Customer Reviews

Best of Gerry & the Pacemakers

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Similar to The Very Best [IMPORT], At Abbey Road 1963-1966 or A's, B's & EP's. Nothing rare or unusual, but a good coverage of material. Great collection if you don't any of this artist. If you own one of the other various 20 -28 track collections, you duplicate a lot of material. However, overall a good collection.

Disc1

1. How Do You Do It?
2. I Like It
3. Girl On A Swing
4. Ferry Cross The Mersey
5. Come Back To Me
6. When Oh When
7. Pretend
8. Walk Hand In Hand
9. Jambalaya
10. Maybellene
11. You're The Reason
12. Slow Down
13. Summertime
14. Chills
15. Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
16. Reelin' And Rockin'
17. A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
18. Why Oh Why
19. She's The Only Girl For Me
20. I'm The One

DISC TWO:

1. You'll Never Walk Alone
2. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
3. It's All Right
4. Give All Your Love To Me
5. Hallelujah I Love Her So
6. Away From You
7. You've Got What I Like
8. It's Gonna Be Alright
9. You You You
10. Baby You're So Good To Me
11. Without You
12. Dreams
13. Think About Love
14. La La La
15. I'll Be There
16. The Wrong Yoyo
17. Don't You Ever
18. Where Have You Been All My Life?
19. Rip It Up
20. You Win Again

This is the most comprehensive compilation of this group's music that I've yet seen, containing the essential hits together with an interesting selection of other tracks that show their roots.

Gerry and the Pacemakers began their career with three number one UK hits, these being How do you do it (an up-tempo song that was offered to the Beatles), I like it (another up-tempo song) and You'll never walk alone (the Rodgers-Hammerstein ballad from Carousel that became the anthem of both Celtic and Liverpool football clubs).

They never had another number one hit but they had three more top ten hits - I'm the one (a number two hit), Don't let the sun catch you crying (their first American hit) and Ferry cross the Mersey (also an American hit). Their only other UK hits were It's gonna be alright, I'll be there and Walk hand in hand.

Their early UK hits charted in America following the success of Don't let the sun catch you crying, though without the impact they'd had in the UK. Girl on a swing missed the UK charts completely but made the USA top thirty.

Those ten hits are the only essential tracks but they recorded many other fine songs including covers of fifties songs made famous by Chuck Berry, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis and others. Unlike some other Liverpool groups of the time, they did not look to the Beatles as a source of songs.

This particular compilation of music by Gerry and the Pacemakers contains far more than just the hits, which can be found on any number of single CD's (though some of them don't include all the hits). But if you're really into the Merseybeat sound of the sixties, you'll love this double CD.

I was looking for some guidance from a forum I enjoy on which Gerry & the Pacemakers collection was the best overall. I had the "Definitive Collection" already. I didn't really get any feedback on the two CD's I thought might fill the bill, so I listened to song snippets and did a little online research.

I took a chance and ordered this and I was VERY pleased! A great balance of types of songs and sound quality. The "Definitive" CD has too many slow numbers (or somewhat sappy) for my liking. THIS collection gives me a much greater appreciation of what these guys did. It does have Copy Control. Lots of goodies I had never heard of or heard Gerry & the Pacemakers' versions of. More uptempo and rock numbers. I can't understand why they would have left some of these off of the earlier CD collection in the place of some of the tracks they DID use. Highly recommended!

When John Lennon described Gerry Marsden as the northern equivalent of Joe Brown, he had it just about right. Gerry was (and is) Liverpool's local lad and stand-up geezer, even more than Lennon himself. This excellent compilation also reminds us that he is a remarkably good singer and the Pacemakers remarkably good musicians.

Unusually, the group featured a pianist, and an excellent one at that, Les Maguire.

Gerry's decision to ignore advice and release a version of Rogers and Hamerstein's You'll Never Walk Alone shows his instinctive understanding of his audience. It became one of his best known songs and is an anthem for both Liverpool City and Celtic soccer clubs.

Gerry & The Pacemakers were an early manifestation of the British groups of the sixties and, like most, found their inspiration in the Skiffle of Lonnie Donegan and others. They enjoyed phenomenal early success, which did not last because they failed to progress and innovate. They stayed firmly rooted in the American popular tradition, with smooth melodies and unadventurous lyrics. They remain an essential, and now underrated, major sixties band. Give them a listen.

You'll find a few compilations on the market, but this is definitely the one to go for. It contains all the essentials and offers the most tracks per dollar.

This is a very complete collection of the group's material - maybe a little too much. But what's not to like? You gotta love "Ferry Cross the Mersey" and "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" - two absolutely great and monster songs of the era. "How Do You Do It?" is a good song too, but it seems a mite juvenile now. There is a large second tier of songs that are very listenable. They really capture the Liverpool and early British Invasion sound. The rest of the material drops off from there. This collection really does show what a great singer Gerry was. The cover of "Summertime" is quite satisfying. A good buy.

I've always like Gerry and The Pacemakers. I knew them mostly for their hits, but I never thought of them as anything more than one of the better British invasion bands. Long ago, John Lennon was quoted as saying, Gerry and The Pacemakers were the only Liverpool band The Beatles were worried about as competition. After hearing these recordings, I understand why.

Like The Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers did lots of covers. They covered many of the same songs The Beatles played in their early live shows, such as "A Shot Of Rhythm and Blues", "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "The Wrong Yoyo", but never officially recorded. One of the tracks on this cd is "Slow Down", which was released as a single by The Beatles. As well as rock and roll and r&b standards, they also recorded rocked up versions of country songs such as "You Win Again", "Jambalaya" and "You're The Reason", as well as standards like "Summertime" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Gerry Marsden also wrote many songs, including half of the forty songs in this collection.

These are very good and energetic recordings, by a very talented band. In a January 1962 Liverpool music poll, Gerry and The Pacemakers were voted as second only to The Beatles. Brian Eptein persuaded producer George Martin to listen to one of their shows. After hearing them, Martin instantly offered them a contract with Columbia Records. They had their first recording session in January of 1963, and went on to become the first Liverpool band to have a number one record in Britain. They were also the first to have their first three singles go number one.

Gerry Marsden is a competent guitar player, with one of the best voices ever. The Pacemakers were a very good band. One of the best performances I've ever seen, was Gerry and The Pacemakers' energetic appearance on THE TAMI SHOW. They may not have been as talented as The Beatles, but any shortage of talent, was made up by enthusiasm.

Most of the songs in this collection sound as good as their hits, and have a style very much like The Beatles in their early years. If you like the early recordings of The Beatles, you should enjoy this collection.

Disc one;

01. How Do You Do It?
02. I Like It
03. Girl On A Swing
04. Ferry Cross The Mersey
05. Come Back To Me
06. When Oh When
07. Pretend
08. Walk Hand In Hand
09. Jambalaya
10. Maybellene
11. You're The Reason
12. Slow Down
13. Summertime
14. Chills
15. Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
16. Reelin' And Rockin'
17. A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
18. Why Oh Why
19. She's The Only Girl For Me
20. I'm The One

disc two;

01. You'll Never Walk Alone
02. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
03. It's All Right
04. Give All Your Love To Me
05. Hallelujah I Love Her So
06. Away From You
07. You've Got What I Like
08. It's Gonna Be Alright
09. You You You
10. Baby You're So Good To Me
11. Without You
12. Dreams
13. Think About Love
14. La La La
15. I'll Be There
16. The Wrong Yoyo
17. Don't You Ever
18. Where Have You Been All My Life?
19. Rip It Up
20. You Win Again

Back in the glory days of high school, all we wanted to listen to was British Invasion groups. Gerry & The Pacemakers never had the outrageous success of The Beatles, but they were part of that rush of British heart-throbs that had us screaming at concerts and writing gushing fan mail.

In between the screaming, I couldn't help but notice that this group was more than British-cute. They were outrageously good. Gerry Marsden had one of the best voices I've ever heard. His rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone is amazing -- and worth the price of the CD, alone!

Wether you enjoy this as nostalgia or as a new discovery, The Best of Gerry & The Pacemakers is worth every penny!

If you were there in the 60's during the British Invasion, you couldn't have missed the great songs of Gerry and the Pacemakers...I still have a couple of their original albums on vinyl, but I just don't get around to play them...I saw this CD on Amazon...I checked it against other "greatest packages"...this one seemed to have all the hits, and the best of the B sides and albums cuts...all the songs I would've picked as the best are there...although many of the songs really show their 60's vibe and sound, the remastering for this CD is great, and many of the tunes are really timeless...the sound is great the selectionis perfect, and there's some nice liner notes...great package...if you are interested in Gerry and the Pacemakers, pick this one over other "greatest" collections...you can't go wrong...

The CD sayys, "Copyright Controlled" but i had no problems. I wanted to take this to work for my office stereo and one in my truck so as not to mess up my original. but It worked for me. The disc is a fairly good representation of Gerry and the Pacemakers. But I know of some cover of other bands tunes which should have been added that said it was worth what I paid for it. I did notice a little hiss from the original tape masters, but the remastering job was fair. The disc is a good one to start with if you have no G&TPM on disc

What a great group! These guys had so much talent. They had 7 Top 40 hits from 1964-1966. Ferry Cross The Mersey will forever be one of my all time favorite songs. The sound quality is very good. I only wish that the songs were in chronological order so that I can more appreciate the groups growth through the years. Still a great compilation. As far as copy protection is concerned I'm not sure what that means. I've had no problems importing or making copies of songs for other compilations. I do have an Apple if that makes any difference.