In June 1964,
Peter & Gordon became the very first
British Invasion act after the
Beatles to take the number one spot on the
American charts with "
A World Without Love." That hit, and their subsequent successes, were due as much or more to their important connections as to their talent.
Peter Asher was the older brother of
Jane Asher,
Paul McCartney's girlfriend for much of the
1960s. This no doubt gave
Asher and
Gordon Waller access to Lennon-McCartney compositions that were unrecorded by the Beatles, such as "A World Without Love" and three of their other biggest hits, "
Nobody I Know," "I
Don't Want to See You Again," and "
Woman" (the last of which was written by McCartney under a pseudonym). But Peter & Gordon were significant talents in their own right, a sort of
Everly Brothers-styled duo for the British Invasion that faintly prefigured the folk-rock of the mid-'60s. In fact, when
Gene Clark first approached
Jim McGuinn in 1964 about working together in a group that would eventually evolve into the
Byrds, he suggested that they could form a
Peter & Gordon-styled act.
Asher and Waller had been singing together since their days at
Westminster School for
Boys, a private school in
London. "A World Without Love" was their biggest and best hit, one that sounded very much like the Beatles' more pop-oriented originals. Their other two 1964 hits, "Nobody I Know" and "I Don't Want to See You Again," were pleasant but less distinguished. Sounding like McCartney-dominated
Beatle rejects (which, in fact, they were), the production employed a softer, more acoustic feel than the hits by the Beatles and other early British Invasion guitar bands. "I Don't Want to See You Again" used strings, as would several of the duo's subsequent hits, which became increasingly middle-of-the-road in their pop orientation.
Some scattered folky
B-sides showed that Asher and Waller may have been capable of developing into decent songwriters, but like many of the less talented
British Invaders, their lack of songwriting acumen and ability to move with the times would eventually work against them. They did continue to hit the charts for a couple of years, with updates of the oldies "
True Love Ways" (
Buddy Holly) and "
To Know You Is to
Love You" (a variation of the
Teddy Bears' "To Know Her Is to
Love Her"). There was also a Top Ten cover of
Del Shannon's "
I Go to Pieces," and the brassy, McCartney-penned "Woman." The overtly cute and British novelty "
Lady Godiva," though, became their last big hit in late 1966.
After Peter & Gordon broke up in
1968, Asher became an enormously successful producer, first as the director of
A&R; at the Beatles'
Apple Records (where he worked on
James Taylor's first
album). Relocating to
Los Angeles, in the
1970s he was one of the principal architects of mellow
Californian rock, producing
Taylor and
Linda Ronstadt. ~
Richie Unterberger,
All Music Guide
PLEASE
NOTE: I divided my uploads among multiple channels, Bookmark this link in your browser for instant access to an index with links to all of John1948's oldies classics.
LINK:
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Index
- published: 22 Mar 2009
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