Liverpool Reds fans are in mourning this Sunday. The British press announced in the afternoon the death of Gerry Marsden, the former leader of the group Gerry and the Pacemakers at the age of 78. A group universally known for their interpretation of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which has become the anthem of Liverpool FC but also of other European football clubs such as Celtic Glasgow or Borussia Dortmund.
Peter Moore, the former CEO of the Reds, hailed the memory on Twitter of Gerry Marsden, recalling that he had performed his famous hit in 2018, before a match at Anfield.
For fans, several interpretations of the anthem have marked the history of the club, the one voted on the club’s website as the most significant was that of the Champions League semi-final return against Chelsea in 2005.
A band like the Beatles in the 60’s
But Gerry and the Pacemakers isn’t just the author of a football anthem. This is a group that had some success in the early 60s at the start of the “Mersey beat” from which also hatched The Beatles,
Gerry Mardsen’s group totaled three number 1 charts in Great Britain in 1963. “How do you do it” number 1 on the charts in April: a song rejected by The Beatles three months before, according to “the dictionary of the Rock ”under the direction of Michka Assayas. Then “I like it” and finally “Youl’ll never walk alone”, an American standard, which was written as part of the musical “Carousel” in 1945.
The group had been founded in 1959. They started out at the famous Liverpool Hall ‘cavern’. There are many parallels with the Beatles at the start of their career. They had the same impresario, the same manager, Brian Epstein, and the same producer, George Martin sometimes nicknamed the 5th Beatles.
For the record, the group had originally chosen the name of “Mars bars”, they thought they could be sponsored but instead they almost got a lawsuit. Gerry Mardsen later tried his hand at a solo career, but it was not so successful.
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The former Beatles Paul McCartney has also paid tribute to the singer on his Twitter account. “Gerry was a buddy when we started out at Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene ”. “His unforgettable interpretations of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey (Editor’s note: another Marsden hit) remain in the hearts of many people as memories of a joyful era in British music, ”he added. “My condolences go to his wife Pauline and to his family. See you later, Gerry. I will always remember you with a smile, ”he concluded.
