大象传媒

by Bob Stanley

Peter's sister Jane just happened to be dating Paul McCartney

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller had one of the oddest career paths of any sixties act, going from Everlys-style duets, via Merseybeat into big orchestrated ballads, then on to whimsical super-English novelties and ending with a psychedelic album called Hot Cold And Custard. And that's overlooking their penchant for country covers on pretty much all of the ten - TEN! - albums they recorded at Abbey Road between 1964 and 1967.

With the exception of , the first British invasion single to top the American charts, knocking off Can't Buy Me Love, was Peter and Gordon's A World Without Love, composed by . They had met at the prestigious Westminster School, whose other alumni include Tony Benn and ' Shane MacGowan. Both played guitar and initially sang for their fellow students before bunking off school to start playing professional shows. They earned themselves a residency at Harry Secombe's Pickwick Club which is where A&R man Norman Newell saw them, signing them to EMI at the start of 1964.

Peter's sister Jane just happened to be dating Paul McCartney. The Ashers lived in a large house on Wimpole Street in the heart of London's West End, and Paul had the guest room on the top floor, next to Peter's bedroom. Mrs Asher taught the oboe in a music room in the basement. Astonishingly, one of her students in the fifties had been George Martin. Given the close connections, it's not surprising that Paul ended up handing over four McCartney originals to Peter & Gordon: A World Without Love (UK and US no.1, '64), Nobody I Know (UK no.10, US no.12 '64), I Don't Want To See You Again (US no.16, '64) and Woman (UK no.28, US no.14, '66) which he wrote under the pseudonym Bernard Webb.

Paul would use the music room when Peter and Jane's mother wasn't teaching down there, working out new songs on a small upright piano. Shortly after he moved in, John Lennon came round to visit Paul; after a couple of hours in the basement, Paul stuck his head out of the door and called up to Peter to see if he wanted to hear the song they had just finished. Sat side by side at the piano, John and Paul then played him I Want to Hold Your Hand. He told them he thought it was very good.

As you can see from the chart positions, Peter & Gordon were hugely popular in the States, where singles like I Go To Pieces and Knight In Rusty Armour reached the Top 20 even though they bombed at home. After the first few hits, Gordon Waller effectively became their lead singer, his sonorous voice enabling them to cut more challenging songs like Smokey Robinson's Who's Lovin' You and Van McCoy's Baby I'm Yours. Their last album together was the enigmatically titled Hot Cold And Custard, released in America in 1968, with backwards drums, harpsichords, and one song that set an e e cummings (Karen, these are meant to be lower case!) poem to music. It was their strongest album, with a bunch of Asher/Waller originals, close in sound and feel to the ' 1967 albums Evolution and Butterfly.

Clearly, they were itching to escape from their English schoolboy image. Waller recorded a few decidedly adult-oriented solo singles including Weeping Annaleah, written by Mickey Newbury, and an excellent version of Jimmy Webb's multi-part Rosecrans Boulevard. Peter Asher landed a job in A&R at Apple, signing . By 1970, Gordon Waller had grown his hair and signed to progressive label Vertigo. By now he was living the bucolic hippie dream in a caravan, busking in local country pubs; his extremely rare Vertigo album, Gordon, is believed to be have only sold 23 copies and copies have sold in recent years for over £500. Peter left Apple to manage James Taylor in the seventies, moving to California and becoming a hugely successful producer for among others. After more than 30 years apart Peter & Gordon began to sing together on stage again in 2005, interspersing songs and anecdotes with photos and videos on a screen behind them - both were rather shocked and pleased by the emotional reaction of their audiences. Sadly, the reunion was cut short when Gordon Waller died of a heart attack in 2009, aged 64.