Music – Gerry & The Pacemakers

In the 1960s Gerry & The Pacemakers were the number 2 group to emerge from Liverpool – the Mecca for the emerging British rock sound. They produced a string of world famous songs but then, somewhere along the line, they lost it!

The lineup was a good one, Gerry Marsden was likeable, with an appealing voice, great stage presence and a determination to succeed. His backing, it began with his brother on drums and some friends, was good with a clean, high-spirited sound that made you want to tap your feet and listen.

The good times
At first they toured, as did the Beatles, in Hamburg as well as playing in their own native Liverpool where, at one time, they were equally popular with the Beatles. Signed by the same Brian Epstein who was the Beatles manager in 1963, Gerry & The Pacemakers’s future looked assured.

Indeed, 1963, saw three consecutive thundering number one hits with “How Do You Do It”, “I Like It” and the immortal “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

After that, imitating the Beatles, a film followed and then, perhaps, their most important hit “Ferry Cross The Mersey”. This defined the new Merseybeat sound as well as becoming what must be one of the most played tracks being played still by the ferry boats as they cross the river.

And there were other hits, most of them written by Gerry and all in his catchy, bouncy and instantly recognisable style, many of which I fondly remember.

The mid sixties
The future looked assured but in the sixties times were changing fast and groups were evolving to keep pace. Gerry & The Pacemakers, unfortunately never seemed able to do this, staying with the same previously successful format which soon caused them to be seen as dated and their popularity fell.

By 1966, their inability to change caught up with them and, like many other Liverpool groups caught in the same once popular mould, they found themselves dropped by the public. By comparison, in 1966, the Beatles were releasing material like “Yellow Submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby”, about as far from the Liverpool Merseybeat sound as it was possible then to get!

The band split and Gerry Marsden went on by himself playing the cabaret circuits and later reforming the Pacemakers in 1974 where he enjoyed again performing for the fans that remembered him.

Listening again to those great tracks, Gerry & The Pacemakers really do define the early Liverpool sound and it is easy now to see why they were so popular. I need a track to finish this piece and, for me, there is no choice, it has to be the song I sing every time I go back to that great city – “Ferry Cross The Mersey”!

Photo from Mersey Ferry Mr H 1979