Engelbert Humperdinck has announced the release of his latest album, Faithfully, with its first single being cover of one of Kiss’s biggest hits. The album features covers of rock classics, including songs by Aerosmith, Journey and Ozzy Osbourne among others. But the first single is a cover of Kiss’ 1976 surprise hit, “Beth.” Humperdinck’s version includes keyboardist Rick Wakeman on piano for a pretty faithful version of the song, right down to the orchestration.
“Beth” was co-written by Kiss drummer Peter Criss, Criss’ former bandmate Stan Penridge and producer Bob Ezrin. Started as a joke, the song was written to make fun of Criss and Penridge’s bandmate in the group Chelsea, who was often on the phone with his wife while they were recording. After hearing the song, Ezrin thought it needed to be included on Kiss’ Destroyer album because he felt it was a song listeners might actually relate to.
Also joining Humperdinck on the new record are Journey’s Jonathan Cain, Canned Heat‘s Harvey Mandel and Jethro Tull‘s Ian Anderson. The record will also feature one new song, titled “Always My Love.”
Faithfully, Humperdinck’s 40th studio album, will be available on August 28th from Cleopatra Records.
