HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FREDDIE MARSDEN! Born Frederick Jonathan Marsden on October 23rd in 1940 in Liverpool England. He was the brother of Gerry Marsden and drummer for Gerry and the Pacemakers. Of all the successful Merseybeat musicians, Freddie Marsden was the most down-to-earth. He was a friendly, charming man who enjoyed his success in the Sixties and then happily settled down to the routine of a daily job. In late 1962, Gerry and the Pacemakers were the second band to be signed up by Brian Epstein, the Beatles were the first. When the Beatles rejected Mitch Murrays light-hearted How Do You Do It, Epstein told the record producer George Martin that he had just the group to do it. On 22 January 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers travelled from Liverpool to London to record the song, as Marsden recalled, We were sat in the back of a freezing van for 10 hours in the worst weather you can imagine. The road manager slept through it all because he was shattered. We knew that the Beatles had turned down How Do You Do It and I thought they were silly to do that, as it was a much better song than Love Me Do. The single went to No1, as did its cheeky follow-up, I Like It. Having seen Paul McCartneys success around the Liverpool clubs with Over the Rainbow, Gerry and the Pacemakers wanted a similar, emotional show-stopper and they picked Youll Never Walk Alone from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. With George Martins arrangement, they became the first UK beat group to record with strings. They also became the first act to reach No1 with their first three singles. Youll Never Walk Alone was subsequently adopted by Liverpool football club. Freddie was born in the working-class Dingle neighborhood 2 years prior to his brother, Gerry. Their father, Fred, was a railway clerk who entertained the neighbors by playing the ukulele. With the vogue for skiffle music in the mid-Fifties, he made Freddie his 1st drum. In 1957 the brothers appeared in the show Dublin to Dingle at the Pavilion Theatre in Lodge Lane. Studies meant little to either of them, Freddie left school and worked for a candlemaker earning £4 a week, and Gerrys job was as a delivery boy for the railways. Their parents did not mind and encouraged their musical ambitions. The Marsdens first group was called the Mars Bars, but when the confectioners complained, they became Gerry and the Pacemakers. In 1960 they followed the Beatles to Hamburg, with a residency at the Top Ten Club, playing for five hours a night. We had to drive from Liverpool to Hamburg, Freddie Marsden recalled. We had our own van and I did most of the driving. We got to Hamburg about two oclock in the afternoon and when we got to the Top Ten Club, the manager said that we were on at seven. We were given Preludin to keep awake. Gerry was our main singer, and all the singing and the smoking battered his voice, he got that huskiness from Hamburg. They alternated at the Cavern clubs lunchtime sessions with the Beatles and, one famous night at Litherland Town Hall, they combined their talents to form the Beatmakers. Freddie Marsden had his 21st birthday party in the Dingle with the Beatles as guests. It is sometimes reported that he was considered as a possible replacement for the Beatles drummer Pete Best after Best was sacked in August 1962, but Thats rubbish, he says. Ringo was definitely more technical than me. Freddie co-wrote Dont Let The Sun Catch You Cryin, which became their biggest US hit, reaching No4 in 1964. Freddie Marsden also co-wrote Why Oh Why and Youve Got What I Like, and sang the occasional vocal, joining Gerry on harmony for A Shot of Rhythm and Blues. The group were featured in the film Ferry Cross The Mersey in 1965. The title song, written by Gerry Marsden, charted for the group in 1965. In 1968 Gerry Marsden replaced Joe Brown in the West End musical Charlie Girl, and effectively broke up the group. We were left without a singer and instead of looking for another one, we called it a day, he said despite what people thought, I hadnt got much money. Freddie became a telephone operator for £14($22.44 US) a week but later opened the Pacemaker driving school in Formby. Although he was always courteous to his fans, he never returned to music. Freddie died on December 9th 2006 at his home in Southport Lancashire, England. Heres Gerry and the Pacemakers performing Youll Never Walk Alone in 1965..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 17:15:40 +0000
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