On May 29th, 2010, John appeared in Las Vegas as part of a Tribute To Gordon Waller (Peter and Gordon)/ Sixties Celebration  which featured friends and colleagues of Gordon. The seven hour show was a brilliant celebration of music from the era, and featured several songs which were among Gordon's favorites. John performed "Unchain My Heart", "No Other Baby But You", inviting Spencer Davis onstage to sing along with him, followed by Gordon's favorite: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore".  Later, John joined D.J.Fontana (Elvis's drummer) in "One Night With You".  Finally, during Peter Asher's elegant, touching media and song tribute to his partner, John joined Peter to sing "Let It Be Me" - singing Gordon's part.  Among the other featured artistes were Spencer Davis ("Gimme Some Lovin'"), Denny Laine (formerly with Wings), Terry Sylvester from The Hollies ("He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"), and Chad and Jeremy.  Jeff Ross, MD, and his powerful backing band - from the Los Angeles area - toured with Peter and Gordon as "The Peter and Gordon Band". They also tour as "The Pacemakers" when Gerry Marsden tours the US. Peter Asher and Keith Putney, along with Jeff, organized a spectacular salute to Gordon and the fans of 60s music...."  Coming soon: photos and videos of the event.  Stay tuned...

The Real Story
For the first time, John and Gary Walker have broken their silence to reveal the truth about the group, what led to the famous split and they lay bare the details of their private lives, including encounters with the other stars they met along the way, such as Walt Disney, Humphrey Bogart, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. They tell what it was like to live in the glare of publicity and under siege by fans, and what enigmatic Scott Walker was really like.

The book in now available online at all major retailers and is current'y being sold in WH Smiths, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and other fine book stores; we recommend calling first for availability due to sell outs in many branches.

The book has recently been reviwed by MOJO and Q magazines

HERE'S A PIECE OF ROCK HISTORY!
There are plenty of famous guitars. Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Number One" Stratocaster comes to mind. Then there's Jimmy Page's EDS-1275 6/12-String, Eric Clapton's original, hand-painted Gibson SG, and Steve Howe's ES-175D. The list could go on and on, of course, as Rock 'n' Roll has plenty of iconic instruments. But we're here to talk about a guitar that's only come to be recognized rather recently for its importance in the evolution of rock music as we know it.

The first time I saw this particular guitar on the cover of The Yardbirds album, Having a Rave-Up with The Yardbirds, I really didn't give it much thought. Mostly, that's because so little of it is visible, just the maple neck and a hint of a blonde body with a black pickguard. The rest is hidden behind one of the other band members. But when I heard the sound it produced in Jeff Beck's hands, I was blown away by the raw energy on songs like "Heart Full of Soul," "Shapes of Things," and "Mister You're a Better Man Than I" (which still gives me chills when I hear it today). What kind of guitar was this guy playing? Ah, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Although Rave-Up was the first record I bought by The Yardbirds, it turned out that the group had released an earlier album, but it hadn't gotten wide distribution here in the States. For Your Love has the distinction of having both Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton playing on the same album, though not together. Music trivia time: The Yardbirds recorded the song "Hang On Sloopy" about a year before The McCoys, a largely unknown Ohio band released it as a single. Though it's an obvious rip-off of "Louie Louie" (same basic chord structure), it's notable because The McCoys were Rick Derringer's first band and the song eventually became Ohio's Official State Rock Song.


A BIT OF HISTORY
Groups regularly released albums in England that would eventually turn up on our shores, almost always missing several songs (and I don't think anyone has quite answered why that happened to this very day). The Yardbirds' Rave-Up album had one side of studio recordings, while the other side was mainly live performances taken from the group's Five Live Yardbirds U.K. release.

Eric Clapton was the group's first guitar player and even at a young age, he already showed flashes of brilliance. Clapton had been listening to every early blues recording he could get his hands on and was determined to become a great blues guitarist. But when the group released "For Your Love" as a single in 1965, Eric saw the writing on the wall. Despite the song's success, he couldn't imagine sharing tracks with (of all things) a harpsichord, so he departed, suggesting the band replace him with a young session player named Jimmy Page. However, Jimmy was busy cutting tracks in the studio and in turn suggested that the band recruit Jeff Beck. The rest is history.

Clapton joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, which was more to his liking. There he was free to play exactly the kind of music he loved so much and of course, was probably the first guitarist to plug a Les Paul into a Marshall amp. But Clapton was still restless and only stayed in the band long enough to complete the group's first album. Soon he was off looking for another way to push his abilities to their limits, which was the point when he joined Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in the supergroup Cream. From this point on, I'm sure everyone knows the Clapton story.


BACK TO BECK
In 1965, The Yardbirds lineup included Keith Relf (vocals/harmonica), Chris Dreja (rhythm guitar), Paul Samwell-Smith (bass), Jim McCarty (drums), and Jeff Beck on lead guitar. While their first U.S release album contained a number of amazingly evocative songs, their second album, Over Under Sideways Down, proved the band could stretch out into relatively unexplored sonic territories with mature compositions such as "Still I'm Sad," "Turn Into Earth," and "Ever Since the World Began."

This was certainly the high point for the group, but as fate would have it, the group's bass player, Paul Samwell-Smith, decided he wasn't cut out for the music business and quit. At this point, Jimmy Page finally joined the band, playing bass until Chris Dreja (the rhythm guitarist) could master the instrument, which fortunately didn't take long. Suddenly, The Yardbirds had two of the most respected guitarists in the U.K. playing together. The only single that came out during that period (at least here in the States) was the sizzling hot "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago."

You'd think that with such a prestigious line-up and with so many ground-breaking recordings, the group could stay together and continue their musical explorations, but in 1966, Jeff Beck was either fired or quit the band (depending upon whom you ask) after a tour stop in Texas. Jimmy Page now carried the torch as lead guitarist. Unfortunately, their 1967 album, Little Games, was notable only because it was such a resounding flop, both as an album and as a single of the same name. The Yardbirds played their final gig in July 1968, after which Page formed another supergroup you might have heard of, Led Zeppelin.


JEFF'S FENDER ESQUIRE
Oddly enough, it wasn't until Guitar World magazine published "Guitars That Shook the World" in 1995 that I learned that Jeff Beck played all his guitar parts on those early Yardbirds recordings using a 1954 Fender Esquire he'd bought for the lofty sum of $60 in 1964. The Esquire, as we now know, was the single-pickup version of the more famous dual-pickup Telecaster. Keep in mind that there was virtually no information readily available on specific guitars in the '60s and even the '70s. If you wanted to know something about a particular instrument, the only place to go was to a dealer that handled a particular line. It wasn't until Guitar Player magazine finally came along that we all started our real world education.

Now the most interesting thing about the Fender Esquire that Jeff bought - at least cosmetically - was the contour that John Walker had carved into the top. Obviously, he really wanted a Stratocaster, but those were few and far between in the U.K. So he decided it would be just fine to smooth out the top edge of this particular Esquire, right where the right arm drapes across the body. This would (in theory) duplicate the contours found in the Strat. Naturally, this is something nobody in his or her right mind would do today, but back then, a guitar was just a guitar.

During the time that Jeff owned this guitar, he destroyed a number of necks, so that the current neck on this particular Esquire was actually made in 1956. In 1974, Beck gave this guitar as a gift to pickup guru Seymour Duncan, who wisely kept the instrument in the same condition as the day he received it. Of course, there's no way to possibly put a value on this guitar (even if Duncan ever decided to part with it).

My Friends,

Sadly, I have just been told of the passing of my good friend Gordon Waller. Gordon and I met in the late sixties and even though we lived in different parts of the world most of the time, we stayed friends throughout the years. Every time we got together, we always ended up playing and singing songs and having a laugh over the good times and all the trouble we got into over the years.

When I decided to begin touring again in 2004, he offered me encouragement and support. Gordon was like that, rough around the edges, but always trying to help out.

I always thought that Gordon was a very talented artiste and an excellent singer. He was a special person in his own way. It is a comfort to me to know that in the past few years he had found happiness in his personal life and that he and Peter had begun performing again. I always felt that these were the things that were such a big part of him.

When Cynthia and I were able to see Gordon and Peter in concert in Santa Monica, California last year, little did I know that it would be the last time I would see my old friend.

I know I’m not alone in saying that Gordon will be missed, but we each have our own memories of him, I have mine. I will miss you my Ol’ Buddie.

John Walker

“ In an effort to raise public awareness to the needs of so many worthy causes, Cynthia and I will be pledging a donation from my proceeds from every show I perform, every CD and book I sell, to various charitable organizations. I invite all of you to join me in seeking ways to help those in need.

Below is a list of some of the organizations I support. Please contact Ann Gwilliam regarding adding your charitable cause. Thankyou for your support, Very sincerely yours, John Walker”

NSPCC
Variety Club
Save the Children
The Red Cross
United Way
Covenant House
Goodwill
Salvation Army
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Various orphanages and hospices in the UK and America

Harry Goodwin; official Top of The Pops photographer (1964 - 1973) has an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London  featuring his classic portraits of icons taken during this time. This exclusive exhibition will run from April - September 2010 later to tour nationwide.

We are thrilled and delighted to announce that Harry has selected a number of photographs of John and The Walker Brothers to be included in this interesting and exciting exhibition.

John is very pleased to announce he will be appearing on the Solid Silver Sixties Show 2009 alongside The Searchers, The Merseybeats, Wayne Fontana and The Dakotas.

Further details are here

John and Cynthia were delighted to be guests of honour at The Variety Club Of Scotland's Annual Dinner and Fundraiser at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on Saturday November 24th to help sick, disabled and disadvantaged children.
 
It was a fun packed evening with prestigious guests being piped to their seats, John and Cynthia included. A huge amount of money was raised that night in a multitude of ways including an auction which in itself raised many thousands of pounds for the Club and therefore the children.
 
The Variety Club aims to provide sunshine coaches, electric wheelchairs, outings to exciting places, equipment for children's hospitals and help in so many other ways, all made possible because volunteers from many walks of life give generously of their time and money, supported by a galaxy of celebrities from showbusiness and sport.
 
John and Cynthia were proud to be associated with such an important and worthwhile cause and it is their intention to help again, whenever the opportunity arises.

Click Here for Photos

John has written a number of songs with a 'country' feel to them and at the moment he is busy fine tuning them in his recording studio out in California.

Last year John flew to Berlin with his wife Cynthia to take part in the recording of a programme called 'Hit Giganten,' which is a well established and successful show on national channel Sat1, with it's presenter Hugo Egon Balder. John, backed by Cynthia, sang his newly recorded version of 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore,' whilst other 60s artistes performed their big hits too. The Fortunes was one  of those acts to appear and sadly happened to be one of the last Rod Allen performed before he was taken ill. The broadcast date for this show takes place sometime in March/April and will be posted here, just as soon as it is known. A recording of the show has been promised by the TV company too.

A DVD is in the pipe-line of a number of the concerts John took part in last year, with The Dakotas and it is hoped that this will soon become available.

Wayne from the Zone Radio station is working on a couple of special programmes featuring John and the dates for these will be announced here just as soon as they are released.

Negotiations are in place for John to take part in a number of 'live' performances in Northern Europe towards the end of this year and these too will be reported here.