It was 1967, the year of “The Summer of Love.” Hippies went to San Francisco wearing flowers in their hair. The Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper.” Jimi Hendrix soared with his breakthrough album, “Are You Experienced.”
And a well-traveled 28-year old romantic singer called Gerry Dorsey was looking for a hit and gimmick after a decade of struggle.
It all happened when his manager gave him the name Engelbert Humperdinck — after the Austrian composer of “Hansel & Gretel” — and he cut a single called “Release Me.”
The tender, sad ballad raced up the charts and kept the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane” single out of the No. 1 spot in England. Before long, Engelbert was touring with Hendrix. “That was a lot of fun” he said. “Jimi was wonderful.”
So was “Release Me.”
“It was a magical song for me that just kept selling and selling,” the man known as Engelbert said in a telephone interview this week. He performs Wednesday at 7 p.m. in The Sharon. He also plays on Tuesday night at 7 in the Mount Dora Community Theater. For information go to www.MountDoralive.com
“I had no idea ‘Release Me’ would be a hit,” Engelbert said. “I was totally surprised and grateful that it became the No. 1 record in the world.”
To see him perform it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOcW9gZv68A
The single was selling over 100,000 copies a day at one point. All this was heady stuff for a scuffling pop singer from Leicester, England.
“I was starving,” Engelbert said. “I started singing at 17 and I didn’t make any money until I was 28. It was a struggle but I never gave up.”
Those hard years helped mold a performer who would sell over 150 million records. During the 1970s, Engelbert became a worldwide smash as a romantic balladeer. He had his own television show, played the biggest clubs in Vegas and throughout the world.
The hits included: “The Last Waltz,” “After the Lovin’” “A Man Without Love,” “Am I That Easy to Forget” and “There Goes My Everything.”
And he never forgot his long road to success.
“The struggle gave me confidence and an understanding of the business,” Engelbert said. “There are a lot of so-called one-hit wonders, who have a big hit and then disappear. I learned a lot through my experience that you have to keep working hard, change with the times and grow as a performer.
“You never know how long a career will last. It depends on your tenacity and knowing what an audience wants and giving it to them.”
One singer who befriended him and helped teach those lessons was Dean Martin.
“He was a tremendous actor and stage performer,” Engelbert said. “Dean would never rehearse. He would show up and use cue cards, but he was always perfect. No one else could do that, the way Dean did it. He was extremely nice to me.”
A big lesson from Martin was to act out a song.
“I love performing and I consider myself an actor on stage,” Engelbert said. “I don’t just sing lyrics. I use stage techniques and movements with the song.”
He also learned from another friend – Elvis.
“I consider Elvis the greatest performer I’ve ever seen in my life,” Engelbert said. “He was such a genuine person and nice guy. He had great humility and charisma. I learned a lot of from him and I stole from him. You know what they say, if you’re going to steal from a performer, steal from the best. Elvis was the best.”
Today, one of the singers Engelbert admires is Lady Gaga.
“She’s one of the most powerful performers out there and she has a great voice,” he said. “I love the way she acts out her songs on stage. She sounds great singing with Tony Bennett. Tony picked a good singing partner.”
Engelbert doesn’t just live in the past. He recently released an album, “Runaway Country.” About a year ago he released a duets album “Engelbert Calling.” It featured him with such artists as Elton John, Willie Nelson, Johnny Mathis, Cliff Richard Neil Sedaka, Lulu, and Gene Simmons of KISS.
Engelbert has been married for nearly 50 years to Patricia and they have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. His son, Scott Dorsey, acts as Engelbert’s manager.
At 79, he still looks forward to singing and the future.
“You know how it is with age, you can’t do anything about it,” he said.
And the same could be said for the name.
“He’s been called everything from Pumpernickel to Humpty Dumpty,” according to the Washington Post. “Dean Martin never called me Engelbert. He always called me, ‘Hey, Humpty Bumpy, Lumpty Dumpy.’”
Whatever you call him, Mr. Dorsey or Mr. Humperdinck is having a grand time on stage.
“I’m happy and I’m going to keep singing,” he said.
