I recently had the pleasure to see Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde in concert at the Sellersville Theater. Peter was part of the 60s duo Peter and Gordon, while Jeremy was also part of a 60s duo called Chad and Jeremy. Both duos were icons. Bordon is retired from music while chad passed away a few years ago. Peter and Jeremy joined forces and have put together a fascinating two hours of great music, riveting video and photos, and interesting, fond memories.
Both were extremely funny, entertaining and likeable. The evening started with an appreciation of legendary Buddy Holly. The first song was "It Doesn't Matter Anymore." Asher revealed he admired Holly so much that he decided to wear thick glasses, in honor of the late singer.
Along with stories about their own songs, including "Yesterday's Gone," "Willow Weep For Me," and "I Go To Pieces," they did refreshing takes on cover songs during their two sets ( there was an extremely brief fifteen minute intermission). After discussing the 60s singer Marianne Faithful, who had an affair with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, they did a nice version of "As Tears Go By" ( the first song writter by Jagger and fellow Stone Keith Richards).
Asher built a tremendous, Grammy Award-winning career as a music producer and manager, associated with such star artists like James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Diana Ross. Taylor was mentioned quite often. Asher talked about how he and Taylor found the classic Carole King penned song "You've Got A Friend," which was their encore at Sellersville.
Perhaps the best memories were those of The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney. Asher shared a fascinating story of the # 1 Peter and Gordon hit, "World Without Love," which was written by McCartney. Paul lived with the Asher family for two years, while he dated Peter's beautiful red-haired sister Jane. Paul gave the song to Peter, saying that "John (Lennon) didn't care for the song." The song wasn't finished, so Paul retreated to his bedroom and finished 'World Without Love" in a mere eight minutes!
Classic songs like "A Summer Song" and "World Without Love" ended the second set. The sold-out crowd was on it's feet. The ovation was well-deserved as the new duo pf Peter and Jeremy gave their fans an evening full of great songs and fun stories. To top it off, both met with fans after the show in the lobby, Asher signing copies of his recent book about The Beatles, and Clyde signing cds of his solo recordings.
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