Ferry Cross the Mersey
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Ferry Cross the Mersey is the name of a 1965 song, film, and soundtrack album, all related to Liverpool and the Mersey Sound, as well as the Mersey Ferry, which still runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral.
The song was recorded by Gerry & the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the US. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching #6 in the US and charting twice in the UK.
The film is one of the more uncommon artifacts of the Mersey scene, shown very rarely on television and never issued on video. It was the first to be shot on location in Liverpool after the city's emergence into the music mainstream (which had previously seen only Frankie Vaughan, Russ Hamilton, and Billy Fury as stars). For authenticity, many scenes were shot in clubs near Gerry & the Pacemakers frontman Gerry Marsden's home; a scene on the river via an actual ferryboat showed the docks as a backdrop. Marsden wrote nine new songs for the film which also starred Cilla Black, Jimmy Savile, and The Fourmost.
The soundtrack was in effect the second Gerry & the Pacemakers album and also included music by the George Martin Orchestra. A CD reissue in a digipak consists of both the mono and stereo versions of the album.
In 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood recorded a cover of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" for the 12-inch B-side of the single "Relax".
In May 1989 a charity version of "Ferry Cross The Mersey" was released in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster. It was recorded by Liverpool artists The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, and Stock Aitken Waterman, and held the #1 spot in the UK chart for three weeks.
In 2003, Pat Metheny included an instrumental cover of this song on his acoustic album One Quiet Night.
In the mid-1990s a musical theatre production also titled Ferry Cross the Mersey related Gerry Marsden's Merseybeat days; it premiered in Liverpool and played in the UK, Australia, and Canada.
| Preceded by: "Hand On Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue |
UK number-one single (Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman version) May 14, 1989 |
Succeeded by: "Sealed With A Kiss" by Jason Donovan |
