.”

JD: The A side was written by the Addrisi brothers. I am still in touch with Richard Addrisi. They were known primarily as the writers of “Never My Love” for The Association in the ‘60s. In the early ‘70s I took them to Clive Davis at Columbia and he was convinced to sign them to the label. Their love song “You Make It All Worthwhile” was the intended hit until a DJ flipped the single over and “We’ve Got To Get it On Again” became a Top 40 hit for them in ’72. Getting back to Al Martino’s  flip side, he loved the flip side of “One Last Time,” another Bernstein and Adams song, “Here I Go Again.”

GM: Another of their compostions that I think is so strong on the album is “Kentucky Mornin’.”

JD: That is a beauty and I thought it had potential too.

GM: The album concludes powerfully with “A Song For Lovers,” which you also included on your Love Songs CD.

JD: The song gets really big at the end, as the album’s finale. I told the legendary engineer Bob Clearmountain, “Bob, we need a really big sound.” We had a live forty piece orchestra on the album and I spotted a tympani. I wheeled the instrument into the hallway, where there was an echo. Drumsticks wouldn’t cut it for what I wanted. It was raining that day and I saw an umbrella. So my suggestion was, at the end, smash the tympani with the handle of the umbrella, and it worked, fortunately, for the big finish. This album experience was certainly new for Al. Harold Wheeler was the arranger, who had a Top 10 club hit with his version of “Baby Face” and went on as the band leader for “Dancing with the Stars” for sixteen seasons. The album turned out wonderfully and I am still in touch with Al’s wife and daughter.

 

GM: When I interviewed Engelbert last year, we covered songs from the ‘70s After the Lovin’ and Last of the Romanticsalbums. As we close, can we talk about a couple of these songs, too? “Let Me Happen to You,” “The Hungry Years” and “Love Me Tender.”

JD: “Let Me Happen to You” was written by Bobby Eli from Philadelphia, part of the MFSB group. “The Hungry Years” was written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Howie invited me to dinner and asked if Engelbert would sing it, which he did so powerfully. On the After the Lovin’ album, Engelbert also had an early version of “Can’t Smile Without You” before Barry Manilow, and then somebody in Barry’s camp heard it and, well, what a hit Barry made of it. On the Last of the Romanticsalbum, Engelbert’s version of “Love Me Tender” is absolutely beautiful. I met Priscilla Presley recently and I’ll have to send her a version of this song that Elvis co-wrote. Another one from that album, and on Al’s album too, is “Sweet Marjorine,” written by Arnold Capianelli and Robert O’Connor, my original partners from ’68. Thank you for covering so much of my productions and Engelbert’s work too.

Part Two – Engelbert Humperdinck

GOLDMINE: Last year we covered fifty years of your music in our interview including a couple of new songs. Since then you have released two more albums, let’s start with the album The Man I Want to Be.  

ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK: I dedicate the album to my wife Patricia. We have been married 54 years. Our granddaughter Olivia, who is a great singer, and I am not just saying that as a proud grandpa, sings with me on “I’m Glad I Danced with You,” which was written by my daughter and son-in-law. I specifically want to dedicate “Just Like the First Time” to Patricia.

GM: A love song I was pleasantly surprised to be included, and one that fits you so perfectly, is Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are.” Our daughter Brianna and I saw him in concert. That was exciting.

EH: Last year we talked about Elvis with his recording of my “Release Me” and my recording of his “Love Me Tender.” Well, there is a Bruno Mars and Elvis story too. Decades ago, I was in Hawaii and my fan club president set up a special night where a 5 year old boy performed Elvis songs, dressed like a little Elvis. It was Bruno Mars. Even at 5 he had amazing energy and was a great young showman.

GM: Your new album opens with “Absolute Beginner,” with almost a country sound that we might hear from Tim McGraw.

EH: Isn’t that a great song? After people get familiar with the album, I am thinking of using it as an opening song for my concerts as a great beginning number.

GM: Continuing with a slight country sound on the next track, reminding me in theme of Kenny Rogers’ “She Believes in Me,” is the album’s title tune, “The Man I Want to Be.”

EH: Jon Allen is always such a talented writer and he certainly came through on that song.

GM: My favorite song is “How Can You Live with Yourself.” I didn’t know this one even though I sure recognize the writers’ names.

EH: That is a song that the producer Jurgen Korduletsch found. It is written by Richard Marx and Fee Waybill of The Tubes. Richard Marx sent me a very nice note of thanks for including it in the album.

GM: After the first ten songs, there is a section of three show favorites, of which I am least familiar with “Welcome to My World.” I know Jim Reeves had a country hit with it in the ‘60s and that your friends Dean Martin and Elvis also recorded versions of it.

EH: Yes, the set begins with “Crazy,” a great Willie Nelson version that people know by him and Patsy Cline, too. Then it moves to “On Broadway,” another great song that has been a hit multiple times, before ending with “Welcome to My World.”

 

GM: In our interview last year, you mentioned your Christmas Tyme album, with Linda November as a key background vocalist. Now you have released Warmest Christmas Wishes. I love the waltz “Around the Christmas Tree.”

EH: That is a great song, I hope it has potential for a new standard.

GM: “A Christmas For the Family” is fun and bouncy, reminding me of a song you would hear on a Christmas special. In 1971, Bing Crosby released the Chrismas single “A Time to Be Jolly,” and this new song puts a similar smile on my face.

EH: That one is written by Jurgen. He approached me with it and I think it fits nicely on the album.

GM: There is the imagery of “Driving Home for Christmas,” bringing a cozy feeling like Perry Como’s “Home for the Holidays.”

EH: I love it. You see people driving to their holiday destinations, tapping on the steering wheel, and I wonder what they are listening to. Is it the same song playing in my car?

GM: Finally, there are a pair of classic Christmas songs that truly shine on this new collection. “Still Still Still” is one I seldom hear but love. I was first introduced to this 1811 carol by the folk trio Trifolkal. Your blending with the choir on “Silent Night” is incredible. What a wonderful new recording of that classic.

EH: Both are very European in style. I had known music director Jeff Sturges since working with him in 1973. He created this great arrangement and recently passed away, leaving this behind for us to enjoy and celebrate his talent.

 

GM: Both albums will certainly please fans. Have a wonderful time with all your upcoming concerts.

EH: Thank you. I hope to see you there.

 

http://www.goldminemag.com/articles/fabulous-flip-sides/fabulous-flip-sides-engelbert-humperdinck-and-producer-joel-diamond

 

 

 

Warmest Christmas Wishes currently sits at #13 on Billboard’s Holiday Album Chart

Engelbert Humperdinck’s brand new holiday album Warmest Christmas Wishes has entered Billboard’s Holiday Album Chart at chart position #13.  Following its North American release on Friday, October 12th, it sits among beloved Christmas releases Christmas Classics by Bing Crosby and The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole.  Humperdinck’s new album is his first holiday release in nearly forty years, and features Christmas standards both old and new, such as “Silent Night” and “Please Come Home For Christmas”.  Warmest Christmas Wishes will be released internationally in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the UK, Romania and Scandinavia in the coming weeks.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s forthcoming PBS special Engelbert Humperdinck in Hawaii will premiere on Saturday, November 24th, and will feature several songs off his brand new Christmas album.  The holiday special will air repeatedly on PBS from Thanksgiving weekend through December.

http://www.okgoodrecords.com/blog/2018/10/24/warmest-christmas-wishes-enters-billboard-holiday-chart-at-13/

 

Mark your calendars – the PBS Engelbert Humperdinck Special has a premiere date!

We are thrilled to share that the PBS Engelbert Humperdinck Special finally has a premiere date! The long-awaited concert special will start to air Thanksgiving weekendon Saturday, November 24th and throughout December. Check local PBS listings for more info.

This past August, Engelbert Humperdinck flew to Honolulu, Hawaii to tape his upcoming PBS TV special.  The PBS special, titled Engelbert Humperdinck in Hawaii, was filmed at the Hawai iTheatre. Though the impending threat of Hurricane Lane loomed over the islands, the show went on as it just missed Hawaii’s state capital.

When watching the Engelbert Humperdinck in Hawaii PBS special, fans can expect to enjoy numerous Engelbert Humperdinck tunes, both new and old.  Humperdinck will perform classics as well as songs from his newer albums, his latest contemporary album The Man I Want to Be, as well as his brand new Christmas album Warmest Christmas Wishes.

Be sure to check your local listings to find out when Engelbert Humperdinck in Hawaii will air on PBS.

http://www.okgoodrecords.com/blog/2018/10/23/pbs-engelbert-humperdinck-special-will-air-thanksgiving-weekend-through-december/

 

 

CANDY WILLIAMS | Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, TribLive

Engelbert Humperdinck has had a long string of hit records in his 50-plus years of performing — including memorable songs such as his No.1 hit in 1967, “Release Me,” “The Last Waltz” and “After the Lovin’ ” that defined his style as a romantic balladeer.

His latest album, “The Man I Want to Be” (2017), gives him a chance to reflect on his career and say thank you to those that mean the most to him, especially his wife, Patricia Healey, whose battle with Alzheimer’s Disease has rocked his world.

He’s pretty much come to terms with how life has changed since her illness was diagnosed a decade ago.

“I spend most of my time when I’m not working at home with her,” he said from his home in Los Angeles, Calif.

Palace performance

Humperdinck, whose given name is Arnold George Dorsey, currently is on tour in support of the album, which will include a performance presented by Westmoreland Cultural Trust at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

“The Man I Want to Be” was meant as a love letter to his wife, he said, and it includes his love songs as well as covers of other contemporary artists, including Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” and Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are.”

“Bruno gave the arrangement special treatment that is so touching when I get to sing it,” Humperdinck said. “And, Ed, I love his music. Both of them will be around for a long time.”

A special duet

There’s also a special duet on the album that is recreated as a video in his live performances, of him and his granddaughter Olivia Healey Taliaferro, 9, performing “I’m Glad I Danced with You.” The song was written by Humperdinck’s daughter, Louise Dorsey, her husband Tony and their friend, Jim Martin.

When asked to recall one performance that has meant the most to him over the years, he replied, “Sometimes you have to perform for Her Majesty the Queen,” something he has done at least four times. “It’s always a wonderful time,” he said. And he added that his performances for the Queen Mother were very special as well.

“My career has afforded me a passport to the world in my music — and to some countries where they don’t even speak my language, like Russia,” he said.

Humperdinck’s follow-up recording to “The Man I Want to Be” is a new holiday album, “Warmest Christmas Wishes,” just released Oct. 12.

His records have sold more than 140 million copies. He has earned four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe and stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Las Vegas Walk of Fame and Leicester (England) Walk of Fame.

Candy Williams is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

https://triblive.com/aande/music/14211072-74/engelbert-humperdinck-to-share-his-music-at-the-palace-theatre

 

• By Rachel Basinger, Herald Standard, Oct 25, 2018

British entertainer Engelbert Humperdinck, who climbed to fame in the 1960s and has had a very successful music career for over 50 years, will make a stop at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg on Sunday to perform as part of his “The Man I Want to Be” tour.

Born Arnold Dorsey, his friends dubbed him Gerry Dorsey at the age of 17 after a Jerry Lewis impression during a pub contest. He worked under that name for almost a decade.

His former roommate Gordon Mills is responsible for coming up with the now famous moniker of Engelbert Humperdinck.

He exploded onto the music scene in the sixties with his first single in the charts, “Release Me,” which went into the Guinness Book of Records for achieving 56 consecutive weeks on the charts.

The following decades saw Humperdinck touring the world to sell-out crowds. In a career spanning almost 50 years, he has generated sales in excess of 140 million records, including 64 gold albums and 35 platinum, four Grammy nominations, and a Golden Globe.

In a recent interview, Humperdinck said he is motivated to continue performing, even at the age of 82, because of a commitment he made to himself and to those who believed in him from the beginning.

“This is what I aim and came to do on this earth, and I believe there is always room for songs that fill your heart or mend it — even if it’s just at a two-hour show once a year,” he said.

He said he can feel the call of the road when he’s been home too long.

“It’s the creative part of me that gets fidgety, not the being at home part,” Humperdinck said. “I love my easy chair, but when you’ve recorded songs called ‘Release Me’ or ‘Am I That Easy to Forget,’ you don’t tend to test to see if it’s true. I’ve worked too hard to be easy to forget or released.”

He acknowledged that if it hadn’t been for the chance to replace Dickie Valentine, as he had fallen ill, on the United Kingdom hit show “Sunday Night at the London Palladium,” there may never have been any memorable moments.

“The day after that London TV show, ‘Release Me’ started flying off the shelves at a rate of 80,000 and more a day,” Humperdinck said. “I knew then that I had walked through a door that God opened, and fate was watching my path. Once on that road, it took me to places I had never dreamed or imagined I’d go.”

Some of his most memorable moments throughout his career include the first billboard in Vegas, stars on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, Las Vegas and his hometown of Leicester and a relationship with audiences around the world that has lasted for over half a century.

“There have been so many wonderful moments, but it all started with having the courage to take someone’s place,” Humperdinck said. “I was so nervous that night but joked during rehearsal just to act confident. In the meantime, inside I thought they were going to have to replace me if I couldn’t pull it together.”

His love of music and performing came from his love of listening to comedy and music over the Armed Forces Radio when he was stationed in Germany.

“I connected with the saxophone when I was young, but I added comedy and vocals when asked to perform for the lads in the mess hall,” he said. “I always kept a tongue in cheek approach so I could make them laugh but also listen. The spotlight and applause just fed my soul. My dreams became my life and my life outdid my dreams.”

Humperdinck has several musicians who have inspired him and others who continue to inspire him today.

“There are several in the ‘50 year or more club’ who I hold great admiration for — Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Sir Elton John to name a few, but today’s world offers up enormous talent in the all around performers as well with Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and Adele.”

The concert is set for 6 p.m. and tickets are $45, $62, $75 or $85 and are available by calling 724-836-8000 or by logging on to www.thepalacetheatre.org.

https://www.heraldstandard.com/entertainment/local/engelbert-humperdinck-to-perform-at-the-palace-theatre/article_48f17dcd-1475-5537-bb04-521302ffb290.html

 

82 Year-Old Singing Legend Engelbert Humperdinck Shows Us It’s Still Hip to be Cool

 

Some things never go out of style, in fact—they just get cooler with age, case in point, 82 year-old legendary singer, Engelbert Humperdinck, otherwise known as Arnold George Dorsey.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW7A4lZugXM

 

 

 

 

Veteran English pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck released his new holiday album, "Warmest Christmas Wishes," on October 12.

 

By Markos Papadatos, Digital Journal, October 22, 2018

It opens with the mellow ballad "Please Come Home for Christmas," and it immediately breaks into "Driving Home for Christmas" and "Christmas Song (I'm Not Dreaming of a White Christmas)."

 

Humperdinck tackles such Christmas classics as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "White Christmas" and "Silent Night," and he does them all justice. He picks up the pace with "Around the Christmas Tree," and equally soothing is "A Christmas for the Family." It closes with "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" and "Leise rieselt der Schnee," which he sings beautifully in German.

 

Warmest Christmas Wishes is available on iTunes and on Amazon.

 

The Verdict

Overall, Engelbert Humperdinck has done a tremendous job vocally on this new holiday collection, Warmest Christmas Wishes. Each song on here is well-crafted, and the arrangements are neat and distinct. It is nostalgic, timeless and there is something in it for everybody. This new holiday project by Engelbert Humperdinck earns an A rating.

Read More: Engelbert Humperdinck chatted with Digital Journal about his illustrious music career and future plans.

 

http://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/music/review-engelbert-humperdinck-releases-nostalgic-new-christmas-album/article/535201

 

 

 

Darren Paltrowitz, October 19, 2018, Sportskeeda

With 50 years in show business to his credit, singer Engelbert Humperdinck has released more than two dozen charting albums. Still playing to packed houses around the world, Humperdinck has not slowed down at all in recent years. 2017 saw the release of The Man I Want To Be, whereas 2018 has brought Warmest Christmas Wishes and a PBS concert special recorded in Hawaii.

As featured on Warmest Christmas Wishes, “Please Come Home For Christmas” was premiered by Billboard in late August. Said Humperdinck of Warmest Christmas Wishes: “It's been such a long time since I recorded a Christmas album, and fans have been asking me, 'When are you going to do another one?' Finally, we decided to do it. I love [Christmas]. From me growing up with a large family and everybody singing around the Christmas tree, it was a wonderful, wonderful upbringing. So [Christmas] is very special with me to share."

While Engelbert Humperdinck was in New York City doing press, I had the pleasure of interviewing the musical legend in-person within the office of Paste Magazine. Sports-related highlights from that chat are below; the rest of the interview, including anecdotes about Elvis Presley, comedian Jerry Lewis and recording for the Beavis & Butthead soundtrack, be played on an upcoming episode of the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz.

In the meantime, all things Engelbert-related can be found online at www.engelbert.com.

I believe you had two albums slated to come out within a couple of months within one another…

Engelbert Humperdinck: One of them is already out. The Man I Want To Be is out and it has a lot of great new songs. My Christmas album comes out tomorrow.

How long had you been planning to have two releases so close together?

Engelbert Humperdinck: I'll be honest with you… My album came out and then we started production on the Christmas album I haven't done a Christmas song for 40 years and my fans following kept saying, “When are you going to do another Christmas album?” So finally we got together with a record company and we solved the problem by putting the album out and getting it finished. All ready to go!

One of my favorite parts of your career is that a lot of artists will say that they have a multigenerational audience, but you literally do with the fact that Damon Albarn is a fan, and there’s the Beavis & Butthead Do America soundtrack and all that. When did you first start to notice that you had multiple generations following you?

Engelbert Humperdinck: I see them in the audience… I see all age groups out there, you know? Especially when when you've been in the business half a century and then you see young faces in the audience people who enjoy it. It's so wonderful to see it, and I think the reason why I have longevity in this business is because of the multi-generation… I think three, four generations, whatever it is… It's given me a very stable career… I've been very fortunate.

Your name as a performer was taken from an old-time composer, yet your name itself was used as a tribute to a professional wrestling character, Sir Oliver Humperdink, who managed Bam Bam Bigelow and worked with Diamond Dallas Page. Was that something that ever came your way or people talked about?

Engelbert Humperdinck: Is that right?

Yeah…

Engelbert Humperdinck: But there's a lot of people have been named after me after I took the name. And it's amazing what people say, “My mother chose the name [Engelbert] because of you.” But I believe there’s also a ball player named Engelbert.

In football?

Engelbert Humperdinck: I believe so, yeah.

I know that you're a real estate guy, but away from all the work and all that, are you a sports fan?

Engelbert Humperdinck: I come from Great Britain and I'm a soccer fan and a couple of years ago my team in Leicester, where I live and lived, they won the Premier League. I was so happy because I idolized that team. I was able to hold the cup in my hand and meet the whole team and meet the owners. It was just wonderful. But I do play sports, I play golf and I play tennis. I’m a water-skiier. I’m a slalom skier.

Water-skiing, really…

Engelbert Humperdinck: Yes, I’ve studied martial arts with the number-one martial arts guy in the early years. His name is Mike Stone. He was an undefeated world champion. He lives in the Philippines. In fact, he put me on my diet and he told me what to do with and the exercises to do to keep [my weight] down.

Regarding your martial arts background, did you ever have to use that in a fight?

Engelbert Humperdinck: No, I… One time on-stage this guy, I just did a little bit. (laughs)

So moving back to today, how far in advance do you plan your career? I ask because you’ve got this PBS special coming soon, plus you had the holiday album and a regular studio album. Do you look ahead a year or two in advance?

Engelbert Humperdinck: It's always a year ahead. Hopefully this coming 2019 is going to be an excellent year for me, because who knows how long I've got left in show business. But I never try to think I'm going to retire. I don't want to retire, and as long as I have a good following and people still love me and my music, I am going to keep going .

Is there something that you wish more people knew about you beyond the music?

Engelbert Humperdinck: It started with social media, the way it is especially today, we are streaming across the world and people are getting to know me a lot more. With Facebook I put little things out on a daily basis, to keep everybody in touch with what's happening in my life.

So in closing, any last words for the kids?

Engelbert Humperdinck: Who are up and coming?

Sure.

Engelbert Humperdinck: Stick to it, it’s a great life.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/singer-engelbert-humperdinck-on-leicester-city-fc-whether-he-s-had-to-use-karate

 

 

 

BY BILL BROTHERTON| October 15, 2018 ItemLive.Com

LYNN — Decisions, decisions? What to watch? Sunday night offered so many choices.

We decided to put on our New England Patriots sweatshirts and cheer for the old guy. And let me tell you, Engelbert Humperdinck did not disappoint.

What, you thought I was talking about 41-year-old Tom Brady?

Sunday night at Lynn Auditorium, the legendary 82-year-old English ballad singer born Arnold George Dorsey wowed a crowd that featured lovey-dovey couples and large groups of women, including many mothers/daughters/granddaughters out for a night on the town. For 90 minutes, the fortunes of our professional football and baseball teams were set aside.

And fans cheered just as loudly for Engelbert as those vocal Red Sox fans at Fenway.

Looking dapper and fit in a blue suit and red shirt, Engelbert is a throwback to a form of musical entertainment that is sadly becoming more rare: the affable crooner, much like his early supporter Dean Martin, who sings classic songs, tells a few corny jokes while sipping from a glass of red wine, and focuses on giving audience members their money’s worth.

Engie, the greatest showman, was in fine voice, hitting nearly every note, and his professional eight-piece band (two female backup singers, piano, electric keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums) gave the show a dazzling Las Vegas feel. He stood or danced for most of the show, stopping now and then to sip a little wine or to praise his musicians.

His song selection was strong. Of course, he sang the biggies that made him a superstar/object of lust with the women of the world, including “Release Me,” which started the ball rolling in 1967 and closed Sunday night’s main set. The crowd sang along, loudly.

Triple-platinum hit “After the Lovin'” was a fan favorite, as was “The Last Waltz,” which had the crowd swaying to the beat. “My World (Il Mondo)” and a cover of the Celine Dion hit “The Power of Love” received thunderous ovations. A Dean Martin impression during a lively “Quando, Quando, Quando” drew laughs.

A medley featuring snippets of hits (“This Moment in Time” / “The Way It Used to Be” / “Les Bicyclettes De Belsize” / “There Goes My Everything” / “Spanish Eyes” / “Love Is All”) was well-received, and a rock-and-roll version of the standard “I Can’t Stop Loving You” featured barrelhouse piano and set toes-a-tapping.

Tunes from his new album, “The Man I Want to Be,” hit the mark. His slowed-down version of Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” was an unlikely selection and was terrific. His 9-year-old granddaughter Olivia, shown in a pre-recorded video, was his duet partner for “I’m Glad I Danced With You,” written by Engelbert’s daughter Louise Dorsey. In an emotional aside, Engie said young Olivia was singing the part his wife of 54 years, Patricia, would normally have sung. His wife has been battling advanced Alzheimer’s disease for several years, and Engelbert said all proceeds from his upcoming single, “Under the Man in the Moon,” would be donated to Alzheimer’s research.

When the house lights went on at the end of the show, after he finished singing Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times,” a large group of fans congregated at the foot of the stage, handing rose bouquets and love letters to Engie. He shook hands, tossed red handkerchiefs into the audience and hung around for quite a while. You’d think he was a New England sports star or something…

https://www.itemlive.com/2018/10/15/engelbert-humperdinck-did-not-disappoint-this-past-sunday-in-lynn/