A World Without Gord: A Salute to Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon

The world is a quieter, sadder place for the recent passing of Gordon Waller -- one half (with Peter Asher) of the beloved Peter & Gordon duo. With a delicious blend of pop, folk and melodic rock, Peter & Gordon were immensely popular in the 1960s and again in recent years following their reunion, with Gordon Waller's rich baritone an essential ingredient of their sweet harmony singing.

I got to know Gordon quite well over the past 20 years. He was quite the card -- though alas he didn't take proper care of his health. He was by turns gregariously funny and morose. He often saw the gloomy side of life -- but he commented on it with sardonic humor and self-deprecating wit. A rock 'n' roll Eeyore.

Today my email box has a plethora of notes from his contemporaries who had appreciated his talent and enjoyed his humor. Pete Townshend, Graham Nash, Spencer Davis, Andrew Loog Oldham. Eric Idle. All saddened by the news. I think Gordon would have been surprised at the extent and breadth of the affection for him.

A lot of that appreciation though had been on display at their last major concert -- a show at the Santa Monica Pier in L.A. last August where they performed in front of over 17,000 fans including many Hollywood celebrities. The high point of the concert for me came amidst the cascade of hits written for them by pals such as Paul McCartney and Del Shannon. For a brief interlude they gave a break to their superb backing band and the two old friends sang the classic folk lament "Five Hundred Miles" accompanying themselves just on their Gibson acoustics.

Suddenly they were joined on stage by an old admirer -- Joan Baez. They had acknowledged her presence in the audience of course -- but had not wanted to impose on her beyond that. But drawn by the beauty of their performance, Baez had darted backstage during the song and surprised them by gliding on to the stage behind them and joining them on the final choruses. Those three voices blended together like mulled wine and wafted through the midsummer's night air, enchanting the vast crowd in front of the pier and drifting like a mistral out to the Pacific beyond...

Peter Asher was a schoolmate of Gordon from the late 1950s and their friendship and shared love of music led to their partnership. Peter's poignant tribute to his lifelong friend expresses that affection more eloquently than words from anyone else.

Peter & Gordon famously got a kick-start to their recording career in 1964. At the time, Paul McCartney was romantically attached to Peter's sister, Jane and was living in the Asher family home in central London with Peter, Jane and the Asher parents. It certainly didn't hurt to have a prolific tunesmith living in the house. And over the first couple of years of Peter & Gordon's career, Paul provided four classic songs -- not recorded by the Beatles -- for his pals.

Gordon once told me a funny story. It was late 1963 and Paul had just played him and Peter "World Without Love" in the basement of the Asher house. He offered it to them as a possible first single for their newly-struck record deal with EMI. Then Paul started belting out another brand-new song on the piano a little ditty called "I Want To Hold Your Hand". "Hang on a moment Paul -- I think we'd rather have that one" sez Gordon. "Not on your nelly!" sez Paul (or words to that effect!)

Paul's affection for Gordon was expressed to his biographer Barry Miles in 1996. "Gordon was a lot of fun -- he was slightly less academic than Peter. It was he who persuaded Peter to jump school to do lunchtime sessions."

I got to see Paul's affection for both of his pals close-up. A few weeks before their first full reunion concert in March 2006 which I was due to emcee, I ran into Paul backstage at the Grammys. I teased Paul that his performance income as a songwriter was going to swell that year. He looked at me quizzically and I broke the news to him that his old chums Peter & Gordon were reuniting and would therefore be performing all four of the compositions he'd written for them throughout the next few months! Huge smile from Paul and genuine pleasure at hearing that his pals were about to perform together again after a nearly 40 year break.

The day of the performance I received an email with a message from Paul to read to the audience:

"What the world needs now is Peter & Gordon to sing their songs and remind us all of the fab years they are from. I'm very glad to hear that they have got together after these many moons and are going to help to make a World Without Love into a love-filled planet." -- Paul McCartney

Amen to that.

It will be sadder to stay in A World Without Gord...

Peter Asher (left) and Gordon Waller (right) listen as the author reads the message he had received from Paul McCartney saluting the duo on the occasion of their first full reunion concert. New York - March 2006

Other Tributes To Gordon Waller

• The Guardian/Observer (UK)
• Hollywood Reporter
• Daily Mail (UK)
• CBC (Canada)
• Beatles News
• Examiner.com
• Daily Mirror (UK)
• Contact Music
• Dayton Daily News
• Des Moines Register
• Undercover (Australia)
• PR-Inside
• Music Week

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Comments

[PhillyQuaker]

Austin Powers looks a lot like Peter!

[EdSullivan]

I wish I had his hair.

[PhillyQuaker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3MuDauUvig
One of the best covers ever, True Love Ways.

[sexyrexy]

yeah,had the good fortune to see Peter and Gordon in concert in the late 60's.. good fun!

Gordon's passing reminds me of meeting Ian whitcomb in the late 70's-- here in LA..remember him? he used to appear on SHINDIG..

wow.. a real blast from t he past!

[Aramingo]

If memory serves, P & G finished off in America releasing ovelty songs for a bit (Lady Godiva, Knight in Rusty Armour), then tried a concept album and pretty much disappeared. They had a good run and gave us a solid body of pop music work.

[JeffPoster]

I really liked "Lady Godiva". It was what music purists called a "novelty tune". It had a nice beat and funny lyrics. Enough said.

[Debbie Overman]

Hi, Martin. I’m Debbie. I attended the Mods and Rockers festival in LA about a month ago.
Reading your story prompted me to watch my video of the 1999 Chicago Beatlefest that someone from the Peter and Gordon Yahoo! Group made for me. On the video is a discussion among you, the guests (Gordon, Barry Miles, Astrid Kirchherr, and George’s sister, Louise), and the host, and it gave me a taste of Gordon’s humor and your friendship with him.
[Gordon walking in] “Sorry. I got lost.”
[you] “So how was the beer?”
[Gordon] “Quite lovely. … better than the cider I drank at your birthday party.” [to the crowd] “I attended Martin Lewis’ 67th birthday party, …” (you were, like, 40 at the time, Martin?) “… and he looked so ill, everyone pitched in to buy him a facelift. Doesn’t it look wonderful?”
Later, while talking about your campaign to induct Brian Epstein into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, you said:
“Brian Epstein certainly belongs there, because they have a special section for non-performers, like Phil Spector, …” [teasing Gordon} “… and Gordon…” Gordon’s reaction was really cute.
I “met” Gordon at the LA Fest that year, and I found him to be a very nice and friendly person.
Peter and Gordon are among my favorite British Invasion groups because they are also considered a folk-rock group (another favorite genre of mine).
Thanks for the music, Gordon. You will be missed.

[Jeffster]

Growing up in New Orleans in the late 50's early 60's and having the honor of performing with some of my idols I should have had some misgivings, or should I say been pissed off when the English invasion came to our shores and airwaves it knocked all the hit makers in n.o. off the charts. But I can't deny it was very fresh sounding and I became a huge fan of the english invasion. In many ways I consider myself very lucky to have heard where their ideas were coming from. I remember hearing the Beatles for the first time on my transistor radio. If ever the words ear candy came into play that was it for me .Peter and Gordons " I go to Pieces " and" World without Love" gave me that feeling of euphoria. Their harmonies were for me smoother then any other vocal duo of that time including Lennon and McCartney.Thanks for the ear candy Gordon, you will be missed.

[dinglebe]

The British invasion was a godsend. American rock & roll had stagnated horribly with too much surfer music (sorry, Beach Boys) and East coast slick pop (Four Seasons, Bobby Rydell, etc.). R&B was hot but hadn't yet scored with us white kids.

So we got the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, and for dessert, the softer sound of Brit music with Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, Gerry and the Pacemakers and others. It was a welcome change.

[Aramingo]

To your point, just listen to the Billboard Top 20 from a week in December '63, then listen to, well the Beatles are the best example, but listen to any of the Brits at that time. It's all there in the music.

[Decipherer]

Sad news, indeed, about Gordon Waller, but no list of so-called "British Invasion" artists would be complete without including "Eric Burdon & the Animals," the "Yardbirds," "the Who," "the Moody Blues," and yes, for a bit of fluff, even "Herman's Hermits!"

[Grulg]

They were okay, 'Please Lock Me away...' etc. Peter Gordon had a big run as a Producer (Linda Ronstadt etc) in his time too.

[punkingale]

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller.