It was Engelbert Humperdinck's manager Gordon Mills who discovered the tune when he found an instrumental version of "Release Me" by British saxophonist Frank Weir. Humperdinck, who had never heard the song, recalled to Billboard magazine:

"I heard the melody and thought it could be a hit. I asked if we could find the lyrics. When we heard the words, it was a double whammy for me because they sounded terrific. Then we brought in a great arranger, Charles Blackwell."

This was the first single recorded under the name Engelbert Humperdinck, and it became the biggest hit of his career. He had previously recorded as Gerry Dorsey. Humperdinck's 1967 version is the most successful cover of the song.

This song holds the record for the longest stay in the UK charts for consecutive weeks at 56 weeks. It is one of only two records (Acker Bilk's "Stranger On The Shore" is the other) to have spent more than a year on the singles chart in an unbroken run. The song didn't become popular for 3 months until Engelbert Humperdinck was a last minute replacement for Dickie Valentine, who had become ill, on the popular television variety show Sunday Night At The London Palladium, where he sung this song and watched it race up the charts.