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"I had trunks full of them," laughs singer Engelbert Humperdinck, recalling the way female fans used to throw underwear and hotel keys at him. "I'm not joking. Everyone thinks Tom Jones started that. No, I did!"

Born Arnold George Dorsey on May 2, 1936, in Chennai, India, the ninth of ten children, his family relocated to Leicester, England, ten years later.

Following an army discharge in 1956, he signed with the British Decca label. His first single, "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," failed to sell, as did all of his subsequent recordings for them. However, in 1967, with a new manager and name, his reworking of the old Ester Phillips hit "Release Me," became a huge seller and established him as an international singing star, something he remains to this day.

Some of his best-known hits over the years include "After The Lovin'," "A Man Without Love," "The Last Waltz" and "There Goes My Everything." His latest album, "Engelbert Calling," features duets with some of the world's best known singers, including Elton John, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick and Johnny Mathis.

Humperdinck will be performing at Morristown, New Jersey’s Mayo Center on October, 6th, The Count Basie in Red Bank, NJ October, 7th, Westbury, New York’s NYCB Theatre, October 9th, and Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J., October 10th.

He says, “I'll be singing some of my standards, songs from my new album, as well as some new songs from other artists. It will be a lively evening, very entertaining, with a touch of humor."

Just be on the lookout for the possibly of flying female underwear and nametagged keyrings.

Elliot Stephen Cohen: This may seem like a ridiculous question to begin with, but do you prefer interviewers to address you as Mr. Dorsey or Mr. Humperdinck?

Engelbert Humperdinck: You know, you can't mix up the names, otherwise people won't know who I am. So, it's Engelbert, or Enge, or whatever you prefer.

ESC: I'm sure you've gone over the story of the origin of your stage name many times, but since many of our younger readers may be unaware, can you relate how it happened?

EH: Sure. I've been successful with the name for about 48 years, thank God. Before that, I tried getting recognized with my real name, Dorsey, but nothing happened. Then in 1965, my manager and good friend Gordon Mills, who is not on this earth any more, changed my name to Engelbert Humperdinck, which was the name of a German composer who passed in 1920. Since no else, at least that I was aware of had taken the name, I was on my way as Engelbert Humperdinck.

ESC: Since then we've had very successful performers who've changed their birth names to ones like Madonna, Prince, Beyoncé, but were you concerned that because of your new name, some critics might perceive you as a novelty act, or one-hit wonder?

EH: Yes, you're right. The name did sound like a novelty, but when I first starting in the business, many people felt they had to change their names to get recognized, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, even John Wayne was born with a different name, My manager also came up with the names for Tom Jones and Gilbert O'Sullivan, and we all owe him a great deal for our successes.

ESC: Of course, most of the early British rockers had names like Billy Fury, Tommy Steele, Alvin Stardust, Marty Wilde...

EH: Oh, yeah, they all had these managers who thought up these genius names for them, and they all became successful. I mean, I would have loved to become famous with my real name. My father and mother would have been totally proud that I was carrying the family name and being recognized all over the world, but that didn't transpire. So, therefore, changing my name made it possible to get recognized.

ESC: It's obviously worked well for you.

EH: Yes, it certainly has, but you know my success was really a combination of things. At that particular time, I thought a lot about what my image should be, and the Beatles came to mind. How did they make a name for themselves? They all had the same sort of unusual hairstyle. Even Yul Brynner got famous for his bald head, and Tony Curtis had his own hairstyle. People were getting recognized by their heads and the way they looked. So, in 1965 I decided to grow my sideburns long and color my hair jet black. It was all a combination of having that image, plus the name, and just like picking the right lottery number, picking the song "Release Me.” That record by the way, is in the Guinness Book of Records for being successful enough to stop the Beatles from having their 13th consecutive number one. Having my first number one record around the world gave me a global career immediately.

ESC: You have a new album "Engelbert Calling" which can be obtained through the Internet. As most of the big record chains like Tower, Virgin and HMV have folded, do you miss the days of all those huge record shops?

EH: Yes, it's a world that doesn't exist any more. I personally think it's sad that they're all gone because it was fun when you could actually go to a record store, look around to see who was in the Top Ten, and you could play a record to first see if you wanted to buy it. That was an exciting time in our lives, but they've taken away those Saturday mornings when you could go out and do your music shopping.

ESC: On your album, you sing with a pretty impressive list of singers. Were all of the recordings done separately or were any of them done “live,” face to face, the way duet albums used to be made?

EH: Some of them were done “live,” like the track I did with Elton who was actually the originator of the album. I'll tell you how it came about. I was listening to a live album of Elton's, and on it he says, "I wrote this song many years ago when I was a struggling artist, living in a small flat with my partner. We were waiting and hoping for an Engelbert Humperdinck to come along and make (one of my songs) a hit for us." That was a very flattering thing to hear, but unfortunately I was unaware of Elton at that particular time.

ESC: It must have been great to finally get a chance to record with him.

EH: Yes, I called him a few years ago and asked him to do this duet with me, and he agreed immediately. He's such a wonderful man. He came into the studio with me and of course once you've got Elton John, you've got the honeycomb. It was just so wonderful to have him in the studio. He's just an amazing talent and an amazing attraction. So t really helped me with my album. We didn't actually record right way, but talked for a couple of hours about old times, because we more or less started out around the same time.

ESC: What do you remember most about the time when you were also a struggling new artist?

EH: I used to go to a place in London called Tin Pan Alley where all of the music publishers were. Me and a lot of the other struggling artists would wind up in a coffee bar across the road. We were all looking for songs that might help you get a career, or at least a recording contract. Groups like The Moody Blues would also be there, but their career took off much sooner than mine.

ESC: Were there any other singers who recorded “live” with you for the album?

EH: To my surprise, the great Gene Simmons from KISS came in to record with me. He was truly an exciting person to have in the studio, believe me. You know, I'm six-one, but he's about three inches taller than me, just a giant of a man with a great sense of humor, and just brought a great deal of pizzazz to the recording.

ESC: On the album you also have Cliff Richard, who must have been a major hero of yours, growing up in England.

EH: Well yeah, the funny thing is, Cliff was a major star in the '50s at the same time when Elvis came in. Cliff has probably had more number one hit singles than anyone else in the world. I used to be an opening act for Cliff and now all of these years later, he agreed to be on a duet with me. So that was quite a thrill for me. He still looks great. He's like the Peter Pan of the industry.

ESC: I'm sure one artist you would have loved to have had on your album, would be Elvis Presley, who was also a fan of yours. What memories do you have of Elvis?

EH: I first met Elvis around 1972, and we hit if off immediately. When I saw his long sideburns, I said, "Elvis, those are mine." (Laughs.) I brought the long sideburn look to this country and around the world in fact, but getting back to Elvis, meeting him was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. We talked about our careers, and I said, "You know, Elvis, I've got a lot of your albums. I listen to you a lot, and I've learned a lot from listening to you." He said, "Well, I've got all your albums, 'cause I've recorded some of your songs, too." Therefore it was a mutual sort of feeling of getting together...what they call a mutual admiration society.

ESC: Did you meet him other times, or just that once?

EH: No, no, quite a few times. Actually, I last saw him just three months before he passed, and he really looked bad then, but you know I wish I was close enough to him to have said, "Elvis, what are you doing to yourself?" However for man of that stature, it was difficult for me, who'd only been successful for a little while compared to him, to say that, but now I wish I had.

ESC: Did you have any premonition at the time that he looked like he wasn't going to be alive much longer unless he got some professional help?

EH: You know, I never ever thought, "He's not going to be around much longer," but I did think he looked pretty poorly, compared to when I first met him. He looked very bloated and was sweating a lot. It looked dangerously … dangerous at that moment. When I think about it now, I wish somebody had locked him up somewhere, like on a desert island where he couldn’t get a hold of the (drugs) that were killing him. Let him stay there for a year, get clean, and then come back. It was really a very sad loss, knowing that this man who had been a such a rock to the industry, had to disappear so quickly, but up to his very last shows, his voice was still unbelievable. Even in his sad condition, he was still hitting some big, big, notes, and was putting his heart and soul into his performance.

ESC: You and Elvis were born just one year apart, yet Elvis is gone 38 years now. What do you credit most for your surviving the madness that goes with massive fame that Elvis couldn't? Your long-time marriage, Christian faith....

EH: I have to first be honest with you. I'm not really a "Goody-Two-Shoes," as far as my lifestyle is concerned. I love a good drink, and in the early years, I drank a little too much, but I've learned how to cope. I know when I've had enough … when to stop. I've never been into drugs, which really is good, and that's helped keep me healthy and well … able to cope with the work that I do around the world, about 90 concerts a year now.

ESC: What do you credit for your 51-year marriage, which is almost unheard of in show business terms?

EH: I know it is, but I met Patricia in 1956, when she was 17, and I had just come out of the British Army. We've been together ever since, and I think it all comes down to one word which is used in songs all over the world all the time, and it's the word called love. I do love her, and we've been happy all these many years.

ESC: In 1967, you were sharing a bill with Jimi Hendrix, which seems such an unlikely musical pairing. Were you opening for him, or was it the other way around?

EH: No, he was opening for me. I'll tell you why that happened; they were just introducing Jimi to Europe. So, what they did was to put him on a bill with someone like me who was already well-known in England, to give him some publicity. Not that he needed it, because he was really already becoming a star in his own right.

ESC: Didn't he also play guitar for you from backstage, on one show when your guitarist didn't show up?

EH: Yes, he came up to me and said, "Don't worry, man. I'll play for you." I mean to have Jimi Hendrix play for me.. I just wish that someone was there to record or film it. What a nice man he was. You know, he wore those old army-type of jackets. So, one day on the tour I said, "Jimi, that's a lovely jacket." He said, "Do you want it? I'll give it to you?" I said, "No. I didn't mention it for that reason." (Laughs.) He really had a big heart.

ESC: Being that you lived in England during the '60s when there was such an explosion of great rock groups, did you have any interaction with any of the Beatles or Rolling Stones?

EH: No, I'm afraid not. Mind you, the Beatles and myself and Cliff all lived in the same area in London, a place called Georgia Hill, within about a half mile radius of each other, and we'd just see each other going in the main gates in our back-windowed cars, usually Roll Royces. It was just fun living so close to greats like them at that particular time.

ESC: You've had some pretty rabid female fans over the years. What's the wildest experience you've had with someone who was obsessed to meet you?

EH: Oh, gosh, there've been so many instances. Mostly you'd find strange women in your hotel rooms. They'd pay the people who worked there, or else they'd wait till somebody making up your room would go out for moment to get something, and then they'd sneak in and hide. That used to happen to me a lot in the early days. When you'd check in, you'd get a shock seeing a strange face in your room, when you opened it.

ESC: After more than a half century of singing, on your recent shows critics are still praising how remarkable your voice sounds. To what do you attribute keeping your voice in such great shape?

EH: I don't know. I just think I've been very fortunate because as you get older, your vibrato slows down and you lose your range, but when you see me live, you'll know that mine hasn't ... .well, maybe a half step, but my vibrato hasn't slowed down. The longer you live, the more experience you get, and you learn what you have to do to stay in the limelight. So, therefore, to stay relevant in today's world, I don't sing exactly like I used to. I'm singing a little different now ... a more commercial, contemporary way.

ESC: Could you have possibly imagined 50 years ago that, at 79 you'd still be a major headliner?

EH: No, never. When you grow up you have your dreams. I was hoping to be a star, but I never dreamed my career would turn out like this. I just thought that England would be the extent of my work, but I've traveled around the world several times and been in practically every country. I know how to say "Good Evening" in every language by the way. (Laughs.)

ESC: You've made some great hit records over the years but, would you agree probably the most unusual one was "Lesbian Seagull." How did that come about?

EH: Well, (in 1996) the producers of the film "Beavis and Butthead Come To America" came to see my show at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles. They told me afterward that they enjoyed my performance and sense of humor and asked if I'd sing a song for their movie. They sent me the sheet music. I thought the melody and lyrics were great. It shows that all species have choices, and we have to respect that. I recorded the song, and it went platinum. So, what can you say about that ? It has it's moment.

ESC: Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and other British contemporaries of yours have already been knighted by the Queen. When are we going to see Sir Engelbert Humperdinck added to that list?

EH: I'm just waiting for the Queen to recognize me in that vein. As I mentioned, I served in the British Army, which they didn't. I don't know what the procedure is for getting knighted. I can wait. I'm not in a hurry, but of course I would be thrilled if it did happen.

ESC: Maybe your many fans can start a Facebook campaign that the Queen might hear about.

EH: Maybe. (Laughs.)

ESC: You've had a great singing career, but do you still have any unfulfilled aspirations, like acting in films?

EH: You know, when I first started my career, I did have aspirations to be an actor as well. Little did I know, after I became popular, my manager at the time was getting scripts from Hollywood without telling me, because movies would have taken away my time from the major tours that were bringing in a lot of money. So, that put an end to my acting career.

ESC: But you're obviously now in a position to try acting, or do whatever you want?

EH: I think it's a little late now for me to try to be an actor. I enjoy what I'm doing right now. Things haven't waned in that direction. So, I want to keep going until God calls me.

October 5, 2015 by Elliott Cohen for Examiner.com

http://www.examiner.com/article/englebert-humperdinck-on-elvis-success-and-keys-to-his-longevity