Audio CD review:
Gerry & The Pacemakers - The Very Best

Gerry & The Pacemakers - The Very Best

Band: Gerry & The Pacemakers Title: The Very Best Rating: Release Date: 28 November, 1994 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: How Do You Do It? 2: I Like It 3: It's Gonna Be Alright 4: I'll Be There 5: Girl On A Swing 6: Come Back To Me 7: When Oh When 8: Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying 9: You'll Never Walk Alone 10: I'm The One 11: Walk Hand In Hand 12: La La La 13: It's All Right 14: Give All Your Love To Me 15: Hallelujah I Love Her So 16: Ferry 'Cross The Mersey 17: Pretend 18: Jambalaya 19: You're The Reason 20: Summertime 21: Away From You 22: You've Got What I Like 23: You You You 24: Baby You're So Good To Me 25: Without You 26: Dreams 27: Think About Love

Customer Reviews All the songs you wanted are here. Excellent quality sound. The only problem is that most people would likely want only two songs, namely, "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying. All of the songs you wanted from Gerry and the Pacemakers are here. " A third song, "How Do You Do You Do You Do It?" also makes for fine listening. However, "How Do You Do You Do You Do You Do It?" is merely on par with one or two of the lesser early Beatle songs, for example, "Tell Me Why. " Therefore, it is unlikely that anybody would buy this compact disc solely for listening to "How Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do It?" Ferry 'Cross the Mersey and Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying both have beautiful melodies, easily equal to the finest tunes generated by Simon and Garfunkel or found on the Beatles' Rubber Soul album. Often, one might try to get these two songs on a compilation of songs from the 60s. However, a problem with this is that songs on compilations often have a low quality sound, or are merely covers and not the same recordings as those you so fondly remember. Regarding the album under review, there is little or nothing else on this album of note. The other songs might be suitable to hear once at a high school dance. It is hard to discern any specific style or sound that might be called the "Gerry and the Pacemaker sound. " One gets tired of Gerry's voice, since it is the only one you hear. The singing is workmanlike, all of the songs are sung in the same style--straight singing. The voice does have a characteristic timbre to it, a certain deadpan crispness and clarity. The deadpan quality is similar to that found, for example, in the second and third albums by the Yardbirds ("I'm A Man") or by songs by Squeeze ("Up The Junction"). Gerry Marsden's voice is not a fuzzy or muffled voice. But there are no lively recitatives, no blues shouting, little or no harmony from other voices. In contrast, one need look no farther than Paul Revere and the Raiders to find albums featuring all of the following: gentle ballads, blues shouting, vocal recitatives, danger-high-voltage electric organ chords, scorching lead guitars, and soaring multi-voiced harmonies. Thus, Ferry 'Cross the Mersey and Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying are, without doubt, FIVE STAR songs. . More MOR than most Brit Invaders - but still excellent It was what really propelled them since their sound didn't include the close harmonies and/or twanging guitars of the Searchers and some of the other early British bands. Gerry Marsden had the perfect reedy voice to front this vintage British Invasion group. Their sound was often pretty middle-of-the-road compared with everyone else in the early stable. Their initial propellant was the absolutely gorgeously written-and-performed "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying", which is high up on the list of greatest ballads of the last 50 years. It fit in well with the slew of mid-tempo tunes by the likes of the Searchers ("Don't Throw Your Love Away"), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ("Bad to Me" and "Little Children"), Peter and Gordon ("A World Without Love"), and Chad and Jeremy ("Yesterday's Gone") from mid-spring of '64. These songs really defined the second wave of the 'Invasion'. It was an expressly magical moment for our young mid-sixties' generation. When Gerry and the P's got bouncy, they ended up with mixed results. "How Do You Do It" was mediocre at best, though it charted relatively high. "I Like It" followed almost immediately in the U. S. and though pretty much a knockoff, nevertheless surpassed its model by a good margin. And "La La La" never received the airplay it deserved - I think I only caught it once - it was possibly 4 out of 5 stars. I'm pretty sure "I'm the One" charted, but I don't think I ever heard it played. "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" was the only other of their ballads that fit into the neat compartment of the 'young sound' - in fact it became kind of an anthem, for obvious reasons. Some of the other ballads ("You'll Never Walk Alone", "Give Me All Your Love") seemed more like adult music (even the Beatles did this kind of stuff, but never released any as singles). They didn't sit that well with the teenage audiences who were buying most of the records, though "I'll Be There" was particularly gorgeous. I myself was always on the lookout for their next great record, which finally came along in the shape of their only genuine rocker "It's Gonna Be Alright", definitely one of the very best songs the year it came out. Their last main chart success was the very groovy "Girl On a Swing", which fit in with the feel of some of the better late Herman's Hermits tunes from around the same time ("Listen People" and "There's a Kind of Hush"). It's definitely on the early edge of music from the 'Love Generation'. . You can see a complete list of all Gerry & The Pacemakers discography, or go back to the Gerry & The Pacemakers tabs