Photo by Frank Beacham
Peter Asher is 78 years old today.
An English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer, Asher first came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the vocal duo, Peter and Gordon, before going on to a successful career as a record producer.
When he was eight years old, Asher began working as a child actor and appeared in the film, The Planter's Wife, and the stage play, Isn't Life Wonderful. He also appeared in the ITV series, The Adventures of Robin Hood.
While attending the independent Westminster School as a day boy, he first met fellow pupil, Gordon Waller (1945–2009). They began playing and singing together as a duo in coffee bars. In 1962, they began working formally as Peter and Gordon. Their biggest hit was the 1964 Paul McCartney song, A World Without Love.
Asher is the son of Dr Richard and Margaret Asher, and the older brother of actress and businesswoman, Jane Asher, and radio actress, Clare Asher. Jane Asher was, in the mid 1960s, the girlfriend of Paul McCartney. Through this connection, Asher and Waller were often given unrecorded Lennon-McCartney songs to perform.
In 1965, he was best man when singer Marianne Faithfull married John Dunbar in Cambridge.
After Peter & Gordon disbanded in 1968, Asher took charge of the A&R department at the Beatles' Apple Records label, where he signed a then-unknown James Taylor and agreed to produce the singer-songwriter's debut solo album. The album was not a success, but Asher was so convinced that Taylor held great potential that he resigned his post at Apple to move to the United States and work as Taylor's manager.
He also produced a number of Taylor's recordings from 1970–1985, including Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, JT and Flag.
Asher also played a role in shaping the Californian rock sound prominent during the 1970s, producing records for Linda Ronstadt, J.D. Souther, Andrew Gold and Bonnie Raitt.
In 1976, Asher and Waller reformed for the annual New York “Beatlefest” and played a few other dates. In the 1980s, Asher also worked on hit albums for artists as diverse as Cher and 10,000 Maniacs.
In February, 1995, Asher was named senior vice president of Sony Music Entertainment. At the beginning of 2002, Asher left Sony and returned full time to the management of artists’ careers as co-president of Sanctuary Artist Management. In January, 2005, he was named president, the position he held until September, 2006, when he resigned.
In 2007, Asher joined forces with his friend, Simon Renshaw, (who managed the Dixie Chicks) at the company Simon founded, Strategic Artist Management.
During 2005 and 2006, Peter & Gordon reformed for occasional concerts. Waller died in 2009.