Concert Review: Peter Asher at the Dakota Jazz Club: "A Musical Memoir of the 1960's and Beyond"

Peter Asher at the Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis, January 14, 2020. (Photo taken by my better half.)

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller, 1960's.

Last week my wife and I saw Peter Asher at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. He was performing his show, “A Musical Memoir of the 60’s and Beyond.” I’ve seen Asher perform this show twice before, once in 2012 and again in 2017. I also saw Asher perform at the Dakota with Albert Lee last summer. (However, I missed seeing him and Lee open for Leo Kottke at the Guthrie in November.) 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Peter Asher, I’ll give you a brief rundown on his musical career. Asher was part of a successful pop duo, Peter & Gordon, with his schoolmate Gordon Waller. Peter & Gordon scored 10 Top 40 singles in the US, including the number one smash “A World Without Love,” and the top ten hits “I Go to Pieces” and “Lady Godiva.” After Peter & Gordon split up, Asher moved into record production, becoming head of A&R at the Beatles’ Apple Records. Asher discovered a talented young American singer/songwriter. Asher became this guy’s manager and produced his first album for Apple Records. His name? James Taylor. Asher also managed Linda Ronstadt, and has been one of the most in-demand record producers since the 1970’s. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year. 

Asher may not be a household name himself, but he has connections with anyone who’s anyone in music. In his show, he tells his life story, and how he went from child actor to pop star to mega-producer. Peter & Gordon mixed many different musical influences, and they were originally envisioned as a sort of folk duo. But while recording their first album, they came in with “A World Without Love,” a Lennon/McCartney song that the Beatles weren’t going to record. How did this unknown vocal duo score such a coup? Well, Paul McCartney, the song’s author, happened to be dating Jane Asher, an up-and-coming young actress who happened to be Peter’s sister. Asher had heard McCartney play the song and asked him if he and Gordon could record it. McCartney said sure, and after some badgering by Asher, finished off the bridge of the song “in something like seven minutes,” according to Asher. “A World Without Love” went to Number One in both the UK and the US, and it was the first British Invasion single by a group other than the Beatles to hit the top spot in the US. 

Asher was involved in many other Beatle-related adventures during the 1960’s, including the Indica bookstore and art gallery. Asher helped organize a show at the Indica art gallery in November of 1966. It was a show by a Japanese American artist named Yoko Ono. And, of course, it was at a party for the opening of this exhibit that Yoko met a certain Beatle named John. 

If you’ve listened to Asher’s radio show From Me to You, on the Beatles’ Sirius XM channel, you know that Peter Asher is a highly engaging storyteller, and his tales are full of British self-deprecating humor. I’ve listened to Asher’s show a lot, partly because I’m a huge Beatles fan, and because my 5-year-old son only wants to listen to the Beatles every time he’s in the car. Asher even addresses his physical appearance in the 1960’s being an influence on Austin Powers’ signature look. (Red hair, thick Buddy Holly glasses, bad teeth.) I also appreciated that at the end of the show Asher made a plug for contemporary music—he basically said, there’s still lots of good music being made today. I appreciated hearing that coming from a 75-year-old who has been in the music industry since 1964. The point of his show isn’t to tell us about how wonderful everything was back in the day, and how everything now is just crap. 

On a slight digression, I think it’s amazing how much the music and culture of the 1960’s is still with us today, 50 years after that decade ended. Sure, that’s partly due to the continuing influence of the Baby Boomer generation on pop culture. But think about how prevalent the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan, to name just three artists, are in pop culture today. Now think about going back 50 years into the past, and if the same thing were happening then. It would be as if the musical stars of the 1910’s were still household names in the 1960’s. That wasn’t the case. It’s remarkable that this music has lasted for so long. Obviously, it’s a testament to the quality of that music, but I think it’s fascinating how this music and culture has survived and thrived through the decades. 

Back to the show! Asher performed with Jeff Alan Ross on piano and Jennifer Jo Oberle on bass guitar. They did a great job of making the songs sound good. I didn’t miss not having drums at all. Ross, a former touring member of Badfinger, got a solo spot when he sang the group’s lovely song “Day After Day.” Oberle soloed on “Blue Bayou,” the Roy Orbison song that Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with, and she did a great job, offering up a soulful vocal. 

If you go see Peter Asher, be warned that there’s a lot of talking in between the songs, and he doesn’t really play that many songs during the evening. Still, you’ll get to hear some great Peter & Gordon songs and some fantastic stories. The show we saw was the last one of the tour, and Asher held court for about 2 ½ hours!

Concert Review: Peter Asher and Albert Lee at the Dakota Jazz Club

Peter Asher

Albert Lee

On Wednesday night, I saw Peter Asher and Albert Lee at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. I’ve seen Peter Asher a couple of times before, and I’ve always enjoyed hearing his music and his stories. Peter was half of the 1960’s British Invasion duo Peter and Gordon, and he later became a top record producer, working with James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, among many, many others. Peter and Gordon have always been one of my favorite British Invasion groups. I was less familiar with Albert Lee. My Mom had seen Lee at the Dakota before, and she was very impressed with his guitar playing. 

Together, Peter and Albert put on a very fun show. Both of them are big fans of the Everly Brothers, and Albert played guitar with the Everlys for more than twenty years. They opened the show with two Everly Brothers songs, “Bye Bye Love” and “Crying in the Rain.” Of course, the songs provided opportunities for Peter and Albert to weave together the stories of their musical lives. Asher related how he introduced James Taylor to Carole King, and convinced King that she should perform her own songs when she opened for Taylor at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. That story led into the next song, “Handy Man,” Taylor’s cover of the Jimmy Jones hit. Asher encouraged us all to sing along on the “Come-a, come-a” backing vocals, which was fun. 

Asher and Lee then traded off songs performed by the “British Elvis,” Cliff Richard, and the actual Elvis, with Asher singing Cliff’s 1961 hit “A Girl Like You,” and Lee singing “That’s All Right,” Elvis’ first record. Lee also provided excellent guitar solos on “That’s All Right.” Lee then sang “Sweet Little Lisa,” a song he played the guitar solo on for Dave Edmunds’ 1979 LP Repeat When Necessary. (That album featured Rockpile, with the wonderful Nick Lowe on bass.)

Other highlights of the evening included Peter and Gordon’s hit single “I Go to Pieces,” written by Del Shannon, and a lovely version of Buddy Holly’s “Well All Right.” Asher remarked that the style of glasses he wore in the 1960’s was an homage to Holly’s own black framed glasses. 

Lee performed his version of the Green Day hit “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” which Lee knew originally only through Glen Campbell’s cover version! The evening ended with a performance of Peter and Gordon’s biggest hit, “A World Without Love,” which topped the charts in both the United States and the UK. Written by Paul McCartney, the song didn’t quite seem to fit with what the Beatles were doing, so Peter persuaded Paul to give the song to Peter and Gordon as their first single. Asher also had to badger McCartney to write a bridge to the song, which Asher says Paul did “in something ridiculous like seven minutes.” And just how did Peter Asher have such access to Paul McCartney? Well, Paul was dating Peter’s sister, the actress Jane Asher, and the Asher’s let Paul live in the third floor of their family home! So it’s because of that connection that Peter Asher became the first person besides John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to hear “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” which was written on the Asher’s piano! 

The encore songs were Peter and Gordon’s last Top Ten hit, the cheeky and silly “Lady Godiva,” and the eternally gorgeous “Let It Be Me,” another song made famous by the Everly Brothers. All in all, it was a fun evening of music and stories from two musicians who have crossed paths with many of rock music’s greatest figures.

Concert Review: James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt at the Xcel Energy Center

Poster for James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.

On Friday night James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt brought their songs to the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul in front of a supportive and enthusiastic audience. The show was Raitt’s first since undergoing emergency surgery at the end of April. She looked and sounded good, and she played some awesome guitar during her hour-long set. 

Taylor came out onstage to introduce Raitt, which was a nice gesture. It was clear to see throughout the evening what a close bond the two musicians have. I’m not that familiar with Bonnie Raitt’s music, but I enjoyed hearing her in person, and she puts on a very good show. Raitt’s songs were mainly the blues-rock that she’s most famous for, and her killer band did a great job backing her up. I was excited to learn that Ricky Fataar played the drums in Raitt’s band. To me, Fataar will always be the silent Stig O’Hara from Eric Idle and Neil Innes’ Beatles parody The Rutles. Cool fact: Fataar also played drums for the Beach Boys in the early 1970’s.

I can’t remember the first time I heard of James Taylor. Since we share a last name, I feel like I’ve always known who he was, simply because he was one of the most famous people with my last name. I didn’t listen to his music until I was an adult, but I really enjoy his songs. As I wrote in my review of Paul Simon’s concert, there’s something about Simon and Taylor’s voices that is warm and comforting. James Taylor always feels like autumn to me—he balances the excitement of summer with the wistful melancholy of winter. 

My wife and I saw James Taylor sing “America the Beautiful” at Obama’s second inauguration, but I hadn’t seen him in concert before. Taylor is an engaging performer with a low-key charisma who draws you into his songs and stories. In the video montage that preceded Taylor taking the stage, he said in an interview, “When I write songs I don’t present a version of myself, I’m presenting myself.” I thought that was an astute comment about his musical style. 

Taylor’s set list drew heavily from his classic 1970’s albums, and included just about all of his best-known songs. Highlights included a smoking version of Taylor’s blues parody “Steamroller,” which he said “takes longer to perform than it did to write.” Taylor opened with “Carolina in My Mind,” one of his classic songs, and a beautiful evocation of home. 

The band backing Taylor did a superb job of making his melodies come alive, and Taylor is an inventive enough singer that he’s able to vary his phrasing without making the songs sound totally different from the studio versions. Taylor’s voice has also held up amazingly well over the years. At 70, he doesn’t seem to have lost any of his top range, and his voice still has the same high tenor sweetness that it did back in the 1970’s. 

Taylor sang several songs accompanied by his backup singers, and it was lovely to hear them harmonize together. One of the highlights was “Shed a Little Light,” a lovely gospel-inflected song from Taylor’s 1991 album, New Moon Shine. Taylor also performed excellent versions of “Mexico,” “Up on the Roof,” and “Shower the People,” three of my favorites from his catalogue.

The encore was superb, as Bonnie Raitt came back out to join Taylor and the band for a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Taylor then sang a lovely version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” and serenaded Raitt with “You Can Close Your Eyes.” It was a fun evening with one of great singer-songwriters. 

Concert Review: Peter Asher-"A Musical Memoir of the 60's and Beyond" at the Dakota Jazz Club

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller in the 1960's.

Me with Peter Asher at the Dakota, December 12, 2017.

In December, I saw Peter Asher perform at the Dakota Jazz Club. Asher’s show is titled “A Musical Memoir of the 60’s and Beyond,” and it tells the story of his life and career. I saw the show with my wife and my Mom, and even though we saw Asher perform the show back in 2012, we all really enjoyed it again.

To give a brief recap of Peter Asher’s remarkable career, he was half of the British Invasion duo Peter & Gordon, comprised of him and his schoolmate Gordon Waller. When Peter & Gordon were signed to a record deal, a family connection of Asher’s proved fortuitous in his musical career. Peter’s sister is Jane Asher, an actress who also happened to date Paul McCartney from 1963 to 1968. Paul also lived at the Asher family home during part of this time, which meant that Peter had access to songs Paul had written that weren’t quite right for the Beatles. Peter & Gordon’s first three singles, “A World Without Love,” “Nobody I Know,” and “I Don’t Want to See You Again,” were all Lennon-McCartney songs, and provided Peter & Gordon with worldwide hits. 

After Peter & Gordon went their separate ways in 1968, Asher was asked by McCartney to become the A&R man for the Beatles’ new record label, Apple. Asher accepted the job, and one of the demo tapes he discovered was by a young American singer-songwriter named James Taylor. Apple issued Taylor’s debut album in December 1968 in the UK and February 1969 in the US, but it didn’t make much of a dent in the charts. Asher then quit Apple Records and became Taylor’s manager and producer, embarking on a highly successful career as a record producer. 

Asher’s show is packed with a lot more talking than singing, which was fine with me, as I soaked up stories about the Beatles. In addition to his pop stardom during the Swinging Sixties, Asher was also involved with Paul McCartney in running the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono in 1966. 

Asher is full of good-natured charm, and he even riffed about how Austin Powers’ glasses and haircut may have been based on Asher’s appearance during the 1960’s. (I’ve long thought the same thing.)

After the show, Asher stuck around to sign autographs for fans, although he warned us that he was losing his voice and couldn’t really talk. I told him that I was a big Peter & Gordon fan, especially their later albums like In London for Tea and Hot, Cold & Custard. Asher said “Wow!” Like I did the first time I met him, I also told him how much I enjoyed Peter & Gordon’s version of “The Flower Lady,” written by the great Phil Ochs. For any fan of the Beatles or the British Invasion, Asher’s show is a superb trip down memory lane.