The Impossibly Picayune Engelbert Quiz

Answer: Leicester

The line in question is from the second part of the song. The original lyric reads:

"It might have been in County Down
Or in New York, in gay Parie, or even London town"

When Engelbert sings the line the second time, he substitutes Leicester.

The engineering center in England's East Midlands, Leicester, is Engelbert's hometown. With uncharacteristic modesty for a celebrity, he often refers to himself as "a boy from Leicester."

Answer: The third verse

John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" is the title track on Glen Campbell's 1967 album. Engelbert laid it down for "Engelbert Humperdinck," the second of his two album releases in 1969. For some mysterious reason, when he did so, he left out the third verse which is, of course, my favorite. I was very disappointed the first time I heard the track..

Here is the complete lyric:

"It's knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowing I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that are dried upon some line

That keeps you in the backroads
By the rivers of my memory
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind

It's not clinging to the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns now that bind me
Or something that somebody said
Because they thought we fit together walking
It's just knowing that the world will not be cursing
Or forgiving when I walk along some railroad track and find

That you're moving on the backroads
By the rivers of my memory
And for hours you're just gentle on my mind

Though the wheat fields and the clothes lines
And the junkyards and the highways come between us
And some other woman's cryin' to her mother
'Cause she turned and I was gone
I still might run in silence tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me 'til I'm blind

But not to where I cannot see
You walkin' on the backroads
By the rivers flowing gentle on my mind

I dip my cup of soup back from a gurglin'
Cracklin' cauldron in some train yard
My beard a roughening coal pile,
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face
Through cupped hands 'round the tin can
I pretend to hold you to my breast and find

That you're waiting from the backroads
By the rivers of my memories
Ever smilin' ever gentle on my mind"

Answer: Seventeen

I don't know if Paul Brower wrote "A Chance to Be a Hero" especially for Engelbert, who included it on "Love's Only Love." It certainly seems autobiographical, though, when he sings it. He was seventeen when, as he likes to say, he put down the saxophone and started to sing.

Answer: Marlene Dietrich

"Marlene," which Engelbert wrote with Leslie Manoki and Laslo Benker, appears on the album "Magic Night."

In the lyrics of the song, he refers to "Blue Angel," the 1930 German film that made Dietrich an international star.

Answer: There's No Song Like A Slow Song

Matty Brown and Tommy Smith wrote "There's No Song Like a Slow Song," which Engelbert recorded on his album "After Dark."

Engelbert doesn't often speak on his studio recordings. And this is an unusually long spoken passage, to the best of my knowledge the longest. It expands logically on the lyric, which begins:

"There's no song like a slow song whenever you're in love
There's no dance like a slow dance with the one you're dreaming of"

Answer: You Know Me

I've listened to a lot of Engelbert records. As far as I know, "You Know Me" by Tony Romeo, from "This Moment in Time" is the only one on which he whistles. It's cute, though he's no Elmo Tanner.

Answer: No goodbyes

The Paul Williams/Roger Nickols song "Travelin' Boy" is on the album "This Moment in Time."

The phrase Engelbert speaks comes from the last section of the song:

"So no goodbyes from one who's passing through
But I will always think of you"

Engelbert speaks the words with regret but also with determination to face the road ahead.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Jack White and Barry Mason wrote "Radio Dancing" and Engelbert included it on his album "Heart of Gold." The chorus includes these lines:

"But you can't go wrong with a favorite song
And Michael Jackson in stereo"

The talented and troubled Michael Jackson was known as the King of Pop. It has always struck me as amusing that the King of Romance would sing a song that refers to him.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were Wham! They were wildly popular in the early to mid 1980s. Their "Last Christmas" remains a holiday favorite for people of a certain age.

Answer: Engelbert Rap

Engelbert is a magician. I can't think of any other explanation for how he can make Rap seem like an art form. He said in several interviews after that concert, though, that he was not interested in becoming a Rap artist. No doubt he would have revolutionized the field, but I'm just as glad he decided to stick to old fashioned, romantic music.

Answer: Yes. On the EP he does not sing "La la la" through the instrumental interlude or the fadeout.

""Twelve Great Songs Plus 'Release Me'" (UK) and "Release Me" (US) was Engelbert's first LP, issued in 1967. Though the track listings differ, Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Quiet Nights" with English lyrics by John Kaye is on both. A different version had been released on the 1966 EP "Domage Domage." To this listener, his style is more laid back and romantic on the EP.

Answer: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is on "A Merry Christmas with Engelbert Humperdinck."

"Winter Wonderland" is also on "A Merry Christmas with Engelbert Humperdinck." "A Night to Remember" comes from the album "Christmas Tyme" and "God's Sending Angels" is off the album "Christmas Eve." He does not speak on any of these three tracks.

Answer: Harp

The harp is an unusual instrument for one of Engelbert's records, making this instrumental introduction quite distinctive. Engelbert covered Debbie Boone's massive 1977 hit "You Light Up My Life," written by Joe Brooks, on his 1978 album "Last of the Romantics." He is a magician. He turns what must be the sappiest song ever written into something beautiful and meaningful.

Answer: All of them

"Just the Way You Are" appears on 1978's "Last of the Romantics" and "You Are Something Special" is on the 1979 album "This Moment in Time." "If I Could Love You More" comes from "After Dark," issued in 1996. Before the late '70s sax solos are rare on Engelbert's recordings, though from that time on they become more common.

Other tracks that feature the saxophone are "I Know That We Have Loved Before" from the 1993 album "Yours" and "Nothing in This World," recorded in 2000 and included on the 2001 album "It's All in the Game."

Answer: Angeles

"Angeles" is a track from Engelbert's 1993 release titled "Yours." "That's What It's All About" is from the 1973 album "King of Hearts." "Perfect Love" comes off 1983's "You and Your Lover" and "Definition of Love" is the title track of his 2003 album.

Answer: I Just Called to Say I Love You

The snippet is fifty-one seconds long. To the best of my knowledge, Engelbert has not done a full-length recording of this song, either in the studio or on a concert album. Nor has he recorded "Isn't She Lovely." He has, however, laid down the other two songs; "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby is on "We Made It Happen," released in 1970 and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" written by Stevie Wonder can be found on the 1974 album "My Love."