Gerry & The Pacemakers

Rhino release a brand-new collection featuring live shows performed by a selection of classic artists at the BBC between the following dates: Gerry & The Pacemakers (1964-73).

Gerry & the Pacemakers are fated to eternal comparisons to the Beatles, their onetime Merseybeat rivals who rapidly eclipsed the quartet in popularity and accomplishment, leaving them as something of a pop culture punchline. In the wake of the Beatles, it was hard to look back at Gerry Marsden and his irrepressibly cheerful music and think it was in the same league as the Fab Four, or any of the British Invasion groups that followed. That may be true, but Gerry & the Pacemakers shouldn't be judged against such R&B-schooled rockers as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks but rather against the stiff, starched rock & roll of pre-Beatles Britain. Compared to this prim, proper pop, the skiffle beats and bouncy melodies of Gerry & the Pacemakers seem fresh, almost serving as a bridge between formative English rock and the bright blast of the Beatles…

Gerry & the Pacemakers are fated to eternal comparisons to the Beatles, their onetime Merseybeat rivals who rapidly eclipsed the quartet in popularity and accomplishment, leaving them as something of a pop culture punchline. In the wake of the Beatles, it was hard to look back at Gerry Marsden and his irrepressibly cheerful music and think it was in the same league as the Fab Four, or any of the British Invasion groups that followed. That may be true, but Gerry & the Pacemakers shouldn't be judged against such R&B-schooled rockers as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks but rather against the stiff, starched rock & roll of pre-Beatles Britain. Compared to this prim, proper pop, the skiffle beats and bouncy melodies of Gerry & the Pacemakers seem fresh, almost serving as a bridge between formative English rock and the bright blast of the Beatles…

Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (1964). The career of Gerry and the Pacemakers paralleled that of the Beatles up to a certain point. Like the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, England, and were signed to a subsidiary of EMI Records, in their case Columbia (no relation to American Columbia), their recordings overseen by George Martin. As with the Beatles, in the U.S., their records were licensed to a small independent label (Laurie, while the Beatles were on Vee-Jay), and, despite their British success, it was not until their fifth single that they achieved a stateside breakthrough. For the Beatles, that fifth single was "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; for Gerry and the Pacemakers, four months later in May 1964, it was the ballad "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." Laurie quickly assembled a corresponding LP out of existing recordings…

Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (1964). The career of Gerry and the Pacemakers paralleled that of the Beatles up to a certain point. Like the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, England, and were signed to a subsidiary of EMI Records, in their case Columbia (no relation to American Columbia), their recordings overseen by George Martin. As with the Beatles, in the U.S., their records were licensed to a small independent label (Laurie, while the Beatles were on Vee-Jay), and, despite their British success, it was not until their fifth single that they achieved a stateside breakthrough. For the Beatles, that fifth single was "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; for Gerry and the Pacemakers, four months later in May 1964, it was the ballad "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." Laurie quickly assembled a corresponding LP out of existing recordings…