NEWS

Rich Lopez | jrlopez@mrt.com | Updated 4 hours ago

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck must have somewhat of a thing for Texas. He started the latest leg of his tour in the Lone Star State and even has a touch of Texas in his latest album.

“I love those Texas crowds,” he said. “They always make me feel invigorated.”

In a career that spans across six decades, Humperdinck is hardly at a stopping point. In 2014, he released the double album of duets “Engelbert Calling,” he had a number one hit in the UK with the collaborative track “All Together Now” that raised money for the Red Cross and, of course, his tour, which expanded into 2015.

“If I didn’t have this, the music, I’d just die,” he said.

He was preparing for his Texas concerts at the time of this interview and revealed that despite all of his experience, he’s rather nervous.

“I am and I always go through this same thing. I’m a nervous wreck before the first show and I don’t know what it is. My legs shake, my hands get cold until I hear the audience,” he said.

In the face of that, he says he’d rather feel that than nothing at all.

“I think in some ways it gives me an edge. I don’t want to be complacent for the people who pay to come see me. So, being nervous makes me feel in a way like I still care, which I do,” he said.

He describes the show as tried and tested featuring signature hits such as “Release Me” and “Am I That Easy To Forget,” as well as covers of contemporary songs and tracks from his newest release.

Although an album of duets, he’ll perform tracks for the album virtually with his fellow performers.

“Engelbert Calling” marks his 80th release and of all the types of music he’s done over the years — disco, adult contemporary, pop — he’s never done a full-on album of duets. With 23 tracks, maybe he’s making up for lost time.

While much attention has been given to his duets with Elton John and KISS’ Gene Simmons, a few Texas artists joined him for the ride.

Gilmer-born Johnny Mathis sings with Humperdinck on “A Certain Smile” and Houston’s Kenny Rogers shares his song “She Believes In Me” with Humperdinck. The singer is quick to show his appreciation for them.

“To be on the same album with the likes of them, with all these legendary performers, it’s the thrill of a lifetime,” he gushed.

And while a veteran of music himself, the singer rediscovered his fandom for these singers.

“I found I am still a fan of music and of these performers,” he said. “I respect each and every one of these performers and truly just admire their work, so it was a thrill to work with them. Elton was such a gentleman and Gene had great humor, but they all had and kept such a high level of quality.”

Willie Nelson is the other bona fide Texan on the album. He joined Humperdinck for a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.”

“For me, Willie is one of a kind and I’ve loved him from the get-go. You know, he called me to see if I was happy with his recording. He called me! (laughed) And of all that, he had gotten it right the first time,” Humperdinck said.

As for the future, Humperdinck doesn’t shy away from it. He mentioned a documentary has been made about his life and is set for release this year and of course he has more shows to do, but ultimately, what’s ahead is dependent on his spirit.

“My future is as it’s always been,” he said. “I’m ready to go and I have no plans on giving up.”

Engelbert Humperdinck at Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center, 1310 N. FM 1788. 8 p.m. today. $42-$72. Wagnernoel.com.

http://m.mrt.com/top_stories/article_552837e2-9cd6-11e4-9304-137e83187972.html?mode=jqmCourtesy

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3984539228001/engelbert-humperdinck-is-back/?#sp=show-clips

Elvis Presley would have turned 80 in this past week and a man who knew him well and considered him one of his closest friends was Engelbert Humperdinck.

Engelbert was a few years younger than Elvis and befriended the American legend when he first broke into the USA in the mid 60s. They remained the closest of friends until Elvis’ death in 1977.

“He was wonderful, one of the dearest people I have met in my life,” Engelbert tells Noise11.com. “He was one of the most kind-hearted, benevolent people you will ever come across. He would be driving in his car and see somebody on the street in bare feet and whatever he had in his pocket he would take and give it to them and say ‘get yourself a pair of shoes’. He was that kind of guy”.

Elvis met Engelbert when he came to an Engelbert show. “The first time I met him he had come to meet me,” Engelbert said. “He came to see my show first before I went to see him. Believe me, it took me a good 10 minutes to quiten the audience down once I introduced him. He stood up and he had a cape on and he opened the cape as he stood in the booth in Las Vegas with the cape open like Batman. The audience went absolutely berserk and I said “shhhh, this is my show”. No, I couldn’t quieten then down. So I brought out some of my big gun songs to try and quieten then down which I did in the end. He came backstage and he said “thank you very much, what a great show”. This is how humble he was. He said, “thank you for introducing me”. Elvis! I said “Elvis, I can’t thank you enough for being at my show”. He was such a nice guy, a very nice guy.

Elvis copied his trademark sideburns from Engelbert. “I had them in 1965 and Elvis put his on in 1972,” Engelbert said. “The true story is this … he had a lady sketching him to find an outfit for him to go on his world tour. That’s where the white jump suit came in. She designed this white jumpsuit with the high collar and the long black side-burns. She presented it to him and he went (in Elvis voice) “Hell, that’s not me, that’s Engelbert Humperdinck”. So therefore you know who had it first”.

Engelbert also said that one of Elvis’ biggest problems was the wrong people around him. “I think he was mishandled by his friends and he was a great loss to our industry,” he said.

Elvis would have been 80 on August 6, 2015. Engelbert will turn 80 on May 2, 2016.

by PAUL CASHMERE on JANUARY 11, 2015

http://www.noise11.com/news/engelbert-humperdinck-remembers-his-friend-elvis-presley-for-his-80th-birthday-20150111

Still #1 on the official Independent singles chart!

Please keep buying for these 2 great charities and 1 great mission ‪#‎WorldPeace‬ ‪#‎AllTogetherNow‬

Straight in at #1 on the official independent charts!

Great effort!

http://www.officialcharts.com/independent-singles-breakers…/

‪#‎AllTogetherNow‬ ‪#‎ThePeaceCollective‬ ‪#‎WorldPeace‬

by PAUL CASHMERE on DECEMBER 15, 2014

The UK is facing one of its biggest chart showdowns of all-time with music legend Engelbert Humperdinck in battle again metal icons Iron Maiden for the number one spot on the English chart next week.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s collaboration with The Peace Collective ‘All Together Now’ is a charity song raising funds for the Red Cross/Red Crescent organisation to continue their humanitarian work.

The Peace Collective is an all-star gathering with Engelbert Humperdinck joined by Clean Bandit, Gorgon City, Suggs, Mick Jones, David Gray, Julian Lennon, The Proclaimers, Gabrielle, Jah Wobble, Leo Sayer, John Power and Holly Johnson.

Peter Hooton of The Farm is the composer of ‘All Together Now’. He told Officialcharts.com “First and foremost we wanted to make a record that would stand the test of time but obviously to challenge for the Official Christmas Number 1 would be a fantastic. We are definitely the underdogs as we have no marketing budget as such and are relying upon goodwill and favours from some brilliant people in the music industry and football. I think it would be a symbolic Number 1 promoting peace and commemorating the extraordinary events of 1914 when there was a brief period of humanity during the horrors of warfare.”

The wildcard for number one next week is last nights X-Factor winner Ben Haenow. His single ‘Something I Need’ is the Cowell creation the Iron Maiden campaign is out to block.

http://www.noise11.com/news/engelbert-humperdinck-takes-on-iron-maiden-for-uk-chart-battle-20141215

The single was officially released to download last night at midnight (UK time)

Currently #1 on Amazon "Hot New Releases" Chart

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-releases/music/382535011/ref=zg_bs_tab_t_bsnr

and

#5 on Amazon "Singles Charts"

BUY YOUR COPY NOW!!

Release Date Sunday December 14 2014

#AllTogetherNow

Pre Order The Record Now (WorldWide)

☛ Mobile: Text GET PEACE to 84222 for £1 (UK Only)

☛ iTunes: http://bit.ly/peaceitunes

☛ Amazon (CD): http://bit.ly/peaceamazoncd

☛ Amazon (MP3): http://goo.gl/4qPbbr

☛ 7 Digital: http://goo.gl/EVZ7uX

All Proceeds to The Red Cross & The Shorncliffe Trust.

OR

Buy a physical copy on Monday AM (UK ONLY)

#AllTogetherNow CD single from next Monday. The CD will have an exclusive b-side so it's well worth buying it at £1.99 as well as a download!

✔ Amazon

✔ HMV

✔ Morrisons

✔ Sainsbury’s

✔ Tesco

✔ Some independent stores

Produced By Simon Britton

All Together Now the Charity Record?

Whilst any monies made will go to charity, being compared to other records out there is a little disingenuous to those involved in making this record (who fully understand what this record is about) & the truce soldiers of WW1.

Sorry but All Together Now 2014 is more than a charity record, the song is and always has been an anti-war song, The Peace Collective are promoting a message (hence the name), we repeat that message daily, The Farm have been repeating it for the last 25-years, this song commemorates peace & those that chose not to fight on Christmas day 1914. It’s a tribute to those brave souls, English & German ordinary folk, who found they had more in common with each other than the aristocracy who sent them there to die.

You cannot compare this to XFactor, Band Aid 30 or any of the other record being made in the name of, they are vehicles in aid of, whose purpose is raising money, the rights or wrong of, I will not debate here. All Together Now exists because of that moment Christmas day 1914, one of humanities greatest ever stories, I struggle to imagine the bravery of those men taking that first step into no man’s land, who were not only at risk of being shot by their supposed enemy, they risked being executed by their own country for fraternizing with that enemy. A spirit stronger than war was at work that night, humanity at its best in my opinion, with that in mind there’s a lot humanity can learn from those men on Christmas day 1914, that’s the message, that story is used now to educate and long may it continue, we’ve tried to keep it alive for 25-years enshrined in a song, you can do more with music than just making money, we can question & educate, demonstrate & challenge, therefore this is not just a charity record!

We do not want money from this, however a consequence of selling records is that, if you sell enough, the record makes money, we do not want that money so we decided to give whatever monies are made to The Red Cross, who are normally the first in any war zone /global tragedy clearing up the mess governments make (they R+ do not have an ego that needs feeding unlike some!!), and The Shorncliffe Trust who are trying to keep the memory of this event alive!!

Be under no illusion as to why we are doing this!

Maybe that’s why radio isn’t playing this record as much as it should, and some just want to pigeon hole it as just another Charity Record..

BUY THE SINGLE NOW FROM THE FOLLOWING LINKS …

THIS IS THE PEOPLE’S XMAS NUMBER ONE

★ Amazon (CD) … bit.ly/peaceamazoncd

★ iTunes … bit.ly/peaceitunes

★ Amazon MP3 … bit.ly/peaceamz

★ 7Digital MP3 … bit.ly/peace7dig

Text GET PEACE to 84222. Track sent on 15/12/2014.

(Texts cost £1 + 1 standard rate msg. Help: 0333 003 0580).

☛ iTunes http://t.co/GZ7DaaIGh0

☛ Amazon CD: http://t.co/ycbAl88Iar

☛ Amazon MP3: http://goo.gl/4qPbbr

☛ 7Digital http://bit.ly/peace7dig

 http://louderthanwar.com/why-we-should-send-all-together-now-to-the-xmas-number-one/

- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/why-we-should-send-all-together-now-to-the-xmas-number-one/#sthash.AMgSHioz.dpuf

Posted on December 9, 2014 by louderthanwar

Please watch this great interview from ITV television with Peter Hooton talking about #AllTogetherNow

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2014-12-09/altogether-now-why-this-song-is-making-a-comeback-after-25-years/

Formed in Liverpool the band 'The Farm' had a huge selection of hits but one of their most recognisable songs is being re-released next Monday. 'Altogether now' was written by frontman Peter Hooton and is being re-released as a special charity single. It has a special meaning reflecting on the Christmas truce in the First World War. All proceeds will go to theRed Crossand the Shorncliffe Trust, a military history charity.

From the brand new CD "Engelbert Calling" Order your copy today and have it delivered by Dec 12

Click here to order http://www.amazon.co.uk/ENGELBERT-CALLING-Engelbert-Humperdinck/dp/B00GJZBQA8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1418249324&sr=1-1&keywords=engelbert

More details here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/playlist