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Last week saw the release of multiple versions of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band which included the double A-side single “Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever” among its bonus material, as the songs were recorded during the same time period as the album.  When the single was released in late February 1967, what song kept it from hitting the top of the U.K. Singles Chart, making it the first Beatles single in nearly five years not to do so?  That would be the Decca single of “Release Me” by Engelbert Humperdinck.  The tune, originally written in 1954, would spend an astonishing fifty-six consecutive weeks on the charts and make Humperdinck a superstar.  To celebrate the anniversary of that song and Humperdinck’s entire career, Decca has just released in the UK the 2-CD compilation Engelbert Humperdinck: 50 and the 11-CD box set The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (which is due this Friday, June 2, in the U.S.).

Engelbert Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey in 1936.  He began performing under his real name and even had a contract with Decca in the late 1950s without much success.  In the mid-1960s, he teamed up with his old roommate, producer Gordon Mills, to help revitalize his career.  Mills suggested the name change to Humperdinck, taken from a 19th Century German composer.  Mills had by this time become the manager to Tom Jones. (Jones and Humperdinck have had a rivalry over the ensuing decades.  A similar albums box set for Jones has been in the works, but has yet to materialize).  Mills got Engelbert re-signed to Decca (he would be on Parrot in the U.S.).

Humperdinck would release his first single for Decca in 1966, but it did not fare well.  Then came early 1967 and “Release Me,” and everything changed.  In September of that year, he would have another No. 1 U.K. single with “The Last Waltz,” and his career was cemented.  The romantic balladeer par excellence would remain on Decca until 1975, recording a total of 11 studio albums (the first five of which went Top 10 in the U.K.), all of which are included in the new box set.  The only original Decca album not included is the 1972 live set Live at the Riviera, Las Vegas.

Across the 128 tracks of the box set, you’ll find several more top 10 single U.K. hits, including “A Man Without Love” (No. 2), “Les Bicyclettes des Belsize” (No. 5), “The Way It Used to Be” (No. 3), and “Winter World of Love” (No. 7).  You’ll also hear typical hits of the late 1960s and early 1970s covered in Humperdinck’s smooth style including songs by Bacharach & David, Jimmy Webb, David Gates, John Denver and many more.  The box itself is in a flip-top package with each CD contained in a paper sleeve, each replicating the original cover artwork of the LP.  The back of each paper sleeve has a modern, uniformly formatted tracklisting rather than the original back cover artwork.  A 12-page booklet is included with brief liner notes by Richard Havers.  No bonus tracks have been appended, and remastering is by Fluid Mastering.  The 2-CD Engelbert Humperdinck: 50 anthology contains 39 songs from his Decca career including some U.K. non-LP songs such as “Am I That Easy To Forget.”  It also features two new tracks: “I Followed My Heart” and “I Don’t Want to Call It Goodbye,” as well as a disco remix of “Release Me.”

After departing Decca, Humperdinck moved to Epic Records where he had a major hit in 1976 with “After the Lovin’.”   He stayed on Epic until 1984 and has moved around several labels since then.  His last album of original recordings was 2014’s duets project, Engelbert’s Calling.  When Engelbert Humperdinck: 50 was released a little over two weeks ago in the U.K., it debuted at No. 5 on the charts.  If you’d like to go back to the beginning of Engelbert’s career, we’ve got ordering links and full tracklistings for the box set (currently very affordable at Amazon U.K.) and 2-CD compilation below!

Engelbert Humperdinck, The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (Decca, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1 – Release Me (Decca SKL 4868, 1967)

1. Release Me
2. Quiet Nights
3. Yours Until Tomorrow
4. There’s A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World)
5. This Is My Song
6. Misty Blue
7. Take My Heart
8. How Near Is Love
9. Walk Through The World With Me
10. If I Were You
11. Talking Love
12. My World (Il Mondo)
13. Ten Guitars

Disc 2 – The Last Waltz (Decca SKL 4901, 1967)

1. The Last Waltz
2. Dance With Me
3. Two Different Worlds
4. If It Comes To That
5. Walk Hand In Hand
6. A Place In The Sun
7. Long Gone
8. All This World And The Seven Seas
9. Miss Elaine E. S. Jones
10. Everybody Knows (We’re Through)
11. Nature Boy
12. To The Ends Of The Earth

Disc 3 – A Man Without Love (Decca SKL 4939, 1968)

1. A Man Without Love
2. Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
3. From Here To Eternity
4. Spanish Eyes
5. A Man And A Woman
6. Quando, Quando, Quando
7. Up, Up And Away
8. Wonderland By Night
9. What A Wonderful World
10. Call On Me
11. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
12. The Shadow Of Your Smile

Disc 4 – Engelbert (Decca SKL 4985, 1969)

1. Love Can Fly
2. Love Was Here Before The Stars
3. Don’t Say No (Again)
4. Let Me Into Your Life
5. Through The Eyes Of Love
6. Les Bicyclettes De Belsize
7. The Way It Used To Be
8. Marry Me
9. To Get To You
10. You’re Easy To Love
11. True
12. A Good Thing Going

Disc 5 – Engelbert Humperdinck (Decca SKC 5030, 1969)

1. I’m A Better Man (For Having Loved You)
2. Gentle On My Mind
3. Love Letters
4. A Time For Us
5. Didn’t We
6. I Wish You Love
7. Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In
8. All You’ve Gotta Do Is Ask
9. The Signs Of Love
10. Cafe
11. Let’s Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
12. Winter World Of Love

Disc 6 – We Made It Happen (Decca SKL 5054, 1970)

1. We Made It Happen
2. My Cherie Amour
3. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
4. Love Me With All Your Heart
5. Words
6. Something
7. Everybody’s Talkin’
8. Love For Love (Ciao, My Love)
9. Just Say I Love Her
10. Wand’rin’ Star
11. My Wife The Dancer
12. Leaving On A Jet Plane

Disc 7 – Sweetheart (Decca SKL 5078, 1971)

1. Sweetheart
2. California Maiden
3. Woman In My Life
4. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
5. Take Me For Now Love
6. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
7. Santa Lija (Sogno D’Amore)
8. Live And Just Let Live
9. For The Good Times
10. Put Your Hand In The Hand
11. When There’s No You

Disc 8 – Another Time, Another Place (Decca SKL 5097, 1971)

1. Another Time, Another Place
2. Help Me Make It Through The Night
3. Our Love Will Rise Again
4. Talk It Over In The Morning
5. There’s An Island
6. Revivin’ Old Emotions
7. Nashville Lady
8. Morning
9. Twenty Miles From Home
10. Days Of Icy Fingers
11. I’m Holding Your Memory

Disc 9 – In Time (Decca SKL 5138, 1972)

1. Baby I’m A Want You
2. Day After Day
3. Too Beautiful To Last
4. (They Long To Be) Close To You
5. Without You
6. Girl Of Mine
7. Time After Time
8. In Time
9. I’m Together Again
10. Life Goes On
11. I Never Said Goodbye

Disc 10 – Engelbert, King of Hearts (Decca SKL 5163, 1973)

1. My Summer Song
2. I’m Stone In Love With You
3. Do I Love You
4. Somebody Waiting
5. The Most Beautiful Girl
6. I’m Leavin’ You
7. Will You Be Here When I Wake Up In The Morning
8. Eternally
9. Only Your Love
10. That’s What It’s All About
11. Songs We Sang Together

Disc 11 – My Love (Decca SKL 5181, 1974)

1. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
2. And I Love You So
3. Photograph
4. Free As The Wind
5. My Love
6. Catch Me, I’m Falling
7. Killing Me Softly With His Song
8. Show And Tell
9. Thankful For You
10. Second Tuesday In December

Engelbert Humperdinck, Engelbert Humperdinck: 50 (Decca, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1

1. Release Me
2. There Goes My Everything
3. The Last Waltz
4. Am I That Easy To Forget
5. Quando Quando Quando
6. Spanish Eyes
7. Les Bicyclettes De Belsize
8. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
9. My World (Il Mondo)
10. There’s A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World)
11. Everybody Knows (We’re Through)
12. My Cherie Amour
13. Sweetheart
14. Love Letters
15. Stand By Me
16. Let There Be Love
17. Have I Told You Lately
18. If
19. I Don’t Want To Call It Goodbye

Disc 2

1. Just The Two Of Us
2. A Man Without Love
3. The Way It Used To Be
4. Winter World Of Love
5. Ten Guitars
6. My Marie
7. Strangers In The Night
8. Another Time, Another Place
9. Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings
10. Dance The Night Away
11. A Place In The Sun
12. Stardust
13. It Had To Be You
14. Too Beautiful To Last
15. This Guy’s In Love With You
16. I’m A Better Man (For Having Loved You)
17. She
18. What A Wonderful World
19. I Followed My Heart
20. Release Me – DBU Disco Remix