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Gerry Monroe – Bridge Over Troubled W….AAARGH!

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Having digitised the following track (unbelievably not already available on Youtube) for the thread on terrible cover versions, I decided that since it was so very bad it deserved its own thread – a kind of high security quarantine area if you will. From his 1970 album “Sally – Pride Of Our Alley”, here is Opportunity Knocks contestant (I don’t think he won) Gerry Monroe with his full-blooded rendition of the tender classic Bridge Over Troubled Water. Make sure to listen to the whole thing for the full effect. No, no need to thank me.

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  4. Gerry was quick off the mark there. When Sally entered the UK singles chart in May 1970, Simon & Garfunkel were still in the top 30 with BOTW.

    Sally eventually peaked at number 4 on 28 June 1970 beaten to number one only by some stiff opposition.

    1: In The Summertime – Mungo Jerry
    2: All Right Now – Free
    3: Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe – Mr Bloe

  6. Good gracious! I have a good memory for certain things, but I had forgotten all about Gerry Monroe.

    When I was a young kid my parents didn’t have many records. They had a little green box of singles and a larger orange box of albums, although the green box was much deeper. The albums contained Elvis’ Blue Hawaii (which the parents of all of my mates owned), a couple of Bachelors albums, a K-Tel record from 1970 that had things like the New Seekers on it, a couple of Marty Robbins albums and a copy of Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake that was in the sleeve of a MFP Elvis cover versions album. My dad couldn’t explain why this was and said it must have been switched at a party, but he was disappointed, as he would have preferred some session singer ruining some Elvis songs than the Small Faces masterpiece! They had a few more that I can’t remember (I think there may have been a Spinners one), but I never really listened to the albums, apart from the Small Faces and Elvis ones. They bought a few cheap MFP albums by The Monkees, Mamas and the Papas and Herman’s Hermits when I was 9 or 10 that got a few spins though, mainly the first two rather than Herman.

    But I was transfixed with the singles. My dad is 7 years older than my mum, so the singles stretched from the late 50s to the late 60s. I used to play them to death. We used to listen to Jimmy Savile’s show on Sundays and then my dad would listen to the singles with me and tell me a bit about them. I think that’s why my music tastes were so widespread, even from an early age. Not to mention it was now the late 70s, so we had a few years of great singles in the charts.

    I keep meaning to do an itunes playlist just of that box of green singles, because I can pretty much remember everything that was in it. The only Beatles was I Want To Hold Your Hand, the only Stones was Satisfaction. There were some great Billy Fury and Roy Orbison singles, Da Doo Ron Ron and Baby It’s You, to give me an early love of girlie bands which is still with me and Wonderful Land by The Shadows, which remains my favourite of theirs. My mum loved The Hollies and had Bus Stop, Stop Stop Stop and, my favourite, I Can’t Let Go. They had two Barron Knights records which I thought were brilliant. They even had They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha-haa!

    My dad tells me that he used to have dozens of old 78s, including a few Elvis ones, that his brother threw out. I daren’t look to see how much they would all be worth in today’s money. But their choice of Elvis 75s was baffling. Mess of the Blues/Girl of My Best Friend, fantastic. Rock-A-Hula Baby, tremendous (I probably would still rank that song far higher than anybody else on a list of great Elvis records). And…You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling!!

    They also had some I just didn’t get, like Double Barrel (which, of course, I now realise is a cracker), Little Boxes by Pete Seeger (which is still as rubbish as I remember) and a Georgie Fame/Alan Price song, that I can’t remember. But the one single that was an absolute stinker, and which I never played after hearing it the first time, was ruddy Sally by Gerry Monroe. I don’t know which of my parents were responsible for that one, as neither admitted it! I haven’t heard that song since the 70s, but I can still remember it now.

    Right, I’m off to make that playlist. I’ll have to start by trying to recall which Billy Fury singles they were. Last Night Was Made For Love and Like You’ve Never Been Gone, I think, although they might have also had When Will You Say I love You. There were 2 Adam Faith songs. Come to think of it, there was the Elvis Kid Galahad EP. I remember Old Shep, so if that wasn’t on that EP they must have had 2. And I nearly forgot Eddie Cochran’s Three Steps To Heaven. That was one of my favourites and it had a little scratch that made a few clicks at the beginning. It’s actually still odd hearing it now without the clicks. This is going to be a fun project. But I’m not putting ruddy Sally on it!

    • Haha! I don’t blame you, it’s atrocious! Funnily enough I bought the 7″ of Double Barrel at a car boot sale on Sunday.

      The Gerry Monroe LP belonged to Mr Breakfast’s parents and I discovered it a couple of years ago in our stair cupboard with some other horrors. When he cleared their house last year he brought home a small box of 45s. There were a few good ones, and some awful ones too. I’ve posted the link before, so forgive me if you’ve seen it, but here’s a bit about those singles (which needs some correction now, since JC informed me that Clinton Ford’s ‘Dandy’ was an a-side and not b): http://carbootvinyldiaries.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/little-box-of-horrors-singles.html

      Do post that playlist if you get a chance, it sounds like you’re going to have a great time putting it together!

      • Pete Seeger’s version of “Little Boxes” was pants. Not his finest hour. He made it sound twee and stupid, when it’s really quite a serious song lampooning the horrors of suburban conformity.
        The version by Malvina Reynolds (who wrote it) that was used for the opening credits of “Weeds” was far better.

      • That is the one!

        And I’ve just remembered one that pushed Sally for the honour of worst record – The Singing bleeding Nun! Dominique. Again, not heard it for decades, but can hear it clearly in my head right now. And again, which of my parents was responsible for that? I can only guess that one or two of them belonged to grandparents.

        There was also a Roger Whittaker album, which was pretty rubbish, but it had a song on it that has stayed with me enough to make it onto my favourites playlist (even though it’s not one I’d particularly like popping up whilst I was in company!). The Last Farewell. I think it’s great. As must Elvis, because he recorded too, and used an almost identical arrangement.

        I could have put the Elvis version on my favourites, to try to feel slightly less uncool should anyone get their hands on my ipod and find the playlist, but the presence of David Soul, Jim Dale and Joe Brown on there probably seal it before they even get down to R.

        • Slight point of order Paul. I saw Joe Brown supporting Quo on their christmas tour 6/7 years ago & he was brilliant.

          When he finished his set with “I’ll see you in my dreams”, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

          • Glad you enjoyed it. Joe Brown is great and I’ll See You In My Dreams is the one on my list. I can’t remember which version I went for though, as I think I’ve got four versions on his various albums.

            I had a chuckle to myself a few months ago when I took delivery of a large batch of hip hop CDs from an eBay shop, along with a country album that Joe Brown did 10 or 15 years ago. I wondered what would have gone through the mind of the person putting them together to send to me.

            • Joe Brown is a wonderful musician. Played guitar on Billy Fury’s “The Sound Of Fury” album and probably loads of others over the years. Plays lovely mandolin on this:

              (Sea Of Heartbreak)

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