Gerry & the Pacemakers was an English beat group from Liverpool that was pr… Read Full Bio ↴Gerry & the Pacemakers was an English beat group from Liverpool that was prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with their first three single releases: "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Gerry Marsden (1942-2021) formed Gerry & The Pacemakers in the late 1950s with his brother, Fred Marsden (died 2006), Les Chadwick (1943-2019) and Arthur Mack. They rivalled The Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany, and Liverpool, England, and being from Liverpool, managed by Brian Epstein, and recorded by George Martin. Mack was replaced on piano by Les Maguire ()born 1941) around 1961. They are known to have rehearsed at Camell Laird shipping yard at Birkenhead.
They began recording in early 1963 with "How Do You Do It?", a Mitch Murray written song that both Adam Faith and The Beatles had turned down (in the latter case because they wanted to record their own material, specifically "Please Please Me"). The song became a number one hit, until being replaced at the top by The Beatles' third single, "From Me to You".
Gerry & the Pacemakers next two singles, Murray's "I Like It" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone", both also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Never before had the first three singles by a performer all reached the top spot (the feat would not be duplicated until Frankie Goes to Hollywood did it in the 1980s).
Despite this early success, Gerry & the Pacemakers never had another number one single in the U.S. Gerry Marsden began writing most of their own songs, including "It's All Right", "I'm the One", and "Ferry Cross the Mersey", as well as their first and biggest U.S. hit, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying". All of these represented the band's light, poppy, enjoyable sound. They also starred in a moderately successful early 1965 film called Ferry Cross the Mersey, for which Marsden wrote much of the soundtrack.
By later in 1965, though, their popularity was rapidly declining on both sides of the Atlantic. They lacked the innovation of the Beatles and did not have the rawer musical and visual edge of some of the other British Invasion groups, and they soon seemed un-hip. They disbanded in October 1966 with much of their latter recorded material never released in the UK.
Gerry Marsden became a popular cabaret and children's TV entertainer. He reformed the band in 1972 with prominent Liverpool musicians Jose McLaughlin, Billy Kinsley and Pete Clarke. In April 1973, this second version of the group became the only Merseybeat band to ever record for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio. The tracks from that show have now been included on the album Gerry & the Pacemakers Live at the BBC, released on Parlophone Records in October 2018. Subsequently, Marsden occasionally toured with various line-ups of the band on the oldies circuit. Gerry Marsden announced his retirement on 29 November 2018.
The band is probably best remembered for their version of "You'll Never Walk Alone," which has become the anthem for Liverpool Football Club in England. Liverpool's fans sing the song before every match at Anfield, their home stadium.
Gerry Marsden (1942-2021) formed Gerry & The Pacemakers in the late 1950s with his brother, Fred Marsden (died 2006), Les Chadwick (1943-2019) and Arthur Mack. They rivalled The Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany, and Liverpool, England, and being from Liverpool, managed by Brian Epstein, and recorded by George Martin. Mack was replaced on piano by Les Maguire ()born 1941) around 1961. They are known to have rehearsed at Camell Laird shipping yard at Birkenhead.
They began recording in early 1963 with "How Do You Do It?", a Mitch Murray written song that both Adam Faith and The Beatles had turned down (in the latter case because they wanted to record their own material, specifically "Please Please Me"). The song became a number one hit, until being replaced at the top by The Beatles' third single, "From Me to You".
Gerry & the Pacemakers next two singles, Murray's "I Like It" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone", both also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Never before had the first three singles by a performer all reached the top spot (the feat would not be duplicated until Frankie Goes to Hollywood did it in the 1980s).
Despite this early success, Gerry & the Pacemakers never had another number one single in the U.S. Gerry Marsden began writing most of their own songs, including "It's All Right", "I'm the One", and "Ferry Cross the Mersey", as well as their first and biggest U.S. hit, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying". All of these represented the band's light, poppy, enjoyable sound. They also starred in a moderately successful early 1965 film called Ferry Cross the Mersey, for which Marsden wrote much of the soundtrack.
By later in 1965, though, their popularity was rapidly declining on both sides of the Atlantic. They lacked the innovation of the Beatles and did not have the rawer musical and visual edge of some of the other British Invasion groups, and they soon seemed un-hip. They disbanded in October 1966 with much of their latter recorded material never released in the UK.
Gerry Marsden became a popular cabaret and children's TV entertainer. He reformed the band in 1972 with prominent Liverpool musicians Jose McLaughlin, Billy Kinsley and Pete Clarke. In April 1973, this second version of the group became the only Merseybeat band to ever record for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio. The tracks from that show have now been included on the album Gerry & the Pacemakers Live at the BBC, released on Parlophone Records in October 2018. Subsequently, Marsden occasionally toured with various line-ups of the band on the oldies circuit. Gerry Marsden announced his retirement on 29 November 2018.
The band is probably best remembered for their version of "You'll Never Walk Alone," which has become the anthem for Liverpool Football Club in England. Liverpool's fans sing the song before every match at Anfield, their home stadium.
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Best of the 60's
Gerry & The Pacemakers Lyrics
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying Don't let the sun catch you cryin' The night's the…
Ferry Cross the Mersey Life goes on day after day Hearts torn in every way So…
Hallelujah I Love Her So Let me tell you 'bout a boy (girl) I know. He(She)…
How Do You Do It How do you do what you do to me? I wish…
I Like It I like it, I like it I like…
I'll Be There Walk hand in hand with me Through all eternity Have…
I'm The One I'm the one who cares about you I'm the one who'll…
It's All Right It's gonna be all right, all right, all right It's gonna…
It's Gonna Be Alright It's gonna be all right, all right, all right …
Jambalaya Come on, Joe, we gotta go, me oh my oh. We…
Maybellene Maybellene, why can't you be true Oh Maybellene, why can't …
Pretend Pretend you're happy when you're blue It isn't very hard to…
Rip It Up Well it's Saturday night and I just got paid A fool…
Summertime Summertime, And the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' And t…
Walk Hand in Hand Walk hand in hand with me Through all eternity Have faith, b…
You'll Never Walk Alone When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And…
We also have lyrics for these tracks by Gerry:
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying Don't let the sun catch you cryin' The night's…
Ferry Cross The Mersey Life goes on day after day Hearts torn in every way So…
How Do You Do It How do you do what you do to me? I wish…
I Like It I like it, I like it I like…
I'll Be There Walk hand in hand with me Through all eternity Have…
I'm The One Never thought I'd fall, But now I hear love call, I'm gettin…
You'll Never Walk Alone When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And…