Photo by Craig X Sotres
It’s long been said that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Occasionally, though, the tree is so steadfast and deeply rooted in the world’s landscape that its sustenance goes right to the apple’s core, helping it to ripen into maturity in the most promising way.
Meet Bradley Dorsey, the youngest son of iconic international superstar Engelbert Humperdinck. Today, December 15th, Dorsey’s first full-length CD, “I've Got Dreams,” is being released on social media music platforms. The first single off the CD, “Come Together,” Dorsey’s original version of the Beatles classic with guitar prodigy Taj Ferrant, sailed to number 38 on the digital world platforms following its debut a few weeks ago. Now comes the full CD with him singing 13 songs, including two songs written by Engelbert in his early days of composing.
“My sound is natural and organic,” Dorsey notes. “I call it soulful Rock ‘n Roll/Pop Rock. Songs on the album include covers of early Elvis, Otis Redding, and Kenny Rogers tunes and a completely different version of ‘Release Me,’ with my sister Louise and my niece Olivia joining in and Dad even singing a couple of lines. That song put him on the planet and it is a part of him and a part of me.”
“He was very gracious and thought it would be fun to join in this family affair,” he adds. “The two songs Dad wrote that are on the CD are ‘A Good Thing Going’ and ‘This and That,’ which Tom Jones recorded. I put them on the album because I wanted to pay homage to my father. I wanted to put my stamp on them and I tried to put myself in his headspace a little.”
Dorsey says that growing up around his father was a gift. He loved watching him sing and perform and he was blown away by the astounding crowd reaction and how much pleasure he gave his audiences, which continues to this day, 58 years after Engelbert debuted on the music scene, gaining an international audience with “Release Me.” Young Dorsey always loved to play guitar and sing and make up songs for his mother but, as a youngster, he was quite shy. However, with his dreams of following in his father’s footsteps, he eventually went on the road with him, selling his merchandise for seven years.
“Back in 2000, after Dad’s show in Thailand, we went to a karaoke bar in Pacific outside of the country,” Dorsey relates. “I got up and sang Bon Jovi’s ‘Bed of Roses’ and Dad turned around and asked who was singing. When he found out it was me, he told me that I sounded good. After that, I took a couple of singing lessons and began singing the song ‘Angels’ solo in his shows. But after a year, time was up and he said, ‘Son, you’ve had the opportunity of seeing what it’s like on a professional stage. Now it’s time to find your own stage and way in life.’”
“I started trying to pursue it but I was in fear of letting him down as a singing artist,” he continues. “So I stepped away from my passion and got into the TV business as a prop master. Still, I kept singing and 20 years ago, I even wrote and performed an album called ‘When I Look at You.’ I really had fun recording it and getting the vibe together.”
With the help of Engelbert’s close friend, Martial Arts master Mike Stone, who lives in the Philippines and helped him get gigs, Dorsey kept singing in that country doing private shows at local hotels. In 2017, he began training with Stone. Supportive of Dorsey’s dream, Stone told him that if he tapped into the universe, it would give back, and as long as he believed in himself and stayed positive and was honest, things would work out for him.
Dorsey, now 50, decided to take that advice to the bank and to get serious and try again for his dream. He trained vocally and put an album together and Stone introduced him to a lady, Miss Deli, who believed in Dorsey’s vision and offered to finance the album for him. Then Louise’s husband, Tony Taliaferro, also a musician, put the Nashville professional super-band and backup singers together that made Dorsey’s sound come alive, and '‘I've Got Dreams" was born.
“Dad has been such a great supporter of this project,” Dorsey enthuses. “We were in his living room and I played ‘We’ve Got Tonight’ off my album. I don’t think he knew the extent of what I wanted to do. He listened to the song – he was very quiet and I was so nervous. My hands were clammy. When the song was over, he looked over at me with a tear in his eye and said, ‘Son, I can’t say anything wrong about it.’ He gave me his stamp of approval and I went back to Nashville and recorded the rest of the CD.”
With “I've Got Dreams” giving him a boost, Dorsey just wants to tour this next year and is working with a new band. He is also already working on a new album, one for which he will write 70 percent of the songs with another 30 percent being covers.
“I want to pick songs from my own writing that are in my own style,” he reveals. “I want to get out the feeling and emotion inside of me. It would be fun to be able to express my own words and have people grooving to my music. The album will be kind of a Rod Stewart rock approach with sassy fun lyrics. Dad told me that Elvis never took himself seriously and that he had always followed his example. You have to be fun.“
Dorsey says that his father is his roadmap because Engelbert is constantly evolving and growing, Having previously recorded a song with him called “Father and Son,” which is on a 2014 album of Engelbert’s and which was the number one radio song of the week on British radio, he enthuses that he would love to do another duet with him for his own next album.
“My dad writes beautiful poetry that could transcend into music and lyrics,” he sums up. “We’ll both be home in Leicester for Christmas and there’s a piano in the house and I’ll bring my guitar. I’ll really enjoy the music that will happen.”
Another special moment in time.
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