A word with Engelbert Humperdinck

Thursday, September 09, 2010

By Harry Currie (from an interview in September 2010)



Apart from listening to Elvis and Nat King Cole, Enge listened to Sinatra.

“As a matter of fact,” he said, “the guy who used to be Sinatra’s manager is now my manager. It’s fate, you know, life takes you in different circles, and life takes you in a pattern that’s supposed to happen. And if it doesn’t happen I think it’s your fault, if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities.”

Enge never had a vocal coach or teacher telling him how to use his diaphragm and vocal mechanism.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “It all came naturally. I think I learned the breathing technique from being a musician before I was a singer. When I started I learned how to ply the saxophone, and that teaches you how to use your diaphragm. I think I used that technique for my singing, and I never took a lesson in my life.”

Enge’s voice has changed somewhat over the years.

“I think what has happened is that it’s become more commercial, in the fact that you learn a lot as you go through life, and again you pick up from what is happening in today’s world, and you absorb that into your own world. That’s what’s happening in my present life – my voice hasn’t changed so much, it’s as strong as it always was, and I can hit notes a bank couldn’t cash,” he laughed.

Has the range changed at all?

“Not a great deal – maybe a tone, you know. I keep it comfortable instead of straining for it. I work so much that instead of straining you just drop it down a tone, maybe, but you’ll find my voice is as powerful as ever – it’s really quite unbelievable. Usually when you get older your vibrato gets slower, but mine doesn’t, which is a blessing in disguise, I’ll tell you that.”

Enge has recently recorded for the first time “Over the Rainbow” and “My Way.”

“They’re on my Legacy of Love album,” he said.

When I mentioned that living in Thailand as I am it’s difficult to get western CD’s.

“Oh,” he laughed, “just go to iTunes and download them. You know what I did? I went to Prague and rerecorded a lot of my bigger hits. I put 26 tracks down over there, and then I thought why don’t I put a couple of classics on there, like Over the Rainbow and My Way, and one or two others, and it turned out to be a fantastic thing. And I released another album called A Taste of Country, and now (Enge got excited!) I’ve done an album with a producer from Australia, who’s moving to California in a few months, and I’m releasing an album on Universal with a single from a writer called Steve McEwen. I’m really looking forward to that.”

And so are we, Enge!

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