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Having released his debut single, ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’, as long ago as 1958, there’s little question that Engelbert Humperdinck is one of Britain’s most enduring pop singers; in addition, he’s often been one of the most embattled, battling through early failures to eventually cement his place as one of England’s best-loved pop figures in the 1960s. It was during that time that he scored his biggest hits; ‘Release Me’ kept The Beatles at bay in March and April 1967 when it topped the charts ahead of ‘Penny Lane’, whilst sold over a million copies that same year, also reaching the summit of the singles rundown. It earned Humperdinck a reputation as a crooner, something he’s fiercely denied - “I can hit notes a bank couldn’t cash.”
He went on to enjoy success in the U.S., too, particularly in the seventies, and continues to record and perform today - his most recent significant public exposure in the UK, though, came when he represented the country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan in 2012; he suffered the ignominy of finishing twenty-fifth out of twenty-six contestants, with a new composition, ‘Love Will Set You Free’, failing to capture the imagination of the voters.
Lets face it the popularity of crooner pop that dominated the music charts in the 50s and 60s started to die out when hard rock entered the mainstream. In the 80s orchestras were being displaced by synthesizers; however, the genre of operatic pop is one that can't be easily forgotten nor replaced. There are few if any modern musicians that can capture this classic operatic pop sound. So if you want to hear this style there is a good chance you are going to have to hear it from the pros themselves. Engelbert Humperdink is one of these pros and his live shows do not disappoint. His voice is rich and focused and delivered with such suave that the hearts of the audience will melt away. Humperdinck is in his late 70s but delivers performances that surpass the hour and a half marker. He takes the audience throughout his career highlighting such hits as "Blue Spanish Eyes", "Release Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You". He even threw in some surprising cover songs as well. He put an interesting spin on rock classics like "Something" by the Beatles and "I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen.
Engelbert not only knows how to pick a setlist he also knows how to organize an amazing backing band. The sheer size of the musicians accompanying him was absolutely incredible. He literally has an entire orchestra at his disposal and if thats not enough he tops it off with a touring choir. These broad range of musicians fill the concert hall with deep rich tones that simply can not be created by anything but an orchestra. During "Blue Spanish Eyes" flamenco guitars were sounding, the tap of wood blocks resonated throughout the venue as well as other interesting percussion instruments, a massive string section underscored and helped build the intensity behind Humperdinck's vocal delivery and the brass section gave the overall composition a needed punch.
These types of performances have become few far and in between and this is not due to loss of demand or a lack of musical impact. It is primarily related to the amount of effort and manpower required to pull off such a feat. However if you do get a chance to witness one of these shows I think you would agree that it is well worth the investment.
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