In 2000 I made the journey to Liverpool, as fellow avid Beatle fans have done, to explore the Fab Four’s roots. Standing on a platform at the Albert Dock, I gazed at the Mersey River, and a tune suddenly popped into my head as the water gently lapped against the shore: Gerry & The Pacemakers’ “Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey.”
Popular at the same time as the Beatles from 1963-1966, Gerry & The Pacemakers remain one of the best — and most ignored — pop bands of the British Invasion. Even the All Music Guide refers to the band as playing pop much which was “innocuous, performing bouncy, catchy, and utterly lightweight tunes driven by rhythm guitar and [Gerry] Marsden's chipper vocals.” Dismissing their sound as “quaint,” the Guide adds that “their hits were certainly likable and energetic and are fondly remembered today, even if the musicians lacked the acumen (or earthy image) to develop their style from its relentlessly upbeat and poppy base.”
Perhaps the group broke no new ground when they reached the charts during the British Invasion's height, but their beautiful, catchy pop songs have become classics: the aforementioned “Ferry 'Cross the Mersey,” “I Like It,” “Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” and “How Do You Do It,” just to name a few. While they could never match the creativity and ingenuity of The Beatles, they deserve a place in rock and roll history.
Formed in the late 50s, the band consisted of Marsden (guitar and lead vocals), his 
brother Fred (drums), Les Chadwick (bass), and Arthur Mack (piano), who was replaced by Les McGuire in 1961. They played the same circuit as the Beatles, also known as the “Mersey Beat,” creating a friendly rivalry between the groups. The band's Beatles connection continued when Brian Epstein signed them to his roster of acts in mid-1962. Interestingly, The Beatles can also be credited for Gerry & The Pacemakers's first single, “How Do You Do It.” When the Fab Four began recording with producer George Martin in 1963, Martin wanted them to record a Mitch Murray song called “How Do You Do It.” While the group dutifully recorded the single (this version can be found on the Beatles's Anthology 1 CD), they disliked its unabashed poppiness and ultimately released their own compositions instead. The song perfectly suited Gerry & The Pacemakers's upbeat sound, and under Martin's direction, recorded the eventual #1 hit.
Article comments
1 - Karen Stoessel
Hey Kit...Always loved this group as I was a big lover of the British Sound. If the sound came from "across the pond"...I loved it. American music, at that time, was just OK with me. But those Mad Dogs and Englishmen always set me (as the Dave Clark 5 once said)...a reeling and a rockin! Thanks for bringing them back into the limelight!
2 - Beth Ann
"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" was always one of my fave British rock tunes. It's a classic. I made sure Andrew has it on his iPod, so he's a fan of British rock, too. Thanks for reminding everyone what it's all about. Is Liverpool really still producing great bands?
3 - Al Sussman
Gerry & The Pacemakers and The Searchers are the probably the best examples, apart from The Beatles, of course, of Merseybeat and Gerry outdid The Beatles out of the box by having three number singles with the group's first three British singles. Oddly, they're known in the US mainly for their ballad hits here but Gerry Marsden actually considers himself to be the same kind of unreconstructed rocker as John Lennon. A nice tribute to an underrated band, Kit!