INTRODUCTION
This album has certainly been one of my most challenging. I have always so admired the fullness, warmth and power of the voice of this great singer. Romance has always been at the core of his music, his fans tagging him as “The King of Romance”. He has sold over 150 million albums worldwide, had four Grammy nominations, 63 gold and 24 platinum records and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
EARLY LIFE
Engelbert Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey on 2 May 1936 in Madras, India. He was one of ten children, his parents being both British and his father a British Army Officer. His family moved to England when he was aged 10 and he soon showed an interest in music, learning to play the saxophone. In the early 1950’s he played saxophone in night clubs. Coaxed by friends to enter in a pub singing contest, started his singing career. His impression of Jerry Lewis prompted friends to begin calling him Gerry Dorsey, a name he worked under for almost a decade.
MUSIC CAREER
Humperdinck started recording in 1958 with the Decca Records label, his first single being “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”
He continued working the nightclubs until 1961 when he was stricken with tuberculoses. After regaining his health, he returned to the night clubs and in 1965 teamed with his former roommate, Gordon Mills, who had become a music impresario and the manager of Tom Jones. Aware that Humperdinck had been struggling for several years to become successful in the music industry, Mills suggested that he change his name to one that would attract the publics attention. He chose the name Engelbert Humperdinck, borrowed from the 19th century Austrian composer of such operas as Hansel and Gretel. Humperdinck’s first hit song “Release Me” was produced in 1967. The song scored in the top ten in both Europe and America, and number one in the UK. “Release Me” spent 56 weeks in the Top 50 in a single chart run, and sold 85,000 copies a day at the height of its popularity.

“Release Me” was succeeded by more hit ballads ”There Goes my Everything” and “The Last Waltz”, earning him a reputation as a crooner with which he did not always agree. He told Hollywood Reporter writer Rick Sherwood, “No crooner has the range I have. I can hit notes a bank could not cash. What I am is a contemporary singer, a stylished performer”.
By the end of the 1960’s, Humperdinck’s roster of songs included “Am I That Easy to Forget”, “A Man Without Love”, “The Way It Used to Be” and “I’m a Better Man”. He also recorded, at this time, a number of successful albums.
By the start of the 1970’s, Humperdinck had settled into a busy schedule of recordings, and a number of signature songs emerged from this period: “We Made It Happen”, “Another Time, Another Place”, “Sweetheart” and “Too Beautiful to Last”. In 1976 he recorded “After the Lovin”, a Top 10 hit in the US which was nominated for a Grammy Award, it went Gold, and won “the most played juke box record of the year” award. Humperdinck has always made a conscious effort to update his music and image and by the 1980’s, approaching his fiftieth birthday, he continued recording albums regularly and was performing as many as 200 concerts a year.
Humperdinck was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989 and won a Golden Globe Award as entertainer of the year. He is involved in charitable causes such as the Leukaemia Research Fund, the American Red Cross, the American Lung Association and several AIDS relief organisations.

During the 21st century Humperdinck has continued to record albums and regularly perform. At 75 years of age he shows little sign of slowing down and is always looking forward and discovering new avenues that keep him current.