You'll Never Walk Alone - Lyrics and History - Liverpool FC With hope in your heart And you’ll never walk alone You’ll never walk alone Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you’ll never walk alone You’ll never walk alone Who sang it first? Liverpool or Celtic? There is much discussion between Liverpool and Celtic fans about which group of fans first adopted the song as their own, but it is widely accepted that The Kop were the first group of fans to perform it on the terraces thanks to the local connection with Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the story that the group presented their version of the song to Bill Shankly. From Wikipedia : The song quickly became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game.[11] The words “You’ll Never Walk Alone” also feature in the club crest and on the Shankly Gates entrance to Anfield, the home stadium. According to former player Tommy Smith, Gerry Marsden presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly with a tape recording of his forthcoming cover single during a pre-season coach trip in the summer of 1963. “Shanks was in awe of what he heard.

[…] Football writers from the local newspapers were travelling with our party and, thirsty for a story of any kind between games, filed copy back to their editors to the effect that we had adopted Gerry Marsden’s forthcoming single as the club song.” There was also an article on The Guradian website which states that Liverpool fans were more than likely the original source of the song, again due to the Gerry and the Pacemakers connection. And the fact that a group of Scottish football fans might not be so aware of the musical Carousel (their stereotype, not mine!) From The Guardian : The song, originally written by Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1945 for the Broadway musical Carousel, only became a terrace favourite after it was covered by Gerry and the Pacemakers in November 1963. Almost immediately – as footage from Panorama in 1964 shows – Liverpool supporters adopted it.

As Paul Fields points out: “Before the early 60s football fans made noise and occasionally chanted something brief (like Play Up Pompey!) but it was the Kop that started singing popular songs of the day (mainly Merseybeat songs such as Gerry and the Pacemakers’ You’ll Never Walk Alone) and later started to adapt the lyrics of songs to celebrate the team and its players. “If any Celtic fans still claim that they sang it first, it would have to predate Gerry’s version. Now can you really see thousands of working class Glaswegians in the 50s/early 60s spontaneously joining in a sing-along from a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical?” No, us neither. Finally, here is the video for the Gerry and the Pacemakers version. YNWA Carousel :: Rodgers & Hammerstein :: Show Details Carousel Background The Theatre Guild, a theatrical producing organization which flourished on Broadway from the early ‘20s for over half a century, hit upon successful formula of turning a few of its classic plays into classics of musical theatre.

Their production of Gershwin’s PORGY AND BESS was based on their production of DuBose Heyward’s PORGY; likewise, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! was based on Lynn Rigg’s GREEN GROWN THE LILACS. In 1921 The Guild presented the American premiere of a new play called LILIOM by the renowned Hungarian playwright, Ferenc Molnar. Benjamin Glaser was the translator (although a fascinating and never-proven rumor has suggested that an early translation of LILIOM was provided by Rodgers’ first partner, Lorenz Hart), and Eva Le Gallienne created the role of Julie to Joseph Schidkraut’s portrayal of the title role. LILIOM was a critical and popular success for the Guild; set on the outskirts of Budapest, its mix of whimsy and pathos, tragedy and fantasy, hit a chord with the American public. The Guild knew they had a winner; more than that, they felt its potential could be further exploited. A preliminary request to Molnar that LILIOM be musicalized, following on the heels of PORGY AND BESS, was rejected; but a subsequent proposal, this time fresh on the heels of OKLAHOMA!

and with the understanding that the authors of that musical adaptation would tackle this one as well, met with Molnar’s approval. LILIOM could sing, if Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the score. However, there was yet another problem, this time on the American side of the equation: in 1945, at the height of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Europe, Budapest was not a romantic of uncontroversial setting for a musical. If LILIOM were to work, it would have to be relocated, and Rodgers and Hammerstein were reticent to do so. Theatre Guild producer Theresa Helburn suggested a New Orleans setting, with Liliom becoming a tough and exotic Creole character. Hammerstein demurred on the grounds that his lyrics, always rife with dialect of the setting they were placed in, would be riddled with so many “ze’s” and “zose’s” as to make the songs sound like so manu buzz saws. Helburn was determined not to let the idea go, and she persisted. It was Richard Rodgers who came up with the concept of New England in the late 19th century—and suddenly the idea fell into place.

While visions of clambakes and fishing boats danced in their heads, the authors went to work. The very first song they wrote for the score was the most daunting—Billy’s powerful and insightful “Soliloquy.” As daring as anything in the groundbreaking OKLAHOMA!, this number provided character, story, passion and heartfelt emotion—in an unprecedented eight-minute solo. After the “Soliloquy” everything fell into place: the upbeat choral numbers ( “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”), the love songs (“If I Loved You,” “When I Marry Mister Snow,” “What’s the Use of Wond’rin,” and “When the Children are Asleep,”) and the haunting and inspirational “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” CAROUSEL proved that the extraordinary innovations of OKLAHOMA! were no one-time fluke; the opening scuttled the traditional overture and replaced it with a lush “Carousel Waltz” joined by a storied prologue in mime; and this was followed by the now-classic “Beach Scene” in which dialogue and snatched of song we intermingled to breathtaking effects.

CAROUSEL shared with OKLAHOMA! its stellar creative team: authors Rodgers & Hammerstein of course, and director (Rouben Mamoulian) and choreographer (Agnes de Mille.) After tryouts in New Haven and Boston, CAROUSEL opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, where it ran for 890 performances. While not the spectacular success the OKLAHOMA! was, CAROUSEL managed to do the impossible—follow a mammoth success and stand on its own right. Audiences in the throes of World War II could not help but be moved by the story of a young widow raising a child without its father. The final scene, in which Bill comes back to Earth spiritually and reaches out to Julie and their daughter Louise, was played before countless war widows, parents, children and siblings who had lost a loved one overseas. The effect of CAROUSEL and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is haunting, to this day. The original Broadway cast featured John Raitt as Billy, Jan Clayton as Julie, and Jean Darling as Carrie.

Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as Best Musical of 1945, the Broadway run was quickly followed by a two year national tour, as well as countless productions throughout the world. In 1950, CAROUSEL premiered at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it played for 566 performances, and in 1956 the motion picture version, starring Gordon MacRae as Billy and Shirley Jones as Julie, was released. Written By: Bert Fink OKLAHOMA!, the first musical Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote together, wasn’t a mere success: it was a phenomenon. An artistic triumph that changed the course of musical theatre, it shattered box office records when it opened in 1943, outran every show before it, held Broadway's longevity crown for fifteen years, and launched the Rodgers & Hammerstein partnership as Broadway's Golden Team in Broadway’s Golden Era. Inevitably the question arose: what could possibly follow OKLAHOMA!? In his autobiography Rodgers recalls the sage advice he received from film mogul Sam Goldwyn: "This is such a wonderful show!" Goldwyn bubbled. "You know what you should do next?

Shoot yourself!" Fortunately Rodgers & Hammerstein had other ideas in mind. Their first assignment after OKLAHOMA! was a new work in another medium altogether—writing the score for a movie musical called STATE FAIR (1945), a charming depiction of homespun Americana that introduced "It Might as Well Be Spring," the Academy Award winner for Best Song of the Year. Still, Hollywood was only a detour on the return to Broadway. As with OKLAHOMA!, it was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s producers, Lawrence Langner and Theresa Helburn of The Theatre Guild, who provided the team with the source for their next musical. In two previous, successful instances Helburn and Langner had recycled Guild plays into Guild musicals (turning PORGY into PORGY AND BESS, and GREEN GROW THE LILACS into OKLAHOMA!). Now, the Guild wanted Rodgers & Hammerstein to make a musical out of LILIOM. Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s elaborate fantasy had its American premiere under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, in a 1921 production translated by Benjamin F.

Glazer that starred Joseph Schildkraut in the title role and Eva Le Gallienne as Julie. The property was rich with musical potential, but before it could be transformed Helburn and Langner had to convince not only their skeptical American authors, but also their Hungarian one. Molnar had already turned down several requests to turn LILIOM into an opera. And he was ready to resist again, until, at the Guild's invitation, he attended a performance of OKLAHOMA! and was instantly won over. LILIOM could sing, he decreed, if Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the score. But Rodgers & Hammerstein had their doubts too. It was not the themes of domestic violence and fateful tragedy in LILIOM that deterred the authors—in fact these issues only served to whet their appetite for challenging work—but the play's locale: Budapest, Hungary. In 1944 Budapest was ravaged by war and setting a play there would only compete with the headlines or, worse, seem exploitative. If a musical of LILIOM were to work, they concluded, it would have to be relocated, and Rodgers and Hammerstein were reluctant to do so.

Helburn suggested a New Orleans setting, with Liliom turned into a tough and exotic Creole character. Oscar Hammerstein II demurred on the grounds that his lyrics, which were always steeped in the dialect of their locale, would become riddled with the "ze's" and "zose's" of the Creole accent and end up sounding like a chorus of buzz saws. But then Richard Rodgers came up with the concept of New England in the late 19th century and everything fell into place. Liliom would become Billy Bigelow, barker on a carousel in a small fishing village, and Julie would be featured as one of the local millworkers. While images of clambakes and lighthouses danced in their heads, the authors went to work. The very first song they wrote for the score was the most daunting—Billy’s powerful and insightful "Soliloquy." As daring as anything in the groundbreaking OKLAHOMA!, this number provided character, motivation, passion and heartfelt emotion—in an unprecedented eight-minute solo. Structurally, CAROUSEL proved as daring as OKLAHOMA! in style and form, while telling a story that was far more sophisticated.

Here, in addition to Billy’s "Soliloquy," the innovations included the opening, which scuttled the traditional overture entirely and replaced it with a lush "Carousel Waltz" that underscored a storied prologue in mime; and the now-classic "If I Loved You" scene, in which dialogue and fragments of song were intermingled to breathtaking effects. CAROUSEL began rehearsals in early 1945. Guiding it was OKLAHOMA!'s stellar creative team: authors Rodgers & Hammerstein, producers Helburn and Langner, director Rouben Mamoulian, choreographer Agnes de Mille and costume designer Miles White. Featured in the original cast were John Raitt as Billy, Jan Clayton as Julie Jordan, and Jean Darling as Carrie. After tryouts in New Haven and Boston, CAROUSEL opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, and eventually ran for 890 performances. Even the skeptics were confounded: while it could never be the unexpected revelation that OKLAHOMA! was, CAROUSEL did the impossible—it followed a smash hit by succeeding in its own right.

Audiences in the throes of World War II responded deeply to its story of a young widow raising a child alone, and its spiritual imagery had a profound impact on those who had lost a loved one overseas. The effects of CAROUSEL and its authemn, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" are haunting to this day. Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as Best Musical of 1945, the Broadway run was followed by a two year national tour. In London CAROUSEL followed OKLAHOMA! directly into the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opening in June of 1950 and playing for over a year and a half. In 1956 the motion picture version was released by Twentieth Century Fox. Filmed on location in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, it was originally slated to star Frank Sinatra as Billy and Judy Garland as Julie. However, she withdrew prior to filming and he left over a contract dispute during the first weeks of shooting. They were replaced by the OKLAHOMA! movie co-stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. CAROUSEL has been performed by hundreds of theatre and opera companies throughout the world.

Notable productions include the Music Theater of Lincoln Center with John Raitt re-creating the role of Billy (1965); a television version starring Robert Goulet with choreography by Edward Villella, broadcast on ABC-TV (1967); and a summer run at the U.S. Pavilion of the 1958 Brussels Exposition, with Jan Clayton re-creating the role of Julie. Director Nicholas Hytner, choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designer Bob Crowley collaborated on the revelatory 1992 Royal National Theatre production of CAROUSEL in London, which played to sold-out houses in the Lyttleton Theatre before transferring to the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End the following September, where it was presented by Cameron Mackintosh. In March 1994, CAROUSEL marked its first return to Broadway since the original run, playing for a year at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, this CAROUSEL went on to receive a record-setting five Tony Awards (the most of any show that season), including Best Director of a Musical (Hytner), Best Choreography (MacMillan), Best Scenic Design (Crowley) and Best Revival of a Musical 1994. A Japanese production played extended engagements in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in 1995, and a U.S. National Tour visited over 40 cities from February of 1996 through May of 1997, and starred Broadway stars to be Patrick Wilson, Sarah Uriarte Berry and Jennifer Laura Thompson. In 2002, Carnegie Hall hosted a concert performance with Hugh Jackman, Audra McDonald, Philip Bosco, Blythe Danner, John Raitt, Norbert Leo Butz, Jason Danieley, Judy Kaye and Lauren Ward. That same year, Emily Loesser appeared in CAROUSEL at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Shirley Jones played Nettie at the Reagle Theatre in 2005.

In 2007, the Boston Pops' CAROUSEL featured Aaron Lazar, Liz Callaway, Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie, while R&H opera star Lesley Garrett played Nettie in a 2008 West End revival. CAROUSEL had always been Rodgers & Hammerstein’s personal favorite; the latest turns on the CAROUSEL prove that their opinion is still shared by audiences everywhere. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE "You’ll Never Walk Alone" (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) was written for the 1945 Broadway musical play CAROUSEL. The song highlights a momentous plot turn early in Act II, and is reprised as the musical’s powerful and inspirational finale. From the very beginning, this song has always had a special resonance and meaning beyond its context and function within the score for CAROUSEL. During the musical’s original Broadway run, with the world at war, many in the audience who had a husband, a brother, a son or a lover fighting overseas, found solace in its meaning and its message.

In addition to numerous recordings of the song on CAROUSEL cast albums and the motion picture soundtrack, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" has been recorded by dozens of pop, rock, gospel, country western and opera stars, including: Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Perry Como, Michael Crawford, Placido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Marilyn Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Cleo Laine, Mario Lanza, Darlene Love, Jim Nabors, Olivia Newton John, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Righteous Brothers, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Kiri Te Kanawa, Conway Twitty and Dionne Warwick. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s "You'll Never Walk Alone" has a unique history in Great Britain where a 1963 cover version of the song by the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers was embraced by the locals (known as "scousers"), and lead to its adoption as the motto and anthem of the Liverpool Football Club. Subsequently, it has become ubiquitous at football (soccer) matches all over the world.

True to the song's intent, it has also provided inspiration in times of peril, and has served as a potent fundraiser for causes borne out of disaster. In 1985, a recording of "You’ll Never Walk Alone" featuring British pop and rock stars, was put together to raise funds for victims of the Bradford Stadium tragedy — and did: the song was a Number One single in Britain throughout the summer of 1985, and raised hundreds of thousand of pounds for the cause. In September 1997, on the eve of the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, scores of Londoners who had gathered for the event broke into spontaneous, subdued choruses of "You’ll Never Walk Alone." In happier times, BBC live coverage showed over 750,000 Britons gathered on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace in June 2002, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the 2002 Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

In the United States in recent years, "You’ll Never Walk Alone," long associated with Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy telethons, has also been adopted by such causes as Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Katrina relief and the annual national AIDS Walk campaigns. Marilyn Horne, Joan Baez and others have sung "You’ll Never Walk Alone" at AIDS Walk rallies in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago, and in 1992 Patti LaBelle made a new recording of the song for a national AIDS Walk public service announcement. Bringing the song full circle, at the 1994 AIDS Walk New York, Shirley Verrett and the cast of the Broadway production of CAROUSEL sang "You’ll Never Walk Alone" on the Great Lawn in Central Park before a crowd of 30,000. 17 years later, CAROUSEL co-star Audra McDonald sang the song, to a crowd now swollen to over 45,000. Rolling into the 21st Century, "You'll Never Walk Alone" continues to inspire the world at times of triumph and tragedy.

In 2002, opera great Renee Fleming sang it at Ground Zero as part of the first year anniversary commemorations of the devastating 9/11 attacks; in 2009 she sang the song for a worldwide audience once again, this time backed by the US Naval Academy Glee Club on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a globally-televised concert in honor of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. Ewen, David. Richard Rodgers, Holt, New York 1957 _____. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York 1963 Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II, Random House, New York 1977 Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story, John Day, New York 1963; DeCapo Press paperback, 1980 _____. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Fact Book, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee 1980 Hammerstein II, Oscar. Lyrics, with an introduction by the author and a preface by Stephen Sondheim, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee 1985 _____.

A Real Nice Clambake, illustrated by Nadine Westcott, Little, Brown & Co., Boston 1992 Mordden, Ethan.Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York 1992 Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music, Walker, New York 1978 Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography, Random House, New York 1975; Jove Paperback, New York 1978 Taylor, Deems. Some Enchanted Evenings, Harper, New York 1953 AGNES DE MILLE: THE DANCES OF CAROUSEL Written By: Agnes DeMille In the last year of her life, legendary choreographer Agnes de Mille revisited her contributions to the original groundbreaking 1945 Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL, resulting in an extraordinary video of insight, commentary and recollection. Hosted by the composer’s daughter, Mary Rodgers, the video includes the dance sequences from “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “The Hornpipe,” and the Act II Ballet, recreated by Ms.

de Mille’s longtime associate Gemze de Lappe and performed by members of the Nashville Ballet. Commentary from Ms. de Mille and Ms. de Lappe includes analysis, discussion and demonstration, advice and suggestions for the director, and discussion of sets, costumes and lighting. This instructional video is included with the materials provided by R&H Theatricals for CAROUSEL and is recommended for viewing by your entire production team, cast and crew. The New York Times Written By: Oscar Hammerstein II Toward the end of January, 1944, Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner beckoned Dick Rodgers and me into a dark corner of Sardi's, put their fingers to their lips with a hushing gesture, looked from left to right to make sure no one was listening, and whispered, 'How would you like to do a musical play based on Molnar's Liliom?' We looked from right to left and whispered back at them in unison: 'No.' A pause. Then Lawrence asked, 'Why?' We took turns listing successive objections, all having to do with the original scene, Hungary. 'It's a beautiful story,' Terry commented wistfully. We agreed. 'Interesting set of characters,' volunteered Lawrence.

Granted. We had some cannelloni, and ice cream and raisin cake, and parted. The following week we met at my house and Miss Helburn was prepared to meet our locale objection: 'Move it from Hungary to Louisiana. You boys say you want to write about America. Louisiana is America$mdash;but it also has a European flavor. Liliom can be a Creole.' This sounded like a good idea. I promised to give it serious consideration. Well, I brushed up on my Creole atmosphere and ran bang into a disconcerting difficulty$mdash;the dialect. Meanwhile, however, Molnar's tender story and its strange characters had begun to hypnotize us. Dick and I kept telling each other why we weren't going to adapt 'Liliom,' and then we would drift off into a contemplation of all its attractive possibilities. The very difficulties of the job we knew would lead us into unusual devices. We knew we wouldn't wind up with a conventional musical comedy. It was obvious that we would have to mix in values from the dramatic stage and opera. The idea that really opened the way to it all was a suggestion by Dick that at first sounded downright silly.

This was to transplant the play to the New England coast. But it sounded silly only for a few seconds. I began to see an attractive ensemble$mdash;sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty. The poignancy of the story, I was certain, would not suffer from gaiety of background. It would enhance it. As for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outer simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere. So now, for the first time, Dick and I felt that irrational enthusiasm that lures men into the harrowing project of writing a musical play. And away we went. from 'Turns on a Carousel' Percussion Notes CLARINET I and CLARINET II are both B-Flat Clarinets. The BASS CLARINET part in the BASSOON book has been double lined for BASSOON, if a doubler or an additional player is not available.

TROMBONE I, TROMBONE II and TROMBONE III are all Tenor Trombones. The HARP part may be played on a synthesizer with a harp patch if a real harp is not available, but the HARP part is essential cannot be omitted The PERCUSSION book is written to be played by one percussionist, with the exception of “The Carousel Waltz” which can be played by either one, two or three percussionists. The original string breakdown was 5 VIOLINS 1-A, 4 VIOLINS 1-B, 4 VIOLAS, 3 CELLOS and 2 BASSES. Trap Set, Timpani, Triangle, Bells, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Wood Block, Tambourine Carousel (You'll Never Walk Alone): Broadway Musical Backdrops Suggestions by Charles H. Stewart - YouTube Carousel (You'll Never Walk Alone): Broadway Musical Backdrops Suggestions by Charles H. Stewart Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now.

Please try again later. Uploaded on Jan 11, 2012 Backdrops ► ► Backdrop suggestions for the Musical, CAROUSEL! With this video, we present you a small sample of the Backdrop Suggestions by Charles H. Stewart for a production of "Carousel" ... Enjoy the show... and music! For your "Show of Shows", depend on us for high quality backdrops! Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; when it goes wrong, he has a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite among all his musicals. For production rights to produce this show, please contact Rodgers and Hammerstein at: You'll Never Walk Alone is sung by Sam Harris, used with permission. Please download the song at: While viewing the backdrops video, you hear the song, "You'll Never Walk Alone" (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) which was written for the 1945 Broadway musical play CAROUSEL. The song highlights a momentous plot turn early in Act II, and is reprised as the musical's powerful and inspirational finale. From the very beginning, this song has always had a special resonance and meaning beyond its context and function within the score for CAROUSEL. During the musical's original Broadway run, with the world at war, many in the audience who had a husband, a brother, a son or a lover fighting overseas, found solace in its meaning and its message.

In addition to numerous recordings of the song on CAROUSEL cast albums and the motion picture soundtrack, "You'll Never Walk Alone" has been recorded by dozens of pop, rock, gospel, country western and opera stars, including: Sam Harris, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Perry Como, Michael Crawford, Placido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Marilyn Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Cleo Laine, Mario Lanza, Darlene Love, Jim Nabors, Olivia Newton John, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Righteous Brothers, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Kiri Te Kanawa, Conway Twitty and Dionne Warwick. Rodgers & Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone" has a unique history in Great Britain where a 1963 cover version of the song by the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers was embraced by the locals (known as "scousers"), and lead to its adoption as the motto and anthem of the Liverpool Football Club. Subsequently, it has become ubiquitous at football (soccer) matches all over the world.

True to the song's intent, it has also provided inspiration in times of peril, and has served as a potent fundraiser for causes borne out of disaster. In 1985, a recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone" featuring British pop and rock stars, was put together to raise funds for victims of the Bradford Stadium tragedy — and did: the song was a Number One single in Britain throughout the summer of 1985, and raised hundreds of thousand of pounds for the cause. In September 1997, on the eve of the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, scores of Londoners who had gathered for the event broke into spontaneous, subdued choruses of "You'll Never Walk Alone." In happier times, BBC live coverage showed over 750,000 Britons gathered on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace in June 2002, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the 2002 Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Rolling into the 21st Century, "You'll Never Walk Alone" continues to inspire the world at times of triumph and tragedy.

In 2002, opera great Renee Fleming sang it at Ground Zero as part of the first year anniversary commemorations of the devastating 9/11 attacks; in 2009 she sang the song for a worldwide audience once again, this time backed by the US Naval Academy Glee Club on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a globally-televised concert in honor of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. Freddie Marsden Remembered Spectropop remembers FREDDIE MARSDEN (1940 - 2006) 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 '60s as the drummer with Gerry and the Pacemakers and then happily settled down to the routine of a daily job. In late 1962, Gerry & the Pacemakers were the second band to be signed up by Brian Epstein - the Beatles were the first. When the Beatles rejected Mitch Murray's light-hearted 'How Do You Do It', Epstein told the record producer George Martin that he had just the group to do it.

On January 22nd 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 #1, as did its cheeky follow-up, 'I Like It'. Having seen Paul McCartney's success around the Liverpool clubs with 'Over The Rainbow', Gerry and the Pacemakers wanted a similar, emotional showstopper and they picked 'You'll Never Walk Alone' from the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. With George Martin's arrangement, they became the first UK beat group to record with strings. They also became the first act to reach #l with their first three singles. 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was subsequently adopted by Liverpool football club and became the Kop anthem.

Freddie Marsden was born in the working-class Dingle area of Liverpool in 1940 and his brother, Gerry, followed two years later. Their father, Fred, was a railway clerk who entertained the neighbours by playing the ukulele. With the vogue for skiffle music in the mid-'50s, he took the skin off one of his instruments, put it over a tin of Quality Street and said to Freddie, "There's your first snare drum, son." 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 with one O-level and worked for a candle-maker earning £4 a week, and Gerry's 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 & the Pacemakers. The line-up changed from time to time and, in 1959, Les Chadwick joined on bass.

They were featured on a beat show with Gene Vincent at Liverpool Stadium in 1960 and, later in the year, 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 o'clock in the afternoon and when we got to the Top Ten Club, the manager said that we were on at seven. We were given [the slimming drug] Preludin to keep awake. Gerry was our main singer, and all the singing and the smoking battered his voice. When he was 12 or 13, he was in the church choir and his voice was absolutely brilliant, but he got that huskiness from Hamburg." In 1961 they were joined by Les Maguire on piano and thus the hit-making Pacemakers line-up was complete. They alternated at the Cavern club's 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 "That's rubbish," he told me. "Look at my high forehead. I could never have had a Beatle haircut for a start. I considered myself a very basic drummer. I laid the beat down and didn't do anything fancy. I knew my limitations and I stuck with the strong off-beat and it seemed to work. We were nice and tight. Ringo was definitely more technical than me." After the three #1 hits for Gerry & the Pacemakers in 1963, their fourth single, Gerry's own song 'I'm The One', went to #2 the following year. Freddie felt that they would have had a fourth chart-topper if they had picked their stage favourite, 'Pretend'. Freddie co-wrote 'Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'', which became their biggest US hit, reaching #4 in 1964. He was immensely proud when José Feliciano recorded the song.

Freddie Marsden also co-wrote 'Why Oh Why' and 'You've Got What I Like', and sang the occasional vocal, joining Gerry on harmony for 'A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues'. The group were featured on scooters for the film Ferry Cross The Mersey (1965), which was written by the creator of Coronation Street, Tony Warren. Although the plot is trite, the film offers invaluable views of Merseyside sights and clubs of the '60s. The title song, written by Gerry Marsden, charted for the group in 1965. "There were lots of songs about Chicago, Broadway and London," said Freddie, "but nobody had mentioned Liverpool until then." In 1968 Gerry Marsden replaced Joe Brown in the West End musical Charlie Girl, and effectively broke up the group. Freddie never criticised his brother publicly but I always sensed some resentment. "We were left without a singer and instead of looking for another one, we called it a day," he said. "The two Leses got a garage and I had no qualifications and despite what people thought, I hadn't got much money. Looking back, I underrated myself as a drummer.

I was always more into sport than playing drums and when I compared myself to some of the drummers I'd heard in America, I didn't fancy getting up to their standards." Freddie Marsden became a telephone operator for £14 a week but later opened the Pacemaker driving school in Formby. Although he was always courteous to his fans, he never returned to music. A few years ago, when I asked him if he still had his drums, he said, "No, I got rid of them. They took up too much space in the garage." (Spencer Leigh, The Independent) Frederick John Marsden, drummer and songwriter: born October 23rd, 1940 - died December 9th, 2006 Rodgers and Hammerstein « Sparsely Sage and Timely [2] Comments If a segment of Connections had been devoted to popular culture, it could not have found a better example than this story, which begins on stage and ends in soccer. For those of you who don’t remember Connections, which was first aired on Public Television in 1979, the series was hosted by the British science-historian James Burke.

His premise was that developments in one area of science and technology often lead to developments in seemingly unrelated areas. Burke, for example, once showed how improved trade in the ancient world led to the understanding of magnetism during the 16th century, which in turn led to the discovery of electricity in the 17th century and ultimately the development of radar and nuclear weapons in the 20th century. The connections now fascinating me are far less significant than Burke’s but at least as convoluted — and probably more fun. To demonstrate my series of connections, I’m including several video links, probably too many to watch to conclusion. In 1909, a Hungarian named Ferenc Molnár (right) wrote a grim play called Liliom about an out-of-work carousel barker who unsuccessfully turns to crime and then kills himself, causing great suffering for his wife and unborn daughter. In the end, he is consigned to Hell. . Bizarrely, two producers during World War II asked Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (left) to turn the play into a Broadway musical.

Although skeptical, Rodgers and Hammerstein agreed to take on the project but relocated the story from Budapest to a New England fishing village and gave it a happier ending. The result was Carousel, which opened in 1945. Time magazine would later call it the best musical of the 20th century. . . In 1956, Carousel was made into a film starring Gordon MacRae as Billy the barker and Shirley Jones as his wife Julie. The musical contained several memorable songs, the most powerful of which is You’ll Never Walk Alone. Julie’s aunt sings it to her when Billy dies, and the song is reprised in the finale during his daughter Louise’s graduation from high school. In the final scene, Billy has returned to earth, having been told he can’t enter heaven until he salves the pain he caused Julie and Louise. Louise in particular has been shunned by other villagers because of her father’s misdeeds, leaving her isolated during graduation.

Although invisible to others, Billy appears to Louise during the ceremonies and boosts her self-confidence, which leads Louise and Julie to take part in singing You’ll Never Walk Alone: “When you walk through a storm/ Hold your head up high/ And don’t be afraid of the dark./ At the end of the storm/ Is a golden sky/ And the sweet silver song of a lark. “Walk on through the wind,/ Walk on through the rain,/ Tho’ your dreams be tossed and blown./ Walk on, walk on/ With hope in your heart/ And you’ll never walk alone,/ You’ll never walk alone.” Because of the song’s inspirational message and its being sung during the musical’s graduation scene, schools throughout the United States soon began singing it at graduation. On YouTube, one can watch the song being performed during the graduation exercises of various schools, ranging from UCLA to BYU . Singers from Frank Sinatra, to Doris Day, to Elvis Presley recorded it. One of the most-striking, and perhaps surprising, renditions comes from Manila where it is performed by the beautiful Filipina singer Kyla (left).

But the rendition that gave You’ll Never Walk Alone a connection no one could have foreseen came from Liverpool, England, where a band called Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded it in 1963. Their version immediately topped the British pop music charts. Today Gerry Marsden (right) and the Pacemakers are remembered, if at all, in the United States for their 1965 hit Ferry Cross the Mersey. Nonetheless, the group was right behind their fellow Liverpudlians, the Beatles, in leading the British Invasion of American pop music after 1964. Now here is where a bit of sociology comes into play. Liverpool is ethnically diverse and in the early 1960s had enough nightspots to employ hundreds of bands. Because the city is a major port on the Mersey Estuary, the style of music played by the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other Liverpudlian bands came to be known as Merseybeat.

However, Liverpool was also an industrial city in decline (left), and in the early 1960s, the main thing its popular culture had going besides music was its professional soccer team (or football club, as they say in other parts of the world). In 1959, a working-class manager named Bill Shankly had taken over the club when it was at the bottom of the English Football Association’s second division and its facilities were decrepit. By the end of six years under Shankly, who was admired by fans and players alike, the Liverpool Football Club was the best in England. With the formerly forlorn football club generating so much pride and expectation among Liverpudlians, it was perhaps appropriate You’ll Never Walk Alone became the “Liverpool Anthem” for the fans. Not just any version, of course, but specifically the Gerry and the Pacemakers’ Merseybeat rendition .** Before every match, a Gerry and the Pacemakers’ recording of You’ll Never Walk Alone is played on the stadium PA system while Liverpool fans by the tens of thousands sing along and wave banners . The anthem so impressed fans elsewhere that soon other football clubs adopted You’ll Never Walk Alone as their anthem too.

Again, not just any version but specifically the Gerry and the Pacemakers’ Merseybeat version. Before long, there were matches where the fans of opposing teams were singing the same anthem in unison. In time, the song’s popularity as a football anthem spread to clubs in the non-English-speaking world. Belgian football fans from Brugge now struggle to sing along in English with Gerry and the Pacemakers. Fans of Tokyo’s football club sing a pretty fair approximation. How have Liverpool fans reacted? One Liverpudlian posted a complaint on a Japanese video: “Why does every team steal our song? It’s ours, no argument. Gerry and the Pacemakers, who﻿ sung it originally, are from Liverpool, and they said in an interview they made it for Bill Shankly.” Of course, Gerry and the Pacemakers — like Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Kyla, and hundreds of school choirs — took the song from Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein who, in turn, got the story from Liliom by Frenec Molinár.

All the same, it is intriguing how a Merseybeat band in recording a song from a 1945 Broadway musical — based on a 1909 play — ended up creating a football anthem that today is sung around the world. ‘Plutocracy’ to occupy four theaters, starting with two in West Marin The Light on the Coast Tomales Regional History Center has just published The Light on the Coast: 65 Years of News Big and Small as Reported in The Point Reyes Light. The book, which I wrote with Jacoba Charles, is the post-World War II history of West Marin's lively little towns and their Pulitzer Prize-winning weekly newspaper. Click here to read about it. David V. Mitchell Welcome to the blog of David Mitchell, editor & publisher emeritus of The Point Reyes Light. In 1979, The Light won the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service for an exposé largely written by him of the increasingly violent Synanon cult. Mitchell retired in November 2005 after 35 years of newspapering, 27 of those at The Light.

During his newspaper career, he also worked for the old San Francisco Examiner, Sonora’s Daily Union Democrat in the Sierra Nevada, and Council Bluff’s daily newspaper, The Nonpareil. In addition, he edited the weekly Sebastopol (California) Times. Mitchell holds a master’s degree in Communications and a bachelor’s degree in English from Stanford University. He was born on Nov. 23, 1943, and lives in Point Reyes Station on the rural coast north of San Francisco. Favorite Web Sites The Very Best Of Gerry & The Pacemakers: Gerry & The Pacemakers: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads TITLE added to MP3 Basket The Very Best Of Gerry & The Pacemakers MP3 Download, 16 May 2005 "Please retry" Â£5.79 1 Used from Â£12.31 38 New from Â£4.02 Buy the CD album for £5.79 and get the MP3 version for FREE. Does not apply to gift orders. Provided by Amazon EU Sàrl. See Terms and Conditions for important information about costs that may apply for the MP3 version in case of returns and cancellations.

Complete your purchase of the CD album to save the MP3 version to your Amazon music library. Your Amazon Music account is currently associated with a different marketplace. To enjoy Prime Music, go to Your Music Library and transfer your account to Amazon.co.uk (UK). Fix in Music Library Sold by Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.. By placing your order, you agree to our Terms of Use . Popular Albums Original Release Date: 22 Mar. 1993 Release Date: 16 May 2005 Number of Discs: 2 Label: EMI UK Copyright: ℗ 2005 The copyright in this compilation is owned by Parlophone Records Ltd Â© 2005 Parlophone Records Ltd. This label copy information is the subject of copyright protection. All rights reserved. 2005 Parlophone Records Ltd Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more . Total Length: 1:36:38 By Peter Reeve VINE VOICE on 3 Sept. 2006 Format: Audio CD 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. 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 pound. 35 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again By Peter Durward Harris #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWER on 17 Aug. 2005 Format: Audio CD 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. Comment 26 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again By Bj Lucas VINE VOICE on 30 Sept. 2007 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase I was born and brought up in Liverpool, so I may be slightly biased here lol.

This great 2 CD set includes all your faves. 'you'll never walk alone' 'Ferry cross the Mersey' as well as all the others you know and love. 'don't let the sun catch you crying' 'I like it' 'How do you do it''Halelujah I love her so' are all here. Perfect, whether your a scouser or not. Comment 17 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again By Al from Brazil on 11 July 2013 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase Excellent. Of course we baby boomer British Invasion fans of the 60s growing up in America, know and love Gerry & the Pacemakers. One of the very best British Invasion bands. Who can ever forget their appearances on Ed Sullivan? As a Brian Epstein group, they too presented themselves in ties and suits. Very clean, very classy. The quality of this disc is excellent. Thanks to EMI for preserving the original tapes. The selection is also very good. Although i can't figure out the song sequence.

Girl on a Swing as the 2nd song! Makes no sense. But that is minor. Maybe the only song missing here, to make it pretty much complete, to me, is Hello Little Girl, the Lennon/McCartney (actually, Lennon) song the Beatles did not release - at least at the time. Sound quality is excellent. Some songs are in mono, but very few. This is a tremendous value and definitely worth getting. The accompanying leaflet has some interesting information about the boys and the songs alo. Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again By rbmusicman/and/movie-fan' TOP 50 REVIEWER on 3 Nov. 2014 Format: Audio CD Jerry Marsden' formed the group with his brother 'Fred' back in 1959 could say they rose to prominence during the Mersey-Pop explosion fronted by the emergence of 'The Beatles' The groups first three releases Topped the U.K Charts in 1963, with 'How Do You Do It ?....

'I Like It' and song heard at 'Anfield' every Home-Game 'You'll Never Walk Alone' which actually re-charted in 2012 (believe that re-release was for the awareness of the tragedy that took so many lives at Hillsborough in 1989) Among the groups other Chart-Entries 'I'm The One' (Chart '2' 1964) and 'Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying' (Chart '6' also 64') 'It's Gonna Be Alright' (Chart '24' again 64') also the same year 'Ferry Across The Mersey' (Chart '8' also 64') though they collected a couple more chart entries in 1965 they never re-visited the success of earlier times. The Group Still performs today. 2 Comments 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again LIVES OF THE GREAT SONGS / From tears to cheers, and back again: What do Rodgers & Hammerstein and Liverpool FC have in common?

Robert Butler follows the trail of a stirring tune - You'll Never Walk Alone | The Independent LIVES OF THE GREAT SONGS / From tears to cheers, and back again: What do Rodgers & Hammerstein and Liverpool FC have in common? Robert Butler follows the trail of a stirring tune - You'll Never Walk Alone Saturday 22 October 1994 23:02 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture OTHER day I was talking to a man who supports Liverpool Football Club. He has relatives who are members of a local amateur dramatic society, so he went along to see a production they were doing of Carousel. In the second act some New Englanders return from a clam-bake party, only to discover that the hero, a ne'er-do-well called Billy, has stabbed himself. His wife, Julie, runs to him, and Billy dies in her arms. Julie sobs, 'What am I going to do?' Her cousin Nettie has the answer. 'Why, you're going to stay here with me.' she says, 'Main thing is to keep on living. Keep on caring what's going to happen. Remember the sampler you gave me.

Remember what it says.' And Julie, who's in tears, with her dead husband in her arms, and the village standing round, remembers what the sampler says: 'When you walk through a storm/Keep your head up high/And don't be afraid of the dark'. They're tender words, but to the Liverpool fan, they came as a shock. They're the words of the team song. 'I couldn't figure it out,' he said, 'I didn't know what it was doing there.' CAROUSEL, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in 1945, just across the street from Oklahoma], their hit of 1943. Carousel was a smash too, running on Broadway for 890 performances. There are a dozen good songs in the show, but only one became so famous that it left its roots way behind. On the original-cast recording (MCA), Christine Johnson, playing Nettie, sings 'You'll Never Walk Alone' with the slow, urgent vibrato of kids in a playground swirling rubber tubes.

It's a simple song, with big open vowels, and Johnson brings plenty of sombre colour to the 'dark' in the first verse, which then turns, in the second, to the delicate promise of the 'lark'. To get from the dark to the lark, what you have to do is walk: first through the wind, then through the rain. The repetitions drive the song on towards the catchphrase title which, like any good catchphrase, you get twice. The second time it's cranked up so the message leaps out in the boldest type. Or seems to, except halfway through, Johnson sounds unsure and fades away. She needs the assurance of the others. The New England villagers rally round. The chorus is a quieter, broader wave of sentiment that builds again, but this time, finding strength in numbers, they give it a big finish. It's an anthem of hope that works best as a faltering journey out of despair. The song was recorded that same year by the young showbiz veteran, Judy Garland (reissued on The One and Only, Capitol, 1991). There's a heavenly choir to keep her company, but Garland defies the soft-pastel backdrop.

Yes, you think, she's been through the storm and the rain, and she got drenched. Compare her version to the more overtly inspirational or even perspirational ones. In Cilla Black with Barry Manilow (Columbia, 1993) the message turns triumphalist: you'll never walk alone because Cilla and Barry will always be there too. When Max Bygraves suggests you 'walk on' through this rotten weather (Fifty Golden Years, Braveworld 1993) it comes over like friendly advice: remember to take a mac, son, it's raining out there. But Garland chews up the words with an anxiety that reverberates right through a word like storrrrmmmm. When she lingers over the final 'alone', she goes very small. Loneliness, you feel, is a good deal worse than a bad cold. It's one reason that, well before Liverpool, people liked to sing this song in a crowd. In the late Fifties, Louis Armstrong was on the road, taking his trumpet version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' to Savannah, Georgia, and giving it a strict New Orleans beat that never failed to get everyone up and dancing.

The recorded version (Chicago Concert 1956, CBS) doesn't have any words, but in Savannah the audience, who are all black, supply them. Armstrong goes through two choruses and the audience won't stop singing. They want the song again. 'Most touching damn thing I ever saw,' Armstrong told the reporter David Halberstam, 'I almost started crying right there on stage. We really hit something inside each person there.' Six years later the song crossed the Atlantic and took the ferry across the Mersey. In October 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers took it to the top of the British charts: it was their third release, and their third No 1 (Columbia, reissued on several compilations). 'Waaaaalk arrnn]' goes the 21-year-old Gerry Marsden. His mouth is so close to the microphone the saliva sounds as if it's part of George Martin's orchestral arrangement. It's - slow - stuff -this - with - big - breaths: an unembarrassed slice of schmaltz. Six weeks later someone sang it on the terraces of Anfield.

'Well, if there was one person,' says Marsden in the book The Kop (Stephen F Kelly, Mandarin, 1993), 'I'd like to shake his hand.' 'WALK ON]' they go. Then there's a gap. 'Walk on]'. Another gap. They sound asthmatic, as if 14,000 Liverpool fans are climbing the 100 steps of the kop. They're standing there, arms outstretched, scarves aloft, swaying. It's something they've done for 30 years, but this afternoon's game against Newcastle is the second-last time they'll be able to do it standing up. Following the Taylor Report - commissioned after 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at Hillsborough in 1989 - football grounds are to become all-seater. 'Walk on]' they go, with renewed urgency. They are one-nil down. The crowd bellow out Rodgers and Hammerstein in short phrases that rise and fall like the revving of an engine. Maybe that's why Gerry and the Pacemakers' version caught on. It offers so many places to draw breath.

Their team is a shadow of its former self, and one of the players who made it so good then, Peter Beardsley, is on the other side today, running rings round Liverpool. The crowd on the kop is way down from the 25,000 who packed in there in the late Sixties. But they still say the kop is always worth a goal. Today it's worth two, both by Newcastle, whose supporters, standing at the other end cheekily pick up the song and give it Cilla and Barry's upbeat treatment. The Liverpool team did their own version ('We Can Do It', State Records) for the Cup Final in 1977. Kevin Keegan's bouffant helmet haircut on the sleeve fixes the year firmly in the mind. You wouldn't know from the single that here were 11 people who had distinguished themselves as a team. When that high note arrives ('neeeeaaaarrr-vaaaarrrr'), they lunge after it like a late tackle. They lost the Cup Final, too. You can hear the crowd itself, more movingly, more eerily, at the end of 'Fearless' on Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle (Harvest).

There's a soft, diffuse quality, as it spreads out across the stadium, joining the triple-claps, the whistles and Liverpool-Liverpool]s in this almost mournful surge of loyalty. Mourning brought the song back into the charts. After the Bradford City fire in 1985, Gerry Marsden got together an all-star group of singers, called them 'The Crowd', and took a charity version back to No 1. Four years later came Hillsborough. At the Cup Final that year, between Liverpool and Everton, 80,000 people stood and sang the song, led again by Marsden (whose autobiography is entitled I'll Never Walk Alone). The song can mean as much as the occasion demands. You know it means very little when Slade put it back-to-back with 'Auld Lang Syne' on The Christmas Party Album. IN 1992, the National Theatre put on a major revival of Carousel which later transferred to the West End and Broadway, and the song returned to its source. Patricia Routledge, who played Nettie, told me, 'When everything is at its darkest, she is the voice of hope.

Keep going, she says, just keep going.' Messages don't get any simpler. Hammerstein said he was more at home with characters who didn't have a big vocabulary. 'You find people who are primitive in their education - they're more likely, I think, to say what they mean.' Rodgers's music sounds deceptively simple too. It's a song that everyone thinks they can sing. But be warned. 'It's so simple,' says Routledge, 'it's like a Bach chorale or a piece of Schubert. And they, of course, are very difficult.' ] Adapted from 'Lives of the Great Songs' (Pavilion, hardback, pounds 14.99), which includes all 25 articles that have now appeared in our series, plus 11 more. It is in the shops now, but readers can order it by post at no extra cost.

To pay by credit card ring 0235 831700 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm); by cheque, write to Bookpoint Ltd (Mail Order Dept), 39 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4TD, cheque payable to Bookpoint. Please allow 14 days for delivery. (Photograph omitted)

Question: Which song from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" was recorded in 1963 by Gerry & The Pacemakers and became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club?
Answer: You'll Never Walk Alone