A 25-track Gerry and the Pacemakers anthology from 1991 is subtitled The Definitive Collection, but that claim no longer applies because a new three-CD compendium from Britain’s Strawberry Records delivers a whopping 98 numbers from this British Invasion group. Called I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966, released on August 16, 2024, it collects all their hit singles (some in both stereo and mono), plus a 1964 California concert, an EP and lots of album tracks.
When they started out, the Merseybeat pop/rock artist Gerry Marsden and his band had much in common with the Beatles, with whom they often shared stages. Not only did both groups hail from Liverpool and hone their acts in its Cavern Club and Hamburg, Germany’s Top Ten Club; they also covered some of the same American hits and were managed by Brian Epstein and produced by George Martin.
Gerry and the Pacemakers got off to a promising start in 1963 as the first act to reach #1 in England with each of their three initial releases there: “How Do You Do It?” and “I Like It,” both by songwriter and producer Mitch Murray, and “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from Broadway’s Carousel. While fun, however, those numbers were no less fluffy than, say, early recordings by Herman’s Hermits, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, or Freddy and the Dreamers.
The group improved, though. Besides being a likable singer, Marsden, who died in 2021, was an increasingly skilled songwriter, and the group’s production values became more sophisticated. As a result, Gerry and the Pacemakers wound up issuing two fine orchestrated ballads that made the Top 10 in the U.S. in 1964: “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” and “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” both of which Marsden wrote. They also made some relatively little-known recordings that are as enjoyable as those ballads, among them Marsden’s “Now I’m Alone,” and scored additional stateside hits with his “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” Bobby Darin’s “I’ll Be There” and the Happenings’ “Girl on a Swing.”
Gerry Marsden at front and center
Nevertheless, by 1966, when the Beatles’ Revolver debuted trailblazing songs like “Taxman,” “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Eleanor Rigby,” Gerry and the Pacemakers were still cranking out music that didn’t seem all that far removed from their early releases. They were also still struggling to develop a distinctive sound as they continued to feature a preponderance of wildly disparate covers—everything from Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” and the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields standard “The Way You Look Tonight” to Larry Williams’ “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” and Willie Dixon’s “My Babe.”
Gerry and the Pacemakers were honing their musical skills and evolving but not fast enough.
The collection is available in the U.K. here and in the U.S. here.
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
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