Ferry Aid Explained

Ferry Aid was a British-American charity supergroup, brought together to record the song "Let It Be" in 1987. The single was released following the Zeebrugge Disaster; on 6 March 1987 the ferry had capsized, killing 193 passengers and crew. All proceeds from sales of the single were donated to the charity set up in the aftermath of the disaster. The recording was organised by The Sun newspaper, after it had sold cheap tickets for the ferry on that day.[1] "Let It Be" was written by Paul McCartney and originally recorded by the Beatles in 1969.

Recording

Garry Bushell, then with The Sun newspaper, organised the recording of "Let It Be" by recruiting record producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman.[2] They then put an invitation out to the music industry for artists to contribute their vocals to the song. Although many stars were initially reluctant to join forces with the newspaper, eventually artists such as Boy George, Kate Bush, Gary Moore and Mark Knopfler agreed to take part. Original writer Paul McCartney also contributed to the song, although his performance (and section in the accompanying video) was recorded independently in his own studios.[3] It was later revealed that McCartney used his voice of the original recording of the 1970 Beatles track and added it to the Ferry Aid recording. The song was recorded over three days between 14 and 16 March 1987 and the single was released on 23 March 1987. The first artist to record his part was Mark King (who also played bass guitar on the song) on the Saturday morning, while the last was Paul King on Monday evening.[3]

In the original Beatles recording, George Harrison did the guitar solo; but for the purposes of this song—as shown in the video—the solo was divided with Gary Moore first, then Mark Knopfler, then back to Gary Moore, with Moore's parts being more 'rock' and Knopfler's being more laid-back.

Performers

The following artists performed solo spots on the song:

The closing chorus was sung by an ensemble choir involving many of the soloists as well as other recording artists and celebrities from other fields. The chorus consisted of:

The B-side of the 7" single is a gospel version of "Let It Be", made up on the spot by improvising. The 12" single mixed by Burni Adams and Jamie Bromfield has "Let It Be (Mega Message Mix)" on the B-side.

Criticism

The anarchist band Chumbawamba anonymously released a parody of the song, "Scab Aid", a criticism of The Sun newspaper and the motives of the contributing performers which they regarded as hypocritical.[5]

Musician Robb Johnson (who later recorded with Chumbawamba) referenced Ferry Aid in his song "The Herald of Free Enterprise", criticising it for similar reasons.[6]

Chart performance

"Let It Be" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in its first week on 4 April 1987, and remained at that position for three weeks.[7] It was the 13th best selling single of the year in the UK; it was certified gold for shipping over 500,000 copies.[8] [9] The single was also a number one hit in Norway[10] and Switzerland,[11] and reached the top 10 in several other European countries.

Chart (1987)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart1
Australian (Kent Music Report) Chart[12] 28
Austrian Singles Chart[13] 4
Dutch GfK chart[14] 4
Dutch Top 40[15] 3
French Singles Chart[16] 8
Irish Singles Chart[17] 2
Norwegian Singles Chart1
Swedish Singles Chart[18] 9
Swiss Singles Chart1

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: kimwilde.com Encyclopedia – Ferry Aid . 5 July 2009.
  2. Hibbert, T. (1992). "Who the hell does GARRY BUSHELL think he is?" Q, September 1992
  3. Recording of 'Let it Be' . . 5 July 2009 . 15 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110515195258/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/popmagzuk/cafe80s/artists/fer01c.jpg . dead .
  4. Web site: Liddle . Steven . Lyn Paul website: New Seekers – Collectors' Items (flexi discs, vinyl and cassettes) . www.lynpaulwebsite.org . The Lyn Paul Website . London, UK . 9 November 2011.
  5. Glasper, Ian (2006) The Day the Country Died: a History of Anarcho-punk 1980–1984, Cherry Red Books,
  6. Johnson, Robb . 1988 . The Herald of Free Enterprise . Vinyl . English . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/qztLa6H-9i8. 2021-12-12 . live. April 8, 2021 . 2:24 . United Kingdom . Irregular Records . "Recycle pop stars to sing Let It Be." .
  7. Web site: The Official Charts Company – Ferry Aid – Let It Be . . 5 July 2009.
  8. Web site: Certified Awards Search . . 26 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130115055129/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx . 15 January 2013 . Search by Title, click on more info>>
  9. Web site: Certified Awards – A Timeline . Certified Awards Timeline.pdf . BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited . London, UK . 27 November 2011 . 24 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100924032042/http://www.bpi.co.uk/assets/files/Certified%20Awards%20Timeline.pdf . dead .
  10. Web site: norwegiancharts.com – Ferry Aid – Let It Be . 5 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110515082401/http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Ferry%2BAid&titel=Let%2BIt%2BBe&cat=s . 15 May 2011 .
  11. Web site: Ferry Aid – Let It Be – hitparade.ch . de . 5 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110516023409/http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Ferry%2BAid&titel=Let%2BIt%2BBe&cat=s . 16 May 2011 .
  12. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 110.
  13. Web site: Ferry Aid – Let It Be – austriancharts.at . de . 5 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110511154352/http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Ferry%20Aid&titel=Let%20It%20Be&cat=s . 11 May 2011 .
  14. Web site: dutchcharts.nl – Ferry Aid – Let It Be . nl . 5 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110511122926/http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Ferry%2BAid&titel=Let%2BIt%2BBe&cat=s . 11 May 2011 .
  15. Web site: Nederlandse Top 40 – Week 17, 1987 . nl . 5 July 2009.
  16. Web site: lescharts.com – Ferry Aid – Let It Be . fr . 5 July 2009.
  17. Web site: irishcharts.ie search results . 5 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602061251/http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement . 2 June 2009 .
  18. Web site: swedishcharts.com – Ferry Aid – Let It Be . 5 July 2009.

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