| Peter and Gordon    Biography. Peter (Asher) & Gordon (Waller) were the Everly Brothers of the British Invasion. They harmonized in ear pleasing intervals, strummed acoustic guitars in tandem, and recorded an impressively consistent string of hit songs, mostly composed by others. They were devout students of folk, blues and rock 'n' roll, and they fitted this amaigam through their own pop-flavoured English sensibility. The results included, among other things, the first British invasion single by an artist other than The Beatles to go to #1.
That song "A World Without Love", was actually composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and therein lies a tale. For most of the Sixties McCartney's steady girlfriend was Jane Asher, a stage actress, and Peter's sister. A friendship developed between Peter, Paul and Gordon and McCartney wound up penning four songs for Peter & Gordon, "A World Without Love", "Nobody I Know", "I Don't Want to See You Again", and under a pseudonym, "Woman". The first three of these were Top 20 singles in l964, Gordon and Peter writing the "B" sides of these singles and of future releases. Suddenly Peter and Gordon were among the most recognizable faces of the British Invasion.
Peter & Gordon also turned out to be astute song finders outside the Lennon-McCartney sphere, recording spirited versions of tunes by Del Shannon ("I Go To Pieces"), Buddy Holly ("True Love Ways"), and Phil Spector ("To Know You Is To Love You"), all of which charted well inside the US, making the Top 40. They also found sucess in l966 and 67 with music-hall novelties such as "Lady Godiva" and "Knight in Rusty Armour," and parent-pleasing pop like "Sunday For Tea." At the same time, they were capable of rocking out in blusier, more unrestrained mode, usually in the B-sides of singles or in tracks buried deep in long-forgotten albums. Several rough gems-among them "Love Me Baby" and You've Had Better Times", the latter of these found a limited amount of airplay and a place in the charts before it was withdrawn for content (there was a mention on getting into bed!).
Following a four-year, ten song hit spree, Peter & Gordon went their seperate ways in l968. Peter Asher decided to pursue a career in Production, leaving Gordon to carry on on his own, performing solo and writing songs.
In 1970 he came to America to record a solo album in New York which had the dubious title in his own words"....and Gordon". Unfortunately the promotion on this record was not up to scratch and the album containing all Gordon's material, except for two songs fell by the road-side. In l971 Gordon was approached by Tim Rice to play the part of Pharaoh in the musical "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Edinburgh Festival. The show was an amazing success and Gordon's holiday from his landscaping-gardening business in Northamptonshire developed into yet another career enhancement.  |
