Broken string in this video, or just a really long uncut string?

[dwasifar]

Peter and Gordon performing "A World Without Love" on British TV in 1964:



Now, this is clearly a lipsync performance, so why does Gordon appear to have a broken string dangling from his guitar the whole way through? Why would they not just take the string off? Am I imagining this? Is it actually just a really long untrimmed string?

Fun fact about this song: Paul McCartney wrote it when he was 16, but the Beatles never recorded it, partly because McCartney thought it wasn't good enough for the Beatles, and partly because Lennon thought the opening line was the funniest thing ever.

[JayBee1404]

The fact that they lip-synced to a recording isn’t significant - it was ‘live’ TV, meaning the programme was broadcast ‘live’ as it actually took place in the studio or wherever. That’s how TV was done back in the ‘60s. So, if he broke a string as they were just about to start their piece, there would have been no opportunity to replace it, and he would have just carried on with the performance on five good strings.

It was a fairly common thing, certainly on British TV, back then when we seldom changed strings unless they broke or the windings frayed out!

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

[Silly Moustache]

That took me down a rabbit hole! We all know about Peter Asher, but I had to trace what happened to Gordon Waller.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

That took me down a rabbit hole! We all know about Peter Asher, but I had to trace what happened to Gordon Waller.

I haven’t a clue what happened to either of them!

[AcousticDreams]

Absolutely a most beautiful-enchanting song, of which I never tire of.

Looks like it is the High E string...but it also looks like the G string has several inches left over as well coming out of the tuner. It just does not catch the light as much. Hard to tell with the poor video quality.

More fun facts,
"In early 1964, McCartney was living in the Asher family home, sharing the top floor with Peter. “He had two tape machines and I had one – we were both into taping,” Asher says. “Paul told me about the song and played it for me. McCartney’s girlfriend at the time, Jane Asher."

"As Asher soon learned, nothing became of the song. “No one wanted it,” he says. “John didn’t like it or something.” (The song has been credited to Lennon-McCartney, but McCartney apparently wrote it alone.) Billy J. Kramer, a Merseybeat singer of the time, also turned it down."

Not long after McCartney played “A World Without Love” for Asher (who taped it on a reel-to-reel deck), Peter and Gordon, the duo Asher formed with Gordon Waller, landed a record deal. Immediately, Asher asked McCartney if the duo could have the unfinished ballad. “Paul said, ‘Absolutely,’ but I had to nag him to write the bridge. It came several weeks later, just in time for the session.”

I found another video(sorry have not figured out how to imbed yet..but link should work), much clearer and a different take....and you can see that All of his strings are uncut on his tuners.

I believe that Wade explained some time ago that it was the fashion back then to not cut the strings...because they were Round core and could unwind if not cut properly. So many guitarists, including Hendrix ..would simply wind them in big circles at the tuners. The difference here is that he does not wind them in neat circles...just lets them go freely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdx6lLvvRyg

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

I haven’t a clue what happened to either of them!

The same thing that happens to all of us:

[dwasifar]

Here's a much later performance:



Gordon died of a heart attack a few years after that was recorded.