NEWS

Engelbert Humperdinck, his live band and international touring production team will visit South Africa, starting with the SunBet Arena at Time Square Casino in Pretoria on Friday, 12 July 2024, at 8pm, tickets are selling fast and on sale through Webtickets.co.za.

Pretoria Rekord June 25, 2024

Footsteps of a Legend #1 : “4 shilling and frozen fingers”!

It is 1947, in Leicester, England. From the Dorsey household, packed with 10 siblings, we hear the notes of an 11 year old boy, playing ‘My Blue Heaven’. Just an hour ago, a young Arnold Dorsey had received his first ever saxophone from his Dad. Not even the dented bell on the instrument could stop his enthusiasm.

For the next four years he delivered the morning paper, earning 4 shillings per week – the precise amount Mr.Parker asked for a saxophone lesson. To keep his fingers protected against the cold, knowing he could not play the keys with frozen fingers, he strapped his saxophone around his chest, to be able to keep his hands in his pockets.

Nevertheless, he still arrived at Mr.Parker’s house, with icy, chilled fingers. The teacher would warm him up first, in front of the fireplace, before commencing the lesson. And this, was the humble beginning of a legend who would become known to us, as Engelbert Humperdinck.

Footsteps of a Legend #2 : “Sheffield, The Milk Train and Telephone Boxes”!

November 1956, Arnold Dorsey was walking down a muddy road in Leicester, in a white suit, carrying a special girl With his saxophone and voice, he could lift an entire army off their seats. Music had its claws properly stuck in him, which drove him to Sheffield every weekend. After a long week’s work at Cannon & Stokes’ engineering factory, he would do 3 shows on Saturday evenings, 3 on Sunday afternoons and end with another 3 on Sunday evening.

With his saxophone and voice, he could lift an entire army off their seats. Music had its claws properly stuck in him, which drove him to Sheffield every weekend. After a long week’s work at Cannon & Stokes’ engineering factory, he would do 3 shows on Saturday evenings, 3 on Sunday afternoons and end with another 3 on Sunday evening.

If he had enough money, he got lodging on Saturday nights, but mostly he could not afford it. He slept on railway-station benches and in telephone boxes. On Monday, at the crack of dawn, he would catch the milk train back to Leicester and start his work week all over again, all for the moment he got to see Sheffield again.

And the girl on his shoulders stayed with him through it all, to become the love of his life. She played an integral role in keeping her man on the right path… the path that lead to being Engelbert Humperdinck. Although she is not with us anymore, she left behind decades of footsteps shared with a legend, Engelbert Humperdinck!

Footsteps of a Legend #3 : “A cup of tea for Mr.Bland”!

A few years along in the footsteps of our legend, we find him married to the love of his life, Patricia, or Popea as he called her. They were living in a flat above a furniture shop, with their first baby, Louise. It was humble and innocent, in the sense of a father doing everything he can to care for his family, but somedays it was not enough for the world out there – like the world of a tax man…

Mr.Bland came knocking on the Dorsey’s door regularly. The couple really did not have the means to pay. Instead of dodging the doorbell, they invited him inside for a cup of tea, for three consecutive years. At the end, the man who made it as Engelbert Humperdinck, with Release Me, was able to pay all the taxes he owed to Mr.Bland.

In the same year Mr.Bland retired with these final words to Gerry Dorsey/Engelbert Humperdinck ,”if there is anyone I’d work for , it would be you.” Nothing meant more to Mr.Bland than the honesty he saw in Engelbert and his wife Popea. That is the show of character that not only earned the admiration of a taxman, but of everyone who ever crosses paths with the legend of Engelbert.

Footsteps of a Legend #4 : “Release me…. the soundtrack that changed life”!

It was the beginning of 1967. ‘Release Me’ had just been released, but had not taken off yet. Gerry Dorsey, now dubbed Engelbert Humperdinck by his manager, Gordon Mills, was sitting restlessly at home, staring at his shoes full of holes in the soles. His friend Tony, had made him paper insoles from Woolworth shopping bags, and even varnished the bottoms.

That was the moment everyhing changed. The phone rang. They urgently needed a replacement for Dickie Valentine, on the show Sunday Night at the Palladium. Life would never be the same again. Engelbert performed ‘Release Me’, and the very next day his records started flying off the shelf, at 80 000 units per day.

He had to rapidly borrow furniture from the shop above which he lived, for the journalists who swarmed his apartment for interviews. Saying ‘yes’ to The Palladium that night, changed the soundtrack of all our lives and we have never been more grateful, Sir !

Footsteps of a Legend #5 : “A Man for all the Nations”!

Late in 1969, Engelbert Humperdinck embarked on his first South African trip. He agreed he wanted to play his music to ALL the cultures of South Africa. This was a pioneering decision in the times of the 60’s.

Upon arrival at Johannesburg airport, he was very surprised that the crowd of Zulu warriors who were gathered on the tarmac, were there to welcome him. The chief of the Zulu tribe greeted him, and a ritual dance followed that made Engelbert feel the rhythm in the ground underneath his feet.

He was then gifted a shield and spear and joined them in some of their dancing movements. This is one of many reasons why South Africans are excited to see Engelbert Humperdinck this July… not only because he is the king of romance, but because he is the man who brings nations together !

Footsteps of a Legend #6 : “Singing to the Soul of Soweto”!

On the first opening night of his 1969 South African tour, Engelbert Humperdinck played at the Presidential Theatre, but afterwards jumped in a car and travelled to Soweto. The first time a British singer dared to do this.

The British Embassy in South Africa never thought it to be a good idea. The crowd at The Look Shirama in Soweto were so extremely overexcited to get into the venue, that their collective body weight turned over one of Engelbert’s empty cars. Many other crowds were not so happy with him for his decision to play to all the cultures, accusing him of interfering with the country’s politics, but he just kept repeating “We’re only here to entertain people,” and went on to perform in Port Elizabeth, as well as Cape Town.

In the Wynberg area of Cape Town, he also performed at The Luxurama Theatre, a pioneer in its own right, who only segregated their audiences by 1967, after force from the government. But nothing could stop Engelbert from spreading his music across all boundaries. Keep reading in our next section to hear how he took the limousine into a village to enjoy a local man’s curry.

Footsteps of a Legend #7 : “Curry in an African Village”!

There was a night during his South African tour of 1969, that Engelbert gave a tip of 10 pounds to the man who was cooking for him in his suite at his hotel.

The cook’s colleagues took the tip away from him later, with violence. The cook then asked Engelbert the next day to not give him any more tips and explained why. An astonished Engelbert asked what he could do to make up for it. The cook asked him with a big smile if he could come to his house in the village on Sunday, for dinner. Engelbert agreed….

That Sunday he set out with his road manager, Tony, and a nervous driver, in a limousine, heading for the village. They drove through a swarming community of terrifyingly excited people, arriving at a small house, in the shape of a thimble. They ate the special curry the cook had made for them, while mayhem continued outside.

Engelbert Humperdinck was the first British man ever to visit that particular area, which explains why he at times felt that the crowd would make his cook’s house tumble in. One can’t help but make the ties to the sense of service that Engelbert was raised in. A true soldier of the British nation, always ready to shake hands with every single civilian. A legend, but with his feet firmly planted in the African soil.

It is a testimony and the reason why Mr. Humperdinck is so immensely loved in South Africa.

Engelbert Humperdinck, his live band and international touring production team will visit two prestigious venues in South Africa, starting with the SunBet Arena at Time Square Casino in Pretoria on Friday, 12 July 2024, at 8pm, followed by a performance at the Grand Arena at GrandWest in Cape Town on Sunday, 14 July 2024, at 4pm – tickets are selling fast and on sale through Webtickets.co.za.

https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/news-headlines/2024/06/25/great-stories-to-know-about-engelbert-humperdinck/