| Gerry and The
Pacemakers |
Gerry
and The Pacemakers, 1963
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
Liverpool, England |
| Genre(s) |
Beat, Rock, Pop, British
Invasion |
| Years active |
1950s-1966 |
| Label(s) |
Columbia (EMI) |
| Former members |
Gerry
Marsden (1950s-1966)
Freddie Marsden (1950s-1966)
Arthur Mack (1950s-1961)
Les Chadwick (1959-1966)
Les Maguire (1961-1966) |
Gerry and The Pacemakers were an English rock
and roll group during the 1960s, and one of
the few groups to initially challenge The
Beatles in popularity. Like The Beatles, they came from Liverpool
and were also managed by Brian Epstein.
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Discography
- 2.1 UK
singles
- 2.2 UK
albums
- 2.3 U.S.
singles
- 2.4 U.S.
albums
- 3 External
links
|
History
Gerry Marsden formed the
group in the late 1950s
with his brother, Fred, Les Chadwick and Arthur McMahon. They rivalled
the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool, England. McMahon
(known as Arthur Mack) was replaced on piano by Les Maguire around 1961. They are
known to have rehearsed at Camell Laird shipping yard at Birkenhead.
The band was the second to sign with Brian
Epstein, who later signed them with Columbia Records (a
sister label to The Beatles label Parlophone
under EMI).
They began recording in early
1963 with "How Do You Do It?", a song written by Mitch
Murray that Adam Faith had turned down and
one that The Beatles chose not to release (they did record the song but
chose to release their own song "Please Please Me"). The song
was produced by George
Martin and became a number one hit in the UK, until being
replaced at the top by "From Me to You", The Beatles' third
single.
Gerry and 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).
"You'll Never Walk Alone" had been a favourite of Gerry Marsden's since
seeing Carousel
growing up (he turned down the Beatles' "Hello
Little Girl" for this slot, which then became the first hit for The
Fourmost). It soon became an anthem for Liverpool
Football Club supporters.
Despite this early success, Gerry & The Pacemakers
never had another number one single in the UK.
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",
which Gerry Marsden initially gave to Decca recording artist Louise
Cordet in 1963. She recorded the song, but without commercial success.
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
(sometimes referred to as "Gerry & The Pacemakers' version of A
Hard Day's Night"), for which Marsden wrote
much of the soundtrack.
By late 1965, their popularity was rapidly declining on both
sides of the Atlantic. They lacked both the
innovations of the Beatles and 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.
Drummer
Freddie Marsden died on 9 December 2006, age 66.
Discography
UK singles
- Mar 1963 "How Do You Do It?" #1
- May 1963 "I Like It" #1
- Oct 1963 "You'll Never Walk
Alone" #1
- Jan 1964 "I'm the One" #2
- Apr 1964 "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" #6
- Sep 1964 "It's Gonna Be Alright" #24
- Dec 1964 "Ferry Cross the Mersey" #8
- Mar 1965 "I'll Be There" #15
- Nov 1965 "Walk Hand in Hand" #29
- Feb 1966 "La La La" Did Not Chart
- Sep 1966 "Girl on a Swing" Did Not Chart
UK albums
- How Do You Like It? (October 1963) #2
- Ferry Cross the Mersey
(soundtrack,
includes other artists)
(March 1965)
#19
U.S. singles
In U.S., a different series of Gerry and
The Pacemakers' singles was issued, as their Laurie
Records label created more albums, and at least two singles which were
never issued in England.
This was a standard practice at the time. It also happened with The
Beatles and the Dave Clark 5. Peak chart positions are
from the Billboard Hot 100.
- 1963 "How Do You Do It"/"Away From You" -- Laurie 3162
- 1963 "I Like It"/"It Happened To Me" -- Laurie 3196
- 1964 "You'll Never Walk Alone"/"It's All Right" -- Laurie
3218
- 1964 "I'm The One" (#82)/"You've Got What I Like" -- Laurie
3233
-
- Original B-side; later pressings include "It's
All Right" or "How Do You Do It" as the B-side"
- 1964 "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (#4)/"Away From
You" -- Laurie 3251
- 1964 "How Do You Do It" (#9)/"You'll Never Walk Alone" --
Laurie 3261
- 1964 "I Like It" (#17)/"Jambalaya" -- Laurie 3271
- 1965 "I'll Be There" (#14)/"You, You, You" -- Laurie 3279
- 1965 "Ferry Cross the Mersey"
(#6)/"Pretend" -- Laurie 3284
- 1965 "It's Gonna Be Alright" (#23)/"Skinny Minnie" --
Laurie 3293
- 1965 "You'll Never Walk Alone" (#48)/"Away From You" --
Laurie 3302
- 1965 "Give All Your Love To Me" (#68)/"You're The Reason"
(#117)
- 1965 "Walk Hand In Hand" (#103)/"Dreams" -- Laurie 3323
- 1966 "La La La" (#90)/"Without You" -- Laurie 3337
- 1966 "Girl on a Swing" (#28)/"The Way You Look Tonight" --
Laurie 3354
- 1966 "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"/"Looking For
My Life" -- Laurie 3370
- 1970 "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" (#112)/"Away From
You" -- Laurie 3251 (reissue)
U.S. albums
- Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying --
Laurie LLP/SLP-2024 -- (July 1964) -- #29
- Gerry & The Pacemakers' Second Album
-- Laurie LLP/SLP-2027 -- (November 1964) -- #129
- Ferry Cross the Mersey
[soundtrack] -- United Artists UAL-3387/UAS-6387 -- (February 1965) -- #13
- I'll Be There! -- Laurie LLP/SLP-2030 --
(February 1965)
-- #120
- Gerry and The Pacemakers Greatest Hits
-- Laurie LLP/SLP-2031 -- (May 1965) -- #44
- Girl on a Swing -- Laurie LLP/SLP-2037
(December 1966)
-- Did not chart
External links
