Insights into … Peter and Gordon
[14 Billboard Hot 100 singles, 1964–67]
While the Beatles-led “British invasion” of 1964 infused the American pop music charts with scores of recordings by artists from the U.K., the Beatles shared the top position during the first half of ’64 with only one other British musical act: Peter and Gordon. The musical success of Peter and Gordon was ordained in a sense. At a time when anything bearing the Beatles imprint turned to gold, Peter Asher and Gordon Waller had the distinction of recording a new song by Beatles composers John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The song “A World Without Love” helped validate the music composition credentials of the Lennon-McCartney team while giving Peter and Gordon a career-launching, million-selling record.
Peter Asher and Gordon Waller met as teenagers at
Westminster School in London, where they were students. After Waller and Asher
discovered they shared an appreciation for the guitar and the silken harmonies
of the Everly Brothers, they discovered they had more in common. Both had
fathers who were physicians. Neither dreamed of becoming pop music stars.
Throughout their recording career, Peter and Gordon
retained an association with the Beatles and collaborated with Paul McCartney
in a celebrated bit of musical subterfuge. When unwavering fan loyalty planted
seeds of doubt in Paul’s mind about the depth of his songwriting talent, he
asked Peter and Gordon to consider recording a song he wrote under the assumed
name of Bernard Webb. The song, “Woman,” became the seventh hit for Peter and
Gordon. McCartney’s alias was quickly uncloaked because the publishing company’s
paper trail wasn’t well concealed, but the appeal of “Woman” proved his
intended point and reassured him of his lyrical talents.
Insights about the downside of fame
“I like all the very basic things in life, which is
probably why I didn’t pursue the music career too damn seriously after Peter
and I split up. I really wanted to do what I never had a chance as a teenager
to do. For example, I couldn’t go down to a local pub and have a couple of
pints, because I’d just get lynched. People would say, ‘Are you looking at my
girlfriend?’ And I’d say, ‘No, I’m not, I wouldn’t bother.’ And then they’d hit
you because you didn’t like their girlfriend.”
— Gordon Waller (died July 17, 2009)
singer and guitarist
Career changes
“I don’t really have any ambitions. All of the career
changes that I’ve made have been unplanned. They were not the result of
ambitions. When I was a university student I had no ambition to be a pop star,
when I was a pop star I had no ambition to be a record producer, when I was a
record producer I had no ambition to be a manager, and when I was a manager I
had no ambition to become a senior record company executive. I have done a lot
by succeeding at whatever I was doing by doing my best at it, but ambition has
been more a function of the opportunity that presents itself. When there’s an
opportunity to jump, I jump.”
— Peter Asher
singer and guitarist
“When I was selling office equipment, I worked myself
up to a pretty powerful position. Nobody thought I would do it because I was an
ex-pop star, but I said, ‘Just watch.’ And I think that was an achievement,
because I really had to work at it. I had to work at being a little bit more
polite to people, and I had to learn to control my impatient attitude.”
— Gordon Waller
Honesty
“I think my philosophy has always been the same. I
find myself very uncomfortable with any kind of deceit. I’ve never been any
good at it. My management company developed a reputation of being very straight
ahead and honest. But that shouldn’t be the exception upon which to grow a
reputation. In my estimation it doesn’t do any good to weave a web of confusion
and deceit because it makes life too damned complicated. I can’t say that I’ve
always told the truth, but one tells as much of the truth as possible without
causing anyone tremendous upset or huge social disruption.”
— Peter Asher
Punctuality
“I do get very impatient. I hate being late for
anything and I hate people being late for me. I do tend to lose my temper about
it. Like when I’m with someone and it’s quarter to seven and we’ve got half an
hour drive and we’re supposed to be there at seven, and they say, ‘Oh, don’t
worry, everyone in California turns up late.’ And I say, ‘I don’t give a shit
about people in California being late. If I say I’m going to be somewhere at 7,
and it’s possible, I’m going to be there at 7.’ That’s just part of the
stubborn Scotsman in me.”
— Gordon Waller
The narrative and quotations in this article are excerpted from the book Echoes of the Sixties, by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March. This material is copyrighted © 1999 by EditPros LLC and may not be reproduced or redistributed without written permission.
Order your copy here: https://www.editpros.com/echoes_ebook.html
I consider myself so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see Peter and Gordon perform live at one of the Chicagoland Beatlefests a few years back. As it turns out, the performance I saw was just slightly before Gordon's passing. Even then, they both still sounded great. (The later day teaming of Peter and Jeremy ... as in Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy fame ... is also a very entertaining show, featuring songs by both often-confused by the media duos.)
THE PETER AND GORDON HIT LIST:
1964 - A World Without Love (#1 US, #1 UK)
1964- Nobody I Know (#12 US,#10 UK)
1964 - I Don't Want to See You Again (#16 US, #xx UK)
1965 - I Go To Pieces (#4 US, #xx UK)
1965 - True Love Ways (#12 US, #2 UK)
1965 - To Know You Is To Love You (#24 US, #5 UK)
1965 - Baby I'm Yours (#xx US, #19 UK)
1966 - Woman (#12 US, #28 UK)
1966 - Lady Godiva (#5 US, #16 UK)
1967 - Knight In Rusty Armour (#12 US, #xx - UK)
1967 - Sunday For Tea (#22 US, #xx - UK)
