NEWS

Kick-off the New Year with an AUTOGRAPHED Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 wall calendar, available exclusively from the OK!Good Records Shop! Signed by Engelbert Humperdinck himself, this limited edition calendar is a must-have for Engelbert fans and is sure to become a collector’s item. The autographed Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 wall calendar is extremely limited in stock, so don’t wait! Purchase a limited edition autographed wall calendar from The OK!Good Records Shop for $49.95 plus shipping and handling.

Click here to purchase an Autographed Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 Wall Calendar!

And if you haven’t already, order the unforgettable “Regards” Holiday Gift Set for your loved one this season, which includes a limited edition Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 wall calendar*, an autographed Engelbert Humperdinck Holiday Greeting Card, Engelbert’supcoming EP, “Regards” (out November 19th), and a small mystery gift.

Click here to order the Engelbert Humperdinck “Regards” Holiday Gift Set!

*Please note that the “Regards” Holiday Gift Set does NOT include the AUTOGRAPHEDEngelbert Humperdinck 2022 wall calendar**

​​ My Dear Fans,

I am so upset in having to relate to you that we have to cancel our UK tour. I have come down with a viral bronchial infection & am being treated for it now. This has never happened before and I so much wanted to see all of you in the 14 cities. We are going to reschedule the shows for early next year. Stay well and remember……I love you.

The EP will be released on November 19.

by Michael Major Nov. 9, 2021  Broadway World Music

In support of his current UK tour legendary vocalist, Engelbert Humperdinck is closing out 2021 with a surprise EP REGARDS available on November 19, 2021 via OK!Good Records.

Regards features new studio recordings of songs Engelbert debuted on his recent "Live at Home" YouTube Special, which has hit over 300,000 views in its first month. The 5-track release includes covers of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Let It Be Me" made famous by The Everly Brothers, and Louis Armstrong's timeless hit "What A Wonderful World."

The EP also includes an 'Orchestral Version' of the fan-favorite "Smile" (Charlie Chaplin) from Engelbert's previous EP Sentiments (2020). Also included is the festive bonus track "Blue Christmas" where the singer updates his friend, Elvis Presley's classic with a Texas Two Step arrangement.

The "King of Romance", as Engelbert is lovingly nicknamed by his legion of fans, recently celebrated over 50 years in show business. With his most recent albums The Man I Want to Be (2017), Warmest Christmas Wishes (2018) and the EPs Reflections (2019) and Sentiments (2020), Engelbert has shown another side of his talent by picking more introspective songs that connect with his life's experience. His new music has opened a new chapter in the legend's career as he continues to inspire and connect with fans of all ages.

Engelbert is closing out a busy 2021 which included tour dates in the United States and United Kingdom, along with being awarded MBE honors for his services to Music during the Queen's Birthday Honors in June of this year. Most recently the singer was awarded a Silver Play Button by YouTube to commemorate his 100,000 Subscribers on his Channel, powered by his weekly 'Tuesday Museday' vlogs, 'Flashback Friday' episodes and 'Live at Home' Specials.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Engelbert-Humperdinck-to-Release-Regards-Covers-EP-20211109

Surprise your favorite Engelbert Humperdinck fan this holiday season with the unforgettable “Regards” Holiday Gift Set, now available to purchase from The OK!Good Records Shop!

This stunning gift set includes a limited edition Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 wall calendar, an autographed Engelbert Humperdinck Holiday Greeting Card, Engelbert’s upcoming EP, “Regards” (out November 19th), and a small mystery gift. This limited edition gift set is elegantly packaged in your choice of a gold or white gift box with festive red and green crinkle fill, and accented with a gold elastic ribbon!

The Regards Holiday Gift Set includes:

An Autographed Engelbert Humperdinck Holiday Greeting Card

A Limited Edition Engelbert Humperdinck 2022 Wall Calendar

Engelbert Humperdinck’s new EP, “Regards”

A Small Mystery Gift

For a limited time, The Regards Holiday Gift Set is available at a discounted rate of $54.95 (plus shipping and handling), previously $59.95! This unforgettable gift will only be available for purchase until December 15th for US domestic orders and December 3rdfor international orders, or while supplies last. Be sure to order this special gift in time for the holidays this year!

http://www.okgoodrecords.com/blog/2021/11/04/engelbert-humperdinck-regards-holiday-gift-set/

By Mark Lenthall November 4, 2021, 11:45 am The Press and Journal

Engelbert Humperdinck clearly still loves what he does – and last night’s Aberdeen audience would confirm he does it remarkably well.

Music can be a wonderful career. If you’re a professional musician or singer it’s quite possible – health-permitting – that you can keep doing the job you love for your whole life.

The likes of Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Cliff Richard are all still performing in their later years, but last night someone who pre-dates even the ‘Fab Four’ showed that age really doesn’t matter. If proof were needed you only had to be at the Music Hall in Aberdeen as 85-year-old crooner Engelbert Humperdinck delivered a remarkable show.

Born as Arnold Dorsey, the Indian-born singer decided in the mid-1960s that a more elaborate stage name was needed, and he has never looked back.

Now celebrating a career spanning a staggering 55 years, the Aberdeen date was part of a 14-night UK tour, which Humperdinck has dedicated to his wife Patricia who sadly died after contracting coronavirus in February.

Plenty of energy in the room for Engelbert Humperdinck gig

Most of the Aberdeen audience would have remembered when Engelbert Humperdinck kept Penny Lane off the top of the charts, so it was no surprise that this was an all-seated show. Sitting they may have been but from the opener, Funny How Time Slips Away, there was plenty of energy in the room as the singer and his eight-piece band delivered an evening of classic songs.

And how encouraging was it to see the city’s music fans turning out again in decent numbers to support live music, and organisations like Aberdeen Performing Arts, who run the Music Hall.

Black suited, with an open-neck shirt, Humperdinck brought the showmanship that saw him pack venues in showbiz centres like Las Vegas in the 1970s. There was warm applause for The Last Waltz and Quando – even though a good few folk watched the show through their smartphone screens, videoing most of what was going on in front of them.

Performing biggest hits as well as covers

As well as the standards, he turned out fun versions of Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock and Elton John’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. The band were terrific throughout too. Super tight, with harmonies from his two female backing singers reinforcing the sound.

Vocally it may have been a relaxed delivery style, but Engelbert Humperdinck isn’t short of stage craft and sharp wit. His warm character and charm shone through, as did a genuine enthusiasm for being in Scotland. In November – some way from his LA home in the Sunshine State.

Earlier on, English comedian Tim Clark was a long way north too, opening the night with a 20-minute old school style set, which seemed to tickle the audience.

As for Engelbert, after 90 minutes on stage, there was just time for encore Release Me, his biggest hit. This time the audience were up and out of their seats, singing along with a man who clearly still loves the job he does. His late wife Patricia would have been proud.

Heart-warming.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/entertainment/3647892/review-engelbert-humperdinck-turns-back-time-in-aberdeen/

​​Join Engelbert for an evening of festive celebration and song this December for the 2nd Annual Christmas Special on Looped!

Fans from all around the world can celebrate the holidays with Engelbert through this intimate livestream event, which will include special performances of holiday classics! Livestream takes place December 18th at 12PM PT/ 3PM ET / 8PM GMT. There will be an encore performance on December 19 at 10AM UK / 7PM Tokyo / 9PM Sydney.

Concert tickets and limited virtual meet & greet opportunities now available via Looped.

Engelbert Humperdinck on the John Murray Lunchtime Show, October 20 2021 live from his Bel Air home in California ahead of the UK tour.

https://www.mixcloud.com/cronullajohn/engelbert-on-the-john-murray-lunchtime-show/

By Danica Ollerova October 19, 2021, 5:00 pm The Press and Journal

During a career spanning five decades, Engelbert Humperdinck released countless hits, received an MBE for services to music, and – perhaps most famously – kept The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane off the top of the UK charts in 1967.

Turning 85 this year but showing no signs of stopping just yet, the chart-topping singer is looking forward to bringing his brand new show dedicated to his late wife to Aberdeen this November.

Reminiscing on his past Scottish gigs, Engelbert said: “It’s been such a long time since I was in Scotland but every time I come there I have a great time and people seem to like my music and it’s just unbelievable.

“Music has been my passport to the world and it’s been amazing – everywhere I go they seem to like my music, which is wonderful. And Scotland is one of those places.”

Embarking on 14-date UK tour

Engelbert, born Arnold George Dorsey, had to cancel his last year’s concerts due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but is now excited to embark on the UK tour later this month.

The iconic vocalist will kick off his 14-date tour in Liverpool on October 31 and will perform for north-east audiences on Wednesday November 3. The gig will take place at 7pm at the Music Hall.

The English singer, who currently lives in LA, said: “I’m looking forward to the tour very much. It’s the first time I’ll have done such a big tour in many many many years – I’m doing 14 concerts over there (in the UK).

“I’ll also be doing nine in the US before I come over to Europe.

“It’s not been a great year for everybody, but I’m looking forward to singing again.”

Engelbert dedicates tour to his late wife

The upcoming tour is dedicated to his wife Patricia Healey, who lost a battle with coronavirus in February. The couple had been married for 56 years.

Engelbert said: “It’s not been a very good year for me. I lost my wife and I know that she would want me to come over and she would want me to continue to sing for her as it’s what I love to do.

“Now I read my lyrics a lot differently to the way I used to – they have taken on a whole new meaning. People will recognise it, I’m sure.

“This will be a sentimental journey. What has transpired in your life and mine in the past one and a half years has been quite traumatic.”

Performing classics as well as new songs

Engelbert said his show has been “tried and tested” around the world and his Aberdeen fans can expect to hear him sings classics such as The Last Waltz, Spanish Eyes, and Release Me.

Engelbert said: “I don’t keep it (the show) the same all the time, but of course, people come see the songs that made it possible for me to be there in the first place, so I chose some of them – the songs people seem to like. I kept them in the show, plus, I bring new music that I recorded over the last few years.”

Engelbert’s newest album Sentiments – a collection of new recordings including covers of songs by Elton John, Elvis Presley and Charlie Chaplin – was released in November 2020.

The singer promises the show is “very entertaining”.

“There’s a variety of music so it’s nice for people to sit and listen to,” said Engelbert.

“I love performing live – it’s the greatest feeling in the world when you walk on stage and you’re received in such a wonderful manner. And I’ve been very fortunate that my audiences have always received me in a great way and have given me the courage to be able to go through life with a smile on my face as I walk on stage.”

‘Release Me’ changed his life

One of the songs he enjoys performing the most is his first hit Release Me – the single which stopped The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane reaching number one in 1967.

“It was in the charts for 56 weeks,” said Engelbert.

“That’s the one I really enjoy singing most of all.”

Looking back at his career, Engelbert says the past decades have been “quite remarkable”.

The singer has generated sales in excess of 140 million records, including 64 gold albums and 35 platinum, four Grammy nominations, as well as a Golden Globe. The singing legend also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Engelbert said: “I have had good times my entire life but when I look back on how my success came about…it was quite remarkable.

“I recorded Release Me and it was sitting on a shelf for three months before I did Sunday Night at the London Palladium and then, all of a sudden, it started selling 80 to 90 thousand copies a day. I think that’s what started my life and I’m very grateful for it.”

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/entertainment/3541668/release-me-legend-engelbert-humperdinck-says-he-will-take-aberdeen-fans-on-sentimental-journey/

‘I sang it live on TV and it sold 80,000 copies the next day – keeping the Beatles’ Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever off the No 1 slot’

by Dave Simpson Mon 18 Oct 2021 10.25 EDT The Guardian

Engelbert Humperdinck, singer

I started off working in clubs under my real name, Gerry Dorsey. Then I got tuberculosis and nobody in showbusiness wanted to handle me, because it was a serious disease back then. When I was in hospital I told my mother that a priest had come to visit me and been really kind. She said: “Son, he was giving you the last rites.”

Things started to turn round for me when Tom Jones’s manager, Gordon Mills – who I’d met when he was in the Viscounts and we toured together – started managing me as well. He suggested I change my name to something more unusual or unforgettable than Gerry Dorsey. Engelbert Humperdinckwas a 19th-century German composer who is best known for his opera Hansel and Gretel. At first I said: “What kind of a name is that?” But if anything is unforgettable, that name is.

At the end of 1966 when I was looking for a hit song, I found an instrumental called Release Me by the jazz saxophonist Frank Weir. The melody was so beautiful. I said to Gordon: “This is a hit tune.” It was written [by Eddie “Piano” Miller and Robert Yount] in 1949 and had been done by a few people, but we found a lyric version by Esther Phillips, which was R&B. I wanted to do it more like the Frank Weir version, but with lyrics. Gordon also suggested it to Tom Jones, but Tom didn’t like it, so Gordon said to me: “You can have it.” I changed the key in the middle so I would hit this big “Pleeeeeease” and gave it to an arranger, Charles Blackwell, who did an amazing job.

The record sat on the shelf for three months, then [singer] Dickie Valentine got ill before the Sunday Night at the London Palladium show, and I got the opportunity to take his place on live television. The record sold 80,000 copies the next day and just kept selling. It stopped the Beatles from having their 12th No 1 [with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever] and became the biggest-selling record of 1967. It still holds the record for the longest consecutive stay on the charts: 56 weeks.

It’s actually quite a dark song about wanting to get out of a relationship, but people love it and go crazy for it on the karaoke. When the Queen made me an MBE, I was relieved as that meant people would start to know who I was and stop thinking I was the one who did Hansel and Gretel.

Charles Blackwell, arranger

Joe Meek gave me my first chance as an arranger. The legendary producer heard me playing piano in Denmark Street, London, when I was 18. Before that, you needed to be 40 to do that job. When we worked at his flat in Holloway Road he’d have the rhythm section in one room, a string section in the dining room and French horns in the bathroom. The big one I did with Joe was Johnny Remember Me by John Leyton, which was a No 1. I left before things got pretty dark and Joe shot his landlady and himself, but I ended up working with Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Burt Bacharach … loads of people.

A week before I did Release Me with Engelbert, I recorded it with Tom Jones, but it never came out and Gordon said: “We now want to make it with Engelbert.” At the session everyone still called him Gerry. When we all found out about the new name everyone thought Gordon had gone crazy, but he was a very clever manager.

Tom Jones’s version was more gospel, so for Engelbert I changed the arrangement into what you might call orchestral country music. In those days you’d have a singer, rhythm section, choir and orchestra all in one big room. The two top guitarists I used were Big Jim Sullivan and a very young Jimmy Page, just before he formed Led Zeppelin. I don’t think they found the Release Me session all that interesting – they played pocket chess between the takes.

Then I remember the choir got the giggles. Every time we started the song they started laughing. After it happened for a fourth time, Engelbert whispered to me: “Are you sure this is a good song? Everyone’s laughing at it!” I don’t know if it was the song they were giggling at, but he had the last laugh. A couple of months later it was a worldwide No 1.

• Engelbert Humperdinck tours UK, 31 October to 21 November. Details at engelbert.com

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/oct/18/how-we-made-release-me-engelbert-humperdinck-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever

Tune in to watch Engelbert being interviewed for the Ross Owen show on Friday, October 15th. The show will air 7:30PM GMT/2:30PM EST/11:30AM PST.

Here are the links:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheRossOwenShow

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/rossowenshow/live

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RossOwenShow