In 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers made pop-music history. Their first
three singles, “How Do You Do It?”, “I Like It” and “You'll
Never Walk Alone”, went to the top of the UK charts, creating a
still-unbeaten record. For twenty-year-old Gerry Marsden it was the
start of a long and colourful show-business career. A pioneer of the
Liverpool pop explosion that reverberated around the world, he vowed
to broaden his horizons and stay on stage for the rest of his life.
Brought up in the tough Dingle district of Liverpool, Marsden was a
street fighter and enthusiastic boxer, who left school at the age of
fifteen to work as a railways delivery boy. Like thousands of
teenagers in the 1950s he got the music bug, taught himself guitar,
formed a group and joined the vibrant club circuit alongside the
Beatles and hundreds of other young rock 'n' rollers. In 1962, Gerry
and the Pacemakers were signed by manager Brian Epstein as his second
group after the Beatles, and made their name with ballads like
“Ferry Cross the Mersey” and “Don't Let the Sun Catch You
Crying” as well as raunchy pop. But it was a Rodgers & Hammerstein
song, “You'll Never Walk Alone”, which had enthralled Marsden
since he saw the film Carousel in his youth, that was their biggest
hit. For three decades it has remained the anthem of the crowds at
Liverpool Football Club, played before kick-off every Saturday,
inscribed on the club gates and always the most popular concert
request. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, Marsden
released a version of “I'll Never Walk Alone” in tribute to the
National Health Service. In this autobiography, reissued following his
death in January 2021, Gerry Marsden emerges as a driven man, an
artist with enormous confidence and a unique spirit. From his
streetwise boyhood and early love of music to his friendship – and
keen rivalry – with the Beatles, hunger for fame and hard-won
success, his story is one of grit, warmth, humour and determination.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781526640345
Publisert
2021
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Bloomsbury Publishing
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter