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(This page is about the Liverpool Football Club anthem. For the BBC Radio One documentary of the same name, see You'll Never Walk Alone(2)).

"No recording of the Kop will ever really capture Anfield at its Shankly-era best but the song and the sentiments are simply astonishing.”
(John Peel, The Ingerland Factor Playlist, 1999)

You'll_Never_Walk_Alone_-_Liverpool_vs._Borussia_Dortmund

You'll Never Walk Alone - Liverpool vs. Borussia Dortmund

YNWA, Anfield, 21st century

As a staunch supporter of Liverpool football team, Peel had a special place in his heart for the song most closely associated with the club. You'll Never Walk Alone was played at both his wedding in 1974 and at his funeral 30 years later.[1]

Originally written for the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, the Anfield anthem was adopted by fans on the Kop terrace shortly after a cover version by Merseybeat band Gerry & The Pacemakers reached number one in the UK charts in 1963.[2]

Anfield_Road_Choral_Society_-_John_Peel_-_Top_Gear_-_24_May_1973

Anfield Road Choral Society - John Peel - Top Gear - 24 May 1973

"Anfield Road Choral Society" on Top Gear, 24 May 1973

The recorded version that Peel seemed to prefer was a live crowd rendition that appeared on The Kop Choir LP released in 1972. Seven years later, on the night of his 40th birthday, the DJ played the track as a bonus after counting down the 40 records he would like to hear at his birthday party and described the addition as “the best record of the lot.”[3] In 1983, introducing the song on My Top Ten, Peel referred to the Kop Choir as “the greatest group on Earth.” The match recording, a regular feature of Peel's live DJ sets[4], appeared on the DJ’s FabricLive.07 compilation, released in 2002.

A host of artists produced session versions, including a reprise of their hit by Gerry & The Pacemakers in 1973 and a string of covers in spring 1982, when the DJ asked all his guests to attempt the song as part of an eventually abandoned album project[5](he admitted that many bands weren't willing to play the song). [6] In 1998, a live session version by Melys (plus London Welsh Male Voice Choir) reportedly reduced Peel to tears at the desk in the booth at Maida Vale.[7]

Peel also featured a Kop version of the song on his shows as part of the track Fearless from Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle; apparently the band were inspired to include it as a result of hearing it on Top Gear. [8] The Liverpool crowd's rendition was also sampled on 'Sharp As A Needle' by Barmy Army, a Peelenium choice for 1987 that reached #17 in the 1987 Festive Fifty. Elsewhere, Peel favourites Half Man Half Biscuit referenced the Anfield anthem at the climax of 'Turned Up, Clocked On, Laid Off': "Sign on, with no hope in your heart/ When you walk through a storm, you get wet."

You'll_Never_Walk_Alone_-_Aretha_Franklin,_Gospel_Greats_1999_album

You'll Never Walk Alone - Aretha Franklin, Gospel Greats 1999 album

Aretha Franklin. Played after Hillsborough.

In less happy times, Peel would choose an Aretha Franklin performance of You’ll Never Walk Alone to play on his first radio show following the Hillsborough stadium disaster in April 1989, when 96 Liverpool fans died.[9] The DJ used Franklin's rendition of the song to lead his set at the 1997 Hillsborough Justice Concert at Liverpool's Anfield ground.[10] On 15 April 1999, he played the same version on his show again to mark the tenth anniversary of the tragedy.

Session Versions[]

(Many thanks to Ken Garner for confirming this list is complete. The Serious Drinking version was broadcast under the title 'Walk Alone'.)

Cover Project
Other

Other Show Plays[]

(The list below was compiled from the database of this site and from Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive via Phil's Mighty Database. Please add any further information if known.)

Kop Choir

Aretha Franklin

Gerry & The Pacemakers

Rubbermaids + Gegengerade Allstars

Sharp_as_a_Needle_-_Barmy_Army

Sharp as a Needle - Barmy Army

Barmy Army: Sharp As A Needle

Barmy Army (as part of 'Sharp As A Needle')

Pink Floyd (as part of 'Fearless' from the Meddle LP)

Blind Boys Of Alabama

Other Artists

  • Various Artists: (LP - You'll Never Walk Alone: The Hillsborough Benefit Album) (03 July 1997)

Other

  • Peel also played other tracks from "You'll Never Walk Alone: The Hillsborough Benefit Album" (see Football Compilations for full list). Peel had compered the concert documented by the album, at Anfield on 1997-05-10 (see review here).
  • A rendition of 'She Loves You' credited to the "Anfield Kop" (from the Bend It '92 LP) was played by Peel on his 08 January 1993 show.
  • The song's title was also used for a Trevor Dann-produced documentary in which Peel interviewed Kenny Dalglish, Adrian Henri and Peter Hooton. Part of Radio 1's week in Liverpool, it was first broadcast on 12 March 1983. [13]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. As described by Sheila, they left the church with the song "booming out on the organ" (Margrave Of The Marshes pg. 288). See also the online account of his funeral at the Guardian site.
  2. chartstats.com
  3. 30 August 1979.
  4. The song was generally used with Teenage Kicks to close his sets. See online 2005 tribute by son Tom Ravenscroft. [1]
  5. See Ken Garner's In Session Tonight, pg 311.
  6. 13 July 1982
  7. Ken Garner, The Peel Sessions (BBC, 2005), p.163).
  8. 18 December 2003 (Radio Eins)
  9. See the online Peel biography at the BBC's Keep It Peel site. The programme was presumably on 17 April 1989, the Monday two days later.
  10. See his description of the event on 23 May 1997 (BFBS).
  11. The only session by the band was repeated on 10 July 1982 in the first programme in the second series of Peel's Pleasures.
  12. Melys were with the London Welsh Male Choir on this session but the song was covered solely by the latter.
  13. The Peel Sessions, p. 225. See also You'll Never Walk Alone(2).

Links[]

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