Concert preview
Engelbert Humperdinck
7 p.m. Sunday . $42-$82. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
For more than four decades, the silk-shirted suaveness of Engelbert Humperdinck has kept fans – mostly packs of females who call themselves “Humperdinckers” – swooning.
The British Humperdinck, now 77, was often cast as the antidote to the flashier Tom Jones. Humperdinck was a laid-back, stylish performer who kept the adult contemporary charts in the U.S. and England fairly well stocked in the ‘60s-‘80s with hits such as “The Last Waltz,” “This Moment in Time,” “When There’s No You” and the lite-FM favorite, “After the Lovin’.”
Humperdinck is not only still actively touring – he recently played for a crowd of 44,000 in Belgium – but he’s been diligently culling a duets album featuring top-draw names from country and pop: Elton John, Gene Simmons, Smokey Robinson, Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers among them.
The singer, who comes to Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Sunday , chatted last week from his U.S. base in California (“Every now and then I go back to England to get my accent back,” he joked) about the new album and what fans can expect from his live show.
Q: You’ve got the duets album coming out soon?
A: It's been going on for over a year and a half now. It's tough getting all of these wonderful people together. I wrote them letters asking them to join me. Elton was the first, and it was so great to be in the studio with this legendary performer; he was such a great inspiration for me, too.
Q: Tell me about some of these collaborations, such as with Gene Simmons.
A: I just tried it with Gene because I always admired Kiss and I thought he's been doing things like this lately. He immediately came on board. He's a fantastic guy, and a giant of man, too! With the album, I wanted something that was rather different and to take on a world appeal. I went after people of this nature. With Smokey (Robinson) being Motown, that takes me in another direction all together. I also have on the album Charles Aznavour ; he sings in every language, he's a wonderful writer and plays around the world. I wanted to have someone of that nature on the album for the European market.
Q: Are you duetting on your songs or the other artists’ songs?
A: There's a lot of artists' songs on there. Elton, Willie, their songs. Smokey, one of his. Kenny, one of his massive hits. I don't want to give the titles away yet. We don't have a title for the album, which comes out in October.
Q: Are you hoping this exposes you to a new generation, as happened with Tony Bennett and Johnny Cash, or are you doing it just because it sounded interesting?
A: I've never had a duets album, so this is a rather new experience for me. I've been fortunate because I've had 150 million sales around the world, so this is a wonderful opportunity.
Q: As far as your live shows, what can fans expect? Will you be doing any of these duet songs or sticking to the hits?
A: I'm going to give them a sample, a virtual duet with Elton. It comes off great, it had great reaction (overseas) so I'm happy to keep it in the show. It's a fast-moving show with a tinge of humor. It's been getting great reports everywhere we've played.
Q: As someone who has lived through a lot of changes in the business, what is your best advice for survival?
A: In this modern world with Twitter and Facebook and your website, you can promote yourself so easily. At one time you had to have a PR person to go around and now you just put it online and people see it.
Q: Do you participate in social media yourself?
A: I do. I check on Facebook to see what the people's comments are when we do a show or release some news.
Q: You’ve been doing this since 1967 and the ladies still love you. What do you attribute your longevity to?
A: It's been 46 years! I think hard work, and the joy of doing what you do. I just love walking onstage. I love creating, and being in the studio with all these people (for the duets album) was an amazing experience for me. But there's nothing like a live show for me. It's an amazing feeling. I love it and I want to continue until God calls me.
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