Guest
If nothing else put British pop vocalist Engelbert Humperdinck (formerly Gerry Dorsey, born Arnold George Dorsey) on the international map, this song surely did. An earlier hit in 1967, “Release Me,“ had done spectacularly well, especially in the UK where it remained on the charts for 56 consecutive weeks and peaked at #1 for six weeks during the March-April 1967 period, shutting out The Beatles' bid for the top slot in that country with “Strawberry Fields Forever“/“Penny Lane.“ However, as much loved as the song was and a Top 10 hit, indeed peaking at #4, not everyone in America knew just who they were listening to, as it was sung in an American country style reminiscent of 1965's mega hit by Eddy Arnold, “Make the World Go Away“ (which was still a jukebox favorite in the spring of 1967). Reports of Humperdinck's major following having started in Belgium and Germany in the summer of 1966 had many Americans believing, with his professional name spelled and pronounced as it was, that he was in fact Belgian. This confusion persisted for more than a decade. For me, my first identification of a song with Engelbert Humperdinck was “The Last Waltz.“ I always thought it to be a major hit here and I certainly liked it a lot more than I did “Release Me.“ To this day I still consider it to be one of the very best songs he ever did. Sadly, chart information indicates this hit only reached #25 on Billboard and #21 at Cash Box on November 4, 1967. However, it was Engelbert's second #1 in the UK for five weeks during the period September to October 1967. There are many visual interpretations for “The Last Waltz.“ In my case, I so adore silent film actress Louise Brooks that I chose to feature her in this video.
