It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States.

In the mid-1990s, a musical theatre production, also titled Ferry Cross the Mersey, related Gerry Marsden's Merseybeat days; it premiered in Liverpool and played in the UK, Australia, and Canada.

The Mersey Ferry runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral Peninsula.

In May 1989, a charity version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which had claimed the lives of 95 Liverpool fans the previous month (a 96th, Tony Bland, died in 1993 as a consequence of that disaster and a 97th, Andrew Devine, in 2021).

The song was recorded by Liverpool artists the Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney and Gerry Marsden, with producers Stock Aitken Waterman also credited.